rear fender welting

K

kurt v

Well-known member
How the heck do you get the rear fender up tight enough to pinch the welting to keep it in place , got most of it but not all of it? Have 3 gens good welting not the plastic tube crap.

kurt
 
Hello do you have repro rear fenders? Had the same problem on my roadster, had to rework the fender to get a tighter fit to quarter panel. Cut and reweld the mounting flange to fit better and of course some body filler.
 
Don't know if repo or not it's that 1/16 in a couple spots to get it tight. Fenders have been with car a very long time 70 80 years still would put it back in the repo days.
 
My Cabriolet has been together a long time and fender fit is good but here is a trick I learned when installing fenders and welting on my MG TD. I punched holes along the edge of the welting and ran fishing line down and as the fender bolts were tightened pulled the welting tight with the line. It worked really well and the fenders had been slightly slotted allowing for adjustment.
 
rich40701 said:
My Cabriolet has been together a long time and fender fit is good but here is a trick I learned when installing fenders and welting on my MG TD. I punched holes along the edge of the welting and ran fishing line down and as the fender bolts were tightened pulled the welting tight with the line. It worked really well and the fenders had been slightly slotted allowing for adjustment.
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Another way to do this is to rip strips of fabric about 3/4-1” wide and staple them to the welting. Pull tight when snugging the fender then trim them after install.
 
getting the welting in place is not the problem it's getting the fender to pinch the last 1/16 to hold the welt, i got most of it good just a couple small spots a little loose.
 
Sometimes the bolts sticking through the panel beneath the fender get bent downward or have been re-installed improperly by a previous owner, creating a small enough gap to make getting the welting to fit tightly challenging. One car I restored years ago had 1/4" bolts that some "restorer" had pressed into service, which really made installing the rear fenders and welting a nightmare. 'Kind of indicative of how the rest of the car was put together. You could use a rat tail file and extend the fender holes along their bottom edges enough to raise the fender sufficiently. This shouldn't be necessary to do, but after 90 years on the road and passing through the hands of many past owners, nothing will fit the way it did at the factory.
Marshall
 
Marshall V. Daut said:
Sometimes the bolts sticking through the panel beneath the fender get bent downward or have been re-installed improperly by a previous owner, creating a small enough gap to make getting the welting to fit tightly challenging. One car I restored years ago had 1/4" bolts that some "restorer" had pressed into service, which really made installing the rear fenders and welting a nightmare. 'Kind of indicative of how the rest of the car was put together. You could use a rat tail file and extend the fender holes along their bottom edges enough to raise the fender sufficiently. This shouldn't be necessary to do, but after 90 years on the road and passing through the hands of many past owners, nothing will fit the way it did at the factory.
Marshall
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Had to do this on my Roadster.
 
A lot depends on the welting too. The OEM type welting was easy to use but the plastic type stuff, not so much. Third Gen Automotive has the pyroxylin coated stuff as you mention.
https://thirdgenauto.com/product/or...isted-paper-1-4-core-as-original-by-the-foot/

I've sewn tabs onto it to help pull it but it is also possible to use a contact cement to hold it in place. It can be tricky in any case. Fender fit is the critical part in most cases. Get them to fit well before final prime and the subsequent paint. Ford had nice new parts to work with but we are stuck with whatever we get.
 
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The first step is to see that you have clearance around the mounting bolts. start from the front and tighten the first bolt. now place a floor jack under the rear of the fender. lace a wood block wrapped in cloth on top of the jack and jack up the fender a little to hold it tight. now tighten the second bolt. If the welting is holding tight keep tightening the bolts to work to the rear. If you find at one of the bolts the welt is loose put a little more pressure on the jack. JP
 
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