did i offend someone??

I purchased patch panels, rockers, front section of the floor pan, rear quarters and the tail section of the trunk for my '49 Olds 88 2dr Club sdn (fast back) from EMS about three years ago.
The Olds and Chevy share the same basic body shell, other than the front portion of the floor pan, V8 vs six cyln. The quality was first class, needing only minor "tweaking" in a few spots. As I recall the majority of EMS' panels are made in their US plant, and/or Canada.
 
It seems like you are on the right track. Most of my tooling is hand made and I still use a stump and a thick steel top table for forming most stuff. Plywood for forms works good for one time forms. 16 gauge would be near .060" so that's kind of thick unless it's for reinforcement parts. Most floor & rocker stuff is 18 gauge at around .048" thick by US standard gauge. I can get deep draw steel down here but it's not easy to get. I imagine it is real difficult up there. Steel salvaged from an old car can be used but the thick stuff is harder to find anywhere now days. Being around or even near to a salt water coastal region is hard on old steel.

Happy Hunting!
 
rotorwrench said:
It seems like you are on the right track. Most of my tooling is hand made and I still use a stump and a thick steel top table for forming most stuff. Plywood for forms works good for one time forms. 16 gauge would be near .060" so that's kind of thick unless it's for reinforcement parts. Most floor & rocker stuff is 18 gauge at around .048" thick by US standard gauge. I can get deep draw steel down here but it's not easy to get. I imagine it is real difficult up there. Steel salvaged from an old car can be used but the thick stuff is harder to find anywhere now days. Being around or even near to a salt water coastal region is hard on old steel.

Happy Hunting!
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I alway remember that 16 gauge is close to 1/16", I cannot imagine forming that is very easy.
I have a friend in NH who was showing me deep drawn steel and explaining all the advantages when forming and wheeling. I think it can obtained up here or at least special ordered.
I was planning on trying a plywood form to fabricate the patch I need for the trunk area.
This cowl area is a tough fix as the door fit is all tied into it.
 
Here is a drawing of the forming die I made for the 36 Ford front fender crack patch. The bottom piece is the die and the curved edge is also rounded on the die. It is 1/2" thick so the outside of the rounded edge is about 5/8" which matches the Ford edge pretty close. The sheet metal is clamped between the two plates with the dotted edge extending out over the die. That part is gently hammered over and under the curved die.
 

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This is what I'm working with. A solid fix in the day.
I pulled about 2 lbs of lead from the floor at the drivers side B pillar. It seem to cause the only frame damage by rusting through at the body mount or at least helping it.
The Bradley floors I borrowed pre rusted to match my floors. They where in a leaky barn, shame.
 

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I learned not to get too excited about corrosion as long as it doesn't penetrate all the way through or is too thin in spots for good structural strength. Surface corrosion only actually keeps the base metal preserved to an extent. Especially if you use some Ospho or weak phosphoric acid etch solution. That changes the iron oxide to iron phosphate which is very resistant to further corrosion as long as it is out of the elements and stays dry.

Having those floor pans is a big help when making your own. Paul's pans aren't bad but I think I could even improve on them. You simply just have to have a pattern to get it spot on. It's hard to do a job when there is nothing to make a pattern from so I see your problem. I had to quit going on the metal meet forum because I find it hard to leave it. This forum is almost as bad in that respect but it is less crowded than the HAMB (to be clear to those concerned, the forum's not bad just my addiction to it is bad).
 
rotorwrench said:
I learned not to get too excited about corrosion as long as it doesn't penetrate all the way through or is too thin in spots for good structural strength. Surface corrosion only actually keeps the base metal preserved to an extent. Especially if you use some Ospho or weak phosphoric acid etch solution. That changes the iron oxide to iron phosphate which is very resistant to further corrosion as long as it is out of the elements and stays dry.

Having those floor pans is a big help when making your own. Paul's pans aren't bad but I think I could even improve on them. You simply just have to have a pattern to get it spot on. It's hard to do a job when there is nothing to make a pattern from so I see your problem. I had to quit going on the metal meet forum because I find it hard to leave it. This forum is almost as bad in that respect but it is less crowded than the HAMB (to be clear to those concerned, the forum's not bad just my addiction to it is bad).
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These are rusting enough to start to pit. I thought about dipping them in a vinegar solution for a few days to week then hit them with phosphoric acid. We have a Canadian product called Dominion Rust Converter which is cheap and works well after the suface rust is removed.

Funny i had my patch made and then trimmed it again to match the bradley pan and it cam up more narrow than i would have liked
 

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Phosphoric just converts the iron oxide so it's not too bad in that respect. It's the corrosion that turns to iron phosphate so I just leave it on there after conversion until I'm ready to use the part. That way you can do the final metal finishing just before priming. If there are still pits, you can do a final etch or just use etch type primer. Pits can be leveled after that just prior to sealing and painting.
 
rotorwrench said:
Phosphoric just converts the iron oxide so it's not too bad in that respect. It's the corrosion that turns to iron phosphate so I just leave it on there after conversion until I'm ready to use the part. That way you can do the final metal finishing just before priming. If there are still pits, you can do a final etch or just use etch type primer. Pits can be leveled after that just prior to sealing and painting.
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It a must here as the flash rust starts right away. Anywhere you go in Nova Scotia saltwater is no farther than 30 miles. We go above and below freezing all winter and condensation is consent.
 
JSeery said:
Be careful with any acid products, they remove good metal right along with the rust!
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I left a nice 39 glove box door with surface rust in a container of vinegar and forgot about it and it didnt come out so nice a month later.
 
Acetic acid is just slower than nitric or sulphuric. Still works though. Some folks use molasses for a slow derust but it smells funny. Citric acid also works slow to remove rust but like acetic, it keeps on munching away.

The helicopter mechanics on the tuna boats spray everything with zinc chromate primer until its about a 1/16" thick to slow the corrosion. They use WD40 by the 55 gallon drum for a daily wash. Back in the day we used red lead for primer. Now that stuff was pretty good. US EPA didn't like it much though but then they don't like the zinc chromate either. I'm close to the Gulf of Mexico so I know a few customers that are constantly having problems with the dreaded metal cancer.
 
My patch is about 10" wide and would work for the fender in Post #29 but the fender in Post #30 needs much more work. You might think about finding a better fender for that one.
 
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