#25 Silver 147 wheel well widening, bodywork and paint.

[kelly saad]

It has been a while since I have uploaded project threads like I was previously doing a few years ago. This project is almost done, but I will upload pictures over the next week and go through the whole process here.

The project:
1. Disassemble vehicle: remove doors, tailgate and hatch.
2. Strip paint to bare metal.
3. Close all holes in rocker panels from trim.
4. Remove seam sealer in roof gutters and windshield area, repair any rust and seal again.
5. Fabricate new lower door skin replacement panels. Sand blast remaining rust, seal bare metal and apply seam sealer.
6. Fabricate quarter panels and fenders to allow the 37" tires without interference.
7. Remove, clean and replace A-pillar gutter sections.
8. Fabricate inner front and rear inner fenders to fit the new opening shape.
9. Paint (base and clear) Toyota paint code 147.

For a project like this, it's best to remove the entire panel.

 

[kelly saad]

Starting off, the openings were already cut, so I am widening these more and fabricating new pieces that will have the accurate factory body lines.

 

[kelly saad]

Now for the front side of fender. This is really tight, so widening it as far forward as possible.

 

[kelly saad]

More photos of the fabricated fender widening pieces. These are difficult pieces to make. There are contours in multiple directions and a body line, so it becomes tricky.

 

[kelly saad]

Lower door skin sections are being replaced also. I always replace these because all of these 60 doors have hidden rust in the bottom. I fabricate the lower skins myself. This requires an english wheel, brake, bead roller and a slip roller. The doors are not flat, so if you don't create these with the correct shape they will not look right.

 

[cruisermatt]

Wow, that widening the fender opening while keeping the original body line is really cool. I want to do that on mine

 

[kelly saad]

Wow, that widening the fender opening while keeping the original body line is really cool. I want to do that on mine

Thanks! It looks so awesome, honestly. It was a massive project! Undershot my landing on this one for sure. The inner fenders were a huge part of the job too, getting these to fit perfectly to the fender and quarter lip. Organic shaped parts with bends in multiple directions, tough.

 

[kelly saad]

More of the fender widening pieces. For those wondering, yes I will use the tig. Sometimes, depending on what I am doing and the location, I prefer the mig.

 

[kelly saad]

Here is the front of the fender now. This is where I maxed out the opening distance as you can see.

 

[kelly saad]

This is an example of one lower door skin installed start to finish. I made a brace that goes behind the seam while I weld these. It has an aluminium face and a slight bulge outward to keep it from caving inward. It is just wedged in and removes easily for the next door.

 

[kelly saad]

The rear quarter panel wheel opening project. This took a couple donor quarters to create the panel I needed. The small silver piece is the front 3.5" from the original quarter and I will use it here to push back the wheel opening. Also, the lower section of the quarter will be removed for more clearance and so I decided to also remove the bumper indentation.

 

[kelly saad]

With these being donor parts, most had rust. I Had to remove the rusted area and fabricate a new section of the wheel opening lip.

 

[In Wonderland]

With these being donor parts, most had rust. I Had to remove the rusted area and fabricate a new section of the wheel opening lip.

View attachment 4023980View attachment 4023981View attachment 4023982View attachment 4023983View attachment 4023984

Wow, that is sweet!

 

[kelly saad]

This is the drivers side quarter panel. Last picture is the test fit. The third picture is a close up of the tig welds. I overlap the panels and cut through both at a bout a 45 degree angle with a small saw blade. Then tig weld the pieces together without a filler rod. There is a mig weld tack in there, so you can see the size difference.

 

[reklund5]

sweet baby jeezus this one is gonna be beautiful.

 

[kelly saad]

Primer time. This picture would be the second round of primer.

 

[klip]

Nice work! I can’t imagine how time consuming it’d be to make those filler pieces, from a flat piece of sheet metal! I really like how you did the front of the front fender.

 

[kelly saad]

The primer is all sanded and it is back in the booth for some 147 silver.

 

[kelly saad]

Assembly time. These are 37" tires.

 

[zeeklafreek]

Dang!