Tudor Inner Fender Help

[slow8]

Hi There,

I am working on my '31 Tudor and have gotten to the Inner Fenders.

As is normal, they are pretty rotted out. Patch panels for the Tudor are out of stock and no one can tell me if/when they will be back. Most folks tell me that the patch panels need a lot of fettling anyway so I may as well just buck up and patch what I have. That makes sense.

I am new to all of this and trying to come up with a game plan on how to attack the repair. I am not worried about originality and I plan on running without fenders.

Here is what I am dealing with:

One thought is to cut out the rusty stuff around the holes and form patches to match the contour around each area and weld in. The bottom area has me worried because it is pretty lumpy and bumpy.

The second thought is to cut somewhere around the red line and make a large flat panel from there down to the sub rail and be done with it. In a similar vein, I could cut around the radius of the wheel well around the curved flange and do a flat complete flat panel all the way around similar to a roadster or coupe well.

Thoughts on how to tackle this from folks that have been here before?

 

[bobbader]

Your idea of a flat panel from the red line down is not without merit. What you need to be most concerned about is the concave section (with rounded top area) just in front of the 2 vertical rivets. That allows room for the swing of the shock arm when turning and taking rear body lean into account. It's mostly overkill in degree but based on the body leaning in a sharp turn at speed. (In the case of the pictures shown, driver side, this would be a sharp left turn.) Most of the other curved areas are concerned with rear seat clearance.

 

[slow8]

Your idea of a flat panel from the red line down is not without merit. What you need to be most concerned about is the concave section (with rounded top area) just in front of the 2 vertical rivets. That allows room for the swing of the shock arm when turning and taking rear body lean into account. It's mostly overkill in degree but based on the body leaning in a sharp turn at speed. (In the case of the pictures shown, driver side, this would be a sharp left turn.) Most of the other curved areas are concerned with rear seat clearance.

Thanks for that info. I will likely be moving to tube shocks so clearance for the originals won't be an issue.

 

[wrndln]

I have fixed worse rust-outs on my 29 phaeton. However, I removed the quarterpanels before I repaired the rust-outs. I always try to save good original sheetmetal, if at all possible. Below are some pictures of the rust repairs on my car, starting from left to right. I sandblast the rusted areas first to get a good base for the MIG/gas welding repairs.
Rusty Nelson

 

[old31]

wr, that's nice work.

 

[jerrytocci]

Blast it, glass it and use a pickup bed undercoat

 

[JayJay]

FWIW, I'm facing the same issue on my '30 Town Sedan. Not as significant rustout, mine is mostly high where the fender meets the body. There are some patch panels for the entire area made, but out of stock. I think I can make some smaller panels to fit where the rot is.

Doggone Wisconsin car... front fenders were pretty good, running boards so-so, and rears have issues. Body appears solid so far other than the fender wells. Wood is in very good shape, surprisingly.

 

[slow8]

I have fixed worse rust-outs on my 29 phaeton. However, I removed the quarterpanels before I repaired the rust-outs. I always try to save good original sheetmetal, if at all possible. Below are some pictures of the rust repairs on my car, starting from left to right. I sandblast the rusted areas first to get a good base for the MIG/gas welding repairs.
Rusty Nelson

Nice work Rusty. I am inspired by your abilities.

Blast it, glass it and use a pickup bed undercoat

I had thought about that but not sure it will get the end result I am looking for.

FWIW, I'm facing the same issue on my '30 Town Sedan. Not as significant rustout, mine is mostly high where the fender meets the body. There are some patch panels for the entire area made, but out of stock. I think I can make some smaller panels to fit where the rot is.

Doggone Wisconsin car... front fenders were pretty good, running boards so-so, and rears have issues. Body appears solid so far other than the fender wells. Wood is in very good shape, surprisingly.

I think this is where I am going to end up. Cut out the bad spots and form small patches. I have to do some body repair on the rear corner so cutting out a large chunk of the inner fender will provide access for the repair. Most of the rust is in the bottom two inches so I think I will form a long patch with a flange to replace that. I may cut a larger area out of the drivers side so I can access the sub rail for repair as well.

 

[slow8]

Not much new to report. All of my lines on replacement inner fenders have turned out to be scams. Sigh. What is it with people?

I did get brave enough to cut out some rusty metal. I also created an access hole so I could get a dolly behind the fender. I started to move some metal to fix the dent but hammering with my left hand and contorting to get the dolly in the right spot is proving difficult. Ha. I am happy with the direction things are going but certainly need a lot more work.

I am going to talk the wife into being my dolly Doll and see if we can make more progress. I will chop the bottom 2 inches or so out of the fender liner and assess the repairs that need to be done to the sub rail.

 

[slow8]

Update.

Hate to revive such an old thread but…

All of the big supply houses are still out of stock but I found them!

Ahooga Parts is the one that manufactures them and he has them in stock.

Unfortunately, his website doesn’t come up on a search for the panels.

He has the tooling for most patch panels for As and Ts.

 

[AHOOGA A & T]

Sorry to bust your bubble, but We make the 28-31 Briggs & Murray, Tudor Sedan, Roadster, Coupe, Cabriolet, Sport Coupe, 28-29 Fordor Phaeton and the 30-31 Fordor Phaeton Rear Fender Patch Panels. All of them are Die Stamped.

We make a lot of Die Stamped Sheet Metal Parts for the Model A. Just Check us out.

PS We used to sell to all of the dealers.

 

[wrndln]

I thought A&T Ahooga Reproduction Parts went out of business several years ago. I bought some parts from you. I still have your catalog. In fact, I sent your company an original 28/mid 30 CCPU floor pan for you to duplicate, via die stamping one. However, I never heard from your company afterward. Are you back in business?
Rusty Nelson

 

[AHOOGA A & T]

Here is a sample pic of some of the Die Stamped parts we make.

I am trying to add more parts as time permits.

Our website is ahoogaparts.com and I can be reached at dale@ahoogaparts.com if you have any questions.

Thank you everyone and Happy Model "A"ing

Dale A.
AHOOGA A & T

 

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

I thought A&T Ahooga Reproduction Parts went out of business several years ago. I bought some parts from you. I still have your catalog. In fact, I sent your company an original 28/mid 30 CCPU floor pan for you to duplicate, via die stamping one. However, I never heard from your company afterward. Are you back in business?
Rusty Nelson

Rusty, I feel your pain. Dale & Steve personally picked-up a 1931 35B Phaeton Body of mine along with a few other pieces when they were visiting my Shop one day. I loaned my Phaeton body to them on a handshake so they could duplicate and reproduce the Phaeton bodies and offer them as an alternative to Brookville's Roadster bodies.

 

[Jim Mason]

Ordered and received