I've mentioned in a few other threads on here how I've been shaving the bumps on the wheel wells where the coolant reservoir and washer fluid tanks mount from the factory. I've had a few requests for more information, so I'd thought I'd post up a quick how-to. Feel free to chime in with any comments, questions, or ideas.

First up, a few pics of the bumps I'm talking about. I forgot to take a pic of the bumps on the passenger side wheel well,, but you know the ones I mean. I had previously welded the holes shut to prevent water entry and as a quick and dirty attempt to make them look a little nicer.

 

I marked out my cut lines with a sharpie. All the angles of the stamped bump will be cut.

 

I used an oscillating tool (think Fein Mutlimaster) with a metal blade to make the cuts, but they can also be done with a Dremel or angle grinder with a cutoff wheel. The flat center section of the bumps is removed competely.

 

Then I carefully bent the "tabs" down using a body hammer and various dollies. I had to make a few relief cuts to widen the original ones to prevent the ends of some of the tabs from overlapping each other. I kept going until they closely matched the curve of the rest of each wheel well.

 

Once they were in folded over, I tacked them in place. Then I took center pieces I had cut out earlier and held them in place from inside the wheel well. Once I had them lined up, I used a sharpie to trace the outline of the remaining hole. Using tin snips, I cut them to size and trimmed them until they fit flush inside the hole. Using some magnets from old computer hard drives to hold them in place, I tacked them in as well. I still need some practice welding sheet metal as I blew through a couple times, but at least I didn't warp anything this time

 

Some pics of the driver's side fully welded in place.

 

And some pics of the passenger's side as well. This was the first point at which I finally remembered to snap some pics of my progress on this side, but the process is the same as for the driver's side.

 

From this point, its just basic bodywork. Grind the welds down, bondo, sand, bondo, sand, bondo, sand, rinse & repeat till everything is smooth and you're happy with it. Follow up with primer and paint of your choice. Pics of the passenger side below.

 

And some pics of the driver's side. I will be painting the entire engine bay once the weather is warm enough to allow it since my garage is not heated. I will update this with finished pics once its all painted.

 

Good write up. I was thinking of doing the same thing when I get my car painted

 

Great write up. This is exactly what I will be starting in the next week or so. Thanks!

 

very nice, thanks for sharing!

 

Great thread!

 

Great idea. Looks easy enough.

 

my brain saw shaving bumpers, like the RCA dog starin I was confued on how that works.......

 

I remember those commercials. There actually is a member on here who was working on shaving the rear bumper so it didn't stick out behind the taillights. He did a good job of it as I recall, but I won't be going that far.

 

I just realized I never updated this thread with pics of the finished wheel wells.

Here you go, let me know what you think good or bad.

 

Looks fantastic. I will be painting mine white. That black looks great. Did you do anything with the battery trays?

 

The driver's side is still the stock tray since that is where the battery will be until I can relocate it to the trunk someday. The passenger side tray I welded in a piece of sheet metal years ago when I removed the stock V6 air box. The tray was starting to rust out, and with a standard 13"x3" carb air cleaner in place since the V8 swap, there was no need to leave it stock. I just welded in the sheet metal over top of the old tray location after cutting it out, and smoothed it into the top of the frame rail.

 

If its not too much trouble, could you take a picture of the tray, top and from underneath?

I want to do this and would like the visual reference.

Also, when I welded my patches into mine I used a flux core welder. This is all I have. I have many small pin holes that I can see once I ground the welds smooth. Do you think these are not a big deal since I have to skim over the entire area anyways with bondo?

Thanks for any advice you can give.

 

I'll get some pics up as soon as I can.

If you've got lots of little pinholes, I'd assume your entire welds are porous and not as strong as they can be. On something like a battery tray cover plate, it shouldn't make much of a difference, but on larger structural areas that can be bad. If it's too bad, I'd consider grinding out as much weld as possible, and running another bead over top and grinding it down. If there aren't too many, you could just bondo over them, they will help hold the bondo in place.

How well did you clean the metal before welding? Usually I get them when the metal isn't clean enough, or I start to run out of shielding gas. I haven't done much flux-core welding, other than some exhaust pieces that couldn't wait till I refilled my gas bottle, so I don't know if pinholes are normal or not.

 

I agree that the pinholes are not good. I will simply keep going over my welds till they are all gone. If they show up again after I grind the welds smooth, I will just keep trying till they are gone. I did not clean the metal in the wheel well very well, if at all. I have a feeling this is where my pin hole issue is coming from. If I weld new clean metal with my flux core, you would think it was a standard MIG. (maybe). But what I am trying to say is that you can lay some really nice welds with a flux if you prep and the metal is nice and clean, (in an easy to clean spot, etc...) Not always the case. Anyways, I will work harder at keaping things clean and give it another go.

Is the next step simply bondo? I have never used it before and when I youtube body work vids there seems to be many products people talk about. What did you use? Your results are what I am shooting for.

 

This was a great job and thread you did. I followed your example and used them in my build!
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/memb...oming-aka.html

 

Haven't checked this thread in quite a while, sorry for missing your question. After grinding the welds, I moved on to the bondo. I actually used 2 different brands, one was actual Bondo name-brand stuff, the other was a no-name can of stuff I found tucked in the back of my basement when I bought the house several years ago. They both seemed to work just fine. Once the worst of the filling and shaping was done, I touched up the pinholes and small low spots with Bondo brand spot & glazing putty. It comes in a tube like toothpaste and sands incredibly easily once cured. Once it looked and felt smooth, I used an oil-based enamel spray can primer I think it was Valspar to primer it. Top coat was with Valspar's Tractor & Impelement paint in Satin Black. It's not "automotive paint", but with the hardener added it dries extremely hard and tough. Which is exactly what I wanted for an area that I am likely to be dropping tools, bolts, parts, etc on for the foreseeable future. I did not use a clear coat on it as I wanted the satin black look.