Kirkham Motorsports University How To Fix An Aluminum Fender
Hey guys,
In keeping with my goal of putting as much information online as possible (special thanks to Kahn Academy), I just finished this video. We had a customer come in with a tire that had delaminated, crunching up his rear quarter panel. Here's how I fixed it.
David,
That's a great service you give to your customers and other tin owners. It's NOT as easy as you make it look.
I fear now that Rodknock will empty the kitchen drawer of his tool collection and his Popeil All Purpose jack knife and attempt this at home...
Hi David,
I really enjoyed the utube. One question, how much time do you think was involved to fix that quarter? The guys on metal meet will want to know. Thanks Mark.
These Kirkham University videos are great. Hard to believe it was the same fender.
rodneym
Thanks!
Quote:
Originally Posted by ERA Chas
David,
That's a great service you give to your customers and other tin owners. It's NOT as easy as you make it look.
I fear now that Rodknock will empty the kitchen drawer of his tool collection and his Popeil All Purpose jack knife and attempt this at home...
Thanks for the kind words. You would be amazed what you can do with some very simple tools. That is all I started with.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CobraBoy
I have a question. Can you come live in my garage and build Cobras for me, please?
Awesome work, David. I admire your patience for working the wrinkles out. It taught me something, I usually go for the deep wrinkles first like the area where it folded back. You showed how to go for the overall shape and gradually bring it all into place. Now the big question I have is, how many actual hours did that operation take? 13 minutes of video time equals what actual time? My guess is 4-6 hours.
Love the use of the office chair also!
Amazing work David...it's a privilege to watch all you guys do!!!
To have CRAFTSMAN such as yourself willing to share the work you do everyday, really gives an appreciation of the Kirkham and Value adds to what is already the benchmark!!!
Can't wait for the next Video!!...
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Awesome work, David. I admire your patience for working the wrinkles out. It taught me something, I usually go for the deep wrinkles first like the area where it folded back. You showed how to go for the overall shape and gradually bring it all into place. Now the big question I have is, how many actual hours did that operation take? 13 minutes of video time equals what actual time? My guess is 4-6 hours.
Love the use of the office chair also!
Thanks for the kind note. I was fortunate to learn the art from an English gentleman in his twilight years who worked for Rolls Royce before WWII. The hours is difficult to pin down for a few reasons (the repair was about 30 hours total). There was an enormous amount of time planishing all the little dings out before filing. Also, many hours were spent sanding all the little file marks and coarser sanding marks out of the body with successive grits to eliminate any hint of the coarser grits. The customer wanted a really nice job so we spent quite a bit of time blending the brushing into the original body to get everything to look right.
Finally, the damage wasn't confined to the area in the video (I just limited the video to the major damage so the video wouldn't get too long to upload). The trunk gaps were messed up because the fender had been pulled away from the trunk. There was also damage by the jack hooks where the metal tore and had to be welded up. All these things were fixed at the same time and I didn't keep records of exactly how much time the damage in the video took.
David
Does this process make the aluminum anymore brittle?
No, you just can't quench the metal when it is really hot. Even though the alloy is not heat treatable, if you quench it when it is really hot it will become brittle.
Think about rolling out a plate of aluminum to make sheet. The plate is rolled and rolled and rolled. It is annealed along the way and it doesn't make the aluminum any more brittle.
davd, The hammer and dolly work does not work harden the alloy?
I saw the panelbeaters at Autokraft in 1985 weld the aluminum using "parent metal" (strips of the alloy) and "sooting" the weld area up. When they changed the flame mix they heated until the soot burned off and just after that point the "rod" would flow into the weld area. of course a little more heat and the whole mess ran onto the floor in a puddle.......
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davd, The hammer and dolly work does not work harden the alloy?
I saw the panelbeaters at Autokraft in 1985 weld the aluminum using "parent metal" (strips of the alloy) and "sooting" the weld area up. When they changed the flame mix they heated until the soot burned off and just after that point the "rod" would flow into the weld area. of course a little more heat and the whole mess ran onto the floor in a puddle.......
I can see I should have explained this better.
Hammer and dolly work does indeed harden the aluminum (just like most any metal). The term in the industry for this hardening process is "work hardening." Any time you bend, twist, pound, forge, or otherwise move metal, it hardens. Annealing removes the work hardening and returns the metal to a soft state. You can do it over and over again (hence, my reference to rolling ingot into plates and sheets). Each time you roll the plate, you refine the grain structure (like our wonderful 5083 SPF alloy)--but that is a discussion for another day
As to the process you describe, it sounds more like aluminum brazing than welding. If there is any soot at all on a panel before you weld the soot will severely contaminate the weld. I have never had any luck brazing (the joints were not ductile at all). Welding aluminum is very similar to welding anything else--you make a puddle and dip the rod into the puddle to make a joint. The rod doesn't ever "flow" into a joint.
Kirkham Motorsports University How To Fix An Aluminum Fender
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