Discussion on idea for "air horn" fix

[Elliott000]

Hey would one of you fine folks be able to measure on your cars the distance between the inside faces of the "nose" when the hoods up? I gotta rebuild my upper core support brace and with the bent up front end I don't want to trust whit I have for numbers. Here's a pic of someone else's car, but I'd like the inside measurement between the two faces at the rad support upper member /radiator if that makes sense .

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[grannyknot]

72/240z = 39 5/8th"  this car has had a minor front end collision, 77/280z = 39 1/4" no front end damage that I can see.

[Elliott000]

Awesome thanks

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[Elliott000]

My attempts for repair are struggling! While that one run I posted in the middle is pretty straight forward im struggling with shaping the metal for where it ties in the back and gets wider and also I assume I'll have a hard go at making the front. Any suggestions or links to tin bashing and forming steel into odd shapes? I have a set of hammer and Dolly's plus various other smashing devices and a oxy/acetelyne torch should i need heat. Im wondering if i should have used the stock guage steel to simplify shaping

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[rturbo 930]

Yes, you should use stock gauge, which is probably 20 for that piece. What are you using now? I find 20 is pretty easy to work with, 18 is a fair bit more difficult. It doesn't like to bend like 20 does, which I can basically adjust with just my hands.

I'm not sure what specifically you're having trouble with, but maybe look into a shrinker/stretcher.

[Elliott000]

I used 18 on the straight run. As posted a few posts up. I just dont know how to form the flat pieces up the front

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[grannyknot]

Post some pics of the area you are trying recreate and what you have so far,  nobody will laugh...too much.  As rturbo mentioned, 20ga is nice to work with an you can always add stiffeners afterward to strengthen it.

[Elliott000]

Will do, people can laugh I'm good with it haha! I'll be around tomorrow and snap some shots.

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[Namerow]

You're a confident welder.  Maybe you should stop trying to think about forming difficult shapes from a single piece of sheet.  Yes, it can be done... but do you really want to go down that path?  How about forming smaller sections and then tacking them together? 

[wheee!]

Here's an example of how I replicated a difficult curved area with small pieces welded together.

Bulldog curve

[7tooZ]

72 body with 71 interior, Eibach, Illumina, R180 CLSD, 83 close ratio, 3.90 gears, Zstory, SUs, BRE Libre wheels and front spoiler.

[Namerow]

8 hours ago, wheee! said:

Here's an example of how I replicated a difficult curved area with small pieces welded together.

My point, exactly (and a very nice piece of fab work by our friend in Ft. Saskatoon).  Try replicating the overall panel with pieces of 'box board' (aka packaging from a grocery store frozen pizza), using masking tape to hold the pieces together.  The box board will only be happy bending in one plane (kind of like 18-gauge steel).  Might take a few tries to get down to something you're happy with, but pizza is cheap (and goes well with beer).  Also worth remembering something the you, yourself pointed out at the beginning of this project, that being that nobody's going to see this panel after the car is finished and on the road.  All you're aiming for is a something that's structurally sound and fits.  

Applauding your work from the sidelines.