How to free hand a wheel arch
This one will be picture intensive, however, I think it shows how to easily form a wheel arch without using purchased panels, which probably won't fit anyway. A bit of sheet metal, and some welding is all you need. Some old beer case cardboard helps too for patterns I learned this from Fitzee Fabrication on youtube, there is a link in my previous posts. I also used this on the rear quarter panel that you already see. It worked so well, ill end up going back to the driver side and re working that wheel ach, while that side is OK, its not a good as what we have here.
Here is what i started with, similar to the rest of the vehicle, not much left, although technically better than the passenger side
I cut out all the rust, then flanged and welded on some sheet metal that was at least 2 inches too long
Then I mounted the door and used that to trim and form the edge to match the door cut out. This is where a body hammer and dolly works pretty well
Hard to see, but a nice clean line here
Similar to the door flange we will call it, next step is to weld on another oversized piece, then trim down to size
top side trimmed and door fit checked
Then do the same on the bottom
And here you have it… you just made a wheel arch without much measuring, no need for a break, or a shrinker / stretcher, and you didn't need to buy a custom panel. Just take some patience and a lot of welding. Ill finish welding and grinding when I get the rest of the rocker panel replaced.
If there are any questions let me know. This technique can be used in lots of circumstances to eliminate the need to use a break and other complex tools to get fancy shapes. In the end I think it works just about as well, and takes less time