Restoring 8N Rear Fenders

danbrennan · Dec 29, 2014

Someday soon I would like to repaint the sheet metal of my 1949 Ford 8N. Looking at the rear fenders, there are a lot of dents in them. I was curious - do people typically bump the dents out of the original fenders, or just buy new reproduction fenders? I've done some minor bump work on my '70s cars(Camaros, 442), but I never seem to do all that well shrinking metal. I invariably have to use body filler(I usually use USC's All Metal filler, although a couple of times I used lead to see what it was like) and sand to get the fenders straight. Do the professional tractor restorers use body filler, like we do on cars?

tractorguy2 · Dec 29, 2014

I think it depends on how many dents and how large
they are. There are nice repro fenders available
for 8n's. If the fenders are beat bad or have
rust holes. you might want to think harder about
new fenders.

I cleaned and painted the fenders on my 40 9n
about 12 years back. I see now one fender is
getting a rust hole near the bottom. it must have
dirt between the fender and bracket.

Oregon Tractor Jack · Dec 30, 2014

The nice thing about old tractor fenders is the thickness of the metal. It is much thicker than mid 70's automotive metal. Bumping out the dents depends on how much time you have. I pound out the dents, but I still use body filler. A true craftsman could hammer a fender smooth enough, but I am not that good. As far a shrinking metal it really isn't that hard, just do little spots at a time. I use a small brazing tip, get the metal blue colored and quench. I usually only shrink metal if I have an "oil can" where the metal will pop back and forth. Start on the outside and slowly work your way in. I did this for an 8n fender that I had to weld a repair section into.

danbrennan · Jan 1, 2015

I'm usually trying to shrink distortion that occurred from MIG welding, and I wonder if that's just a situation where shrinking the metal is not the answer. I've been using a No. 3 tip on my MAPPOxygen torch, maybe that's too much heat. I guess I don't have much too lose trying it on the 8N fender, if it doesn't work well at least I can get repos. Yes, the 8N fenders are definitely thicker steel than the 20-22 ga metal on my '70s cars. Thanks.

Dick L · Jan 1, 2015

I shrink metal using the off dolly method in most cases. The dolly is held at the edge of the dint and you tap at the edge of the dolly and work around the edge of the dint. Or on some dints you put the dolly on the high side of the dint and work around the edge on the other side tapping. Sometimes I do both on the same dint. One thing with steel is no mater what you do to it with a welder and grinder it can always be fixed.

danbrennan · Jan 3, 2015

I've read about the off dolly method, but never tried it, so that would be a good experiment. I've only tried heating the bulging part directly, and quenching it with water, or tapping it with a shrinking hammer.

Also, I've been heating the metal to only red hot - does it get blue if I heat it more? Or is red too hot?

Restoring 8N Rear Fenders

danbrennan

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tractorguy2

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Oregon Tractor Jack

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danbrennan

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Dick L

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danbrennan

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