TR2/3/3A TR-3 Front Fender lower patches

[DonP]

Any experience with patching the lower front fenders of a TR-3?

I've checked at Moss and TRF and they both seem to have the same lower patches (about $100 + or - for each side).

Anybody do the patch job? Experiences to share or pitfalls I should watch out for?

 

[Don Elliott]

I've done it on both the TR3As that I've restored. It went well with the first one where I patched them with the fenders off the car. I used my MIG welder and tacked each about every 2" apart. Then I did it again about half way between each of the previous welds. After these were cool, I seam welded the rest and ground the excess welds off both the outside and the inside.

On the recent TR3A, I did the same, but found I had left a bit too much length and when I bolted them on, the excess left it bowing out. When I pushed on the fender, it "bonged" inward and it stayed there. So I had to cut along the weld line and re-weld it all to make it right. So I'd suggest that it's better to do it on the car with all the fender bolts tight along the top as well as the three bottom ones that bolt the fender to the inner sill.

These were sheetmetal parts that I had made by a body shop near home. But I've seen these for Austin-Healeys where they are not welded together, but are glued or bonded along the horizontal seam so there is no heat to ripple or dish the result.

Don Elliott, 1958 TR3A

https://www.britishcarforum.com/ubbthread...e=&sortdir=

 

[bluemiata90]

DonP, I see your from Chicago. What part, North/South/suburbs. I'm in the process of doing the same patch work with my TR3 and I started it by tack welding the patches with the fenders on. Then I removed them and this winter will grind and finish the welds. I'm on the southside of Chicago if your close and want to see the fenders, drop me a line. I'm also doing a body off restoration on the same car. Good luck Scott

 

[DonP]

I'm in the South "Boonies", Frankfort, South of I-80 near the junction of rte 45 and rte 30.

I'll be pulling my TR3-B engine and tranny for a rebuild and new clutch this winter and figured I'd do the front fenders while I have the engine on the stand. I have the typical "bubble rust" on both lower front fenders and I'm assuming it's coming from the inside out.

I still have to get my mig welder back from my oldest. He's been using it to patch in a lot of new metal on his '66 Midget.

Fitting it with tack welds while the fender is on the car then finishing the seam off the car sounds like it makes the most sense. for a smooth fit.

Hey, then again maybe I'll get the fender off and find out it's still solid and just needs a little wire brushing. ... yeah, right, and maybe the queen herself will show up to help me fit it?

 

[bluemiata90]

DonP, Email me at my email address. I already have my engine out and machined and that was another project I had for this winter. Maybe we can learn from each others experiences with the rebuild. I've never rebuilt a TR3 engine and could certainly use some guidance. I go to Frankfort on Thursday nights in the summer for the car shows. My email address is triumph61@hotmail.com
scott

 

[martx-5]

[ QUOTE ]
Any experience with patching the lower front fenders of a TR-3?

I've checked at Moss and TRF and they both seem to have the same lower patches (about $100 + or - for each side).

Anybody do the patch job? Experiences to share or pitfalls I should watch out for?

[/ QUOTE ]

I've had one of those Moss patch panels sitting around for about six month, but I just got around this weekend to do the repair.

What I noticed pretty quickly was that the new panel (which extends about twelve inches up the fender) is perfectly flat!! Checking the original fender with a straight edge, it is obvious that the is a slight curvature up the side of the fender. That leaves two options.
1. Shrink the backbone section that attaches to the A pillar and force a curve into the skin.
2. Create the curve with bondo.

Either way, you have to match the curve of the door.

The curve doesn't start immediately from the bottom of the fender. It's actually quite flat for the first five inches. Since the rot on my fender only extended four inches up the panel, I elected to use only the bottom four inches of the new patch panel.

I just wanted to alert anyone using these repair panels that there some considerations to using them. If I didn't have the panel just sitting there already paid for, I probably would have just grabbed some sheet metal I had laying around and just made whatever I needed to repair the bottom of the fender.