Straighten fenders before paint

klystr

New User
Hi all,

I'm new to the forum and spent some time researching this before posting.

I have a John Deere 1130 with some crooked fenders that I would like to straighten before I fill up the minor dents and start painting. I'm having some trouble assessing if I would be capable of fixing these benders as I am new to the field of bodywork (I'm handy, have some basic tools and a workspace, but no experience on tractors or cars). I'm afraid I might make things worse if I just start whacking the metal.

As the metal is quite thick, I was thinking of a hammer and dolly method. I have tried bending it, but that only works on smaller spots.

How would you proceed? What would be the easiest way for me as a rookie?

I have a picture here:
afbeelding delen[/img]
 
As a long time auto body man, I'd say if you're looking for perfection you'd be better off looking for different fenders. It would take a lot of work to make respectable fenders out of those. Depends on how you value your time.
 
My Opinion, ? I would get More fenders, And Never Look Back!, ..They're Just Too Badly Bent... You Could Spend a Week on them and Still Not be presentable, But just an Opinion, Have a Great Nite.. Larry
 
You need to take the fenders off to work on them. Since you don't have all the body shop tools I would lay it on a smooth concrete floor and start hammering on it. You know the shape they should be so hammer it out as close as you can. Then fill what is left with a fiberglass filler. Now fiberglass filler isn't intended to be used very thick so if you end up doing that apply it in thin layers and it wouldn't hurt to put some fiberglass cloth in the filler. The stuff used too thick is prone to crack when it shrinks. It may take a few weeks before it's done shrinking so you might get it to the shape you need and put some primer on it and let it sit and cure. You may have to come back and put some more filler on it and do some more sanding once it fully cures so you don't want to have to do that on a finished paint job.

All in all it's a very big project so if you can find some reproduction fenders or some good used ones it would save you a lot of headache.
 

You should keep in mind that if you go at them with a hammer against some sort of dolly every blow is going to stretch the metal slightly. This is cumulative so that by the time you have a big dent pretty well smoothed out, there will be a bulge that will be very difficult to work down.
 
I agree 100%. (body & paint/collision /restoration for 45 yrs) It's been said, and accurately, "a good body man could fix that....BUT...a "smart" bodyman would replace it" !
 
I think I would take them off and take a skinny wheel and cut all the bend areas off thinking I would straighten some of them and cut patches for the bad parts to weld it back like Chip Foose does on TV. Then after beating on it for a year or so cut the remainder of the fender into sections that would fit in the trunk of my car and take it to the scrap yard and look for a good used fender.


That is just how I do things!
 
(quoted from post at 07:19:13 09/01/18) I think I would take them off and take a skinny wheel and cut all the bend areas off thinking I would straighten some of them and cut patches for the bad parts to weld it back like Chip Foose does on TV. Then after beating on it for a year or so cut the remainder of the fender into sections that would fit in the trunk of my car and take it to the scrap yard and look for a good used fender.


That is just how I do things!

I like it Dick!!
 
Great advice guys, sorry for the late reply (great weather here lately, so some downtime online :)

I will inquire at some scrap dealers and compare to replica/replacement fenders!
 
If the same operators will be running it in the future, I would leave it as-is. Too often when things like that are fixed up, they soon get beat up again.
 
Tractor panels and especially fenders are the toughest to refurbish. With fenders both sides are visible and so repairs will be also. Vibration when running and working will cause fillers to flex and fail. When you get that gloss coat of JD green on them, even small imperfections will be eyesores. Repairing will leave you unhappy.

This is a job you want to do once and do well. I tried buying new aftermarket fenders on my own and ended up with a pair that was insufficient in terms of the gauge of the metal and in the method of fabrication and so had to return them. Then went and had a chat with the parts man at my local dealer and had him order me a set to be paid for upon inspection. Turned out they were perfect.


If that doesn't work out for you, you never know what you can get out of a specialized tractor salvage yard until you try.
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