Click here to skip to the TIG Welding a Patch Panel video below
In this episode I finally finish TIG welding the last patch panel to the original fender. While it’s not 100% authentic to an original 1969-1973 fender, I did my best to reproduce the design and even improve a little here and there. One improvement was to butt TIG weld the grill bracket patch panel to the existing fender flange. This will be far less prone to corrosion then the way the factory overlapped these parts.
Most of the supporting brackets for the turn signal housing and grill cannot be seen once the car is fully assembled and on the road. The outer TIG weld patch panel that deletes the old impact bumper accordions transformed the look of the car! (Goodbye impact bumpers). I’m happy with the way the outer panel looks and I doubt anyone can spot these as impact bumper fenders. Like I said in the video, I’m not trying to fool anyone into thinking this is a real RS. Instead I’m building the car the way I want for aesthetic and weight reduction reasons. Next week, I might need to fabricate a small bracket to support the body to bumper seal.
The grill and turn signal stick up a bit from the plane of the bumper and I’ll adjust those later once the bumper is mounted and in the correct location. I decided to wait on the tricky alignment exercise in mid air for now.
I hope you enjoy the video and please leave a comment below if you have any questions. Often people ask what tools I’m using. Here is a link to my favorite hammer and dolly that I used to planish the distortion out of the TIG welded area.
Martin 151G hammer https://amzn.to/2HbNBHz
Heavy Blob Dolly https://amzn.to/2HD1bU2
