Schofield Long side panel too short?

[Mr Margaret Scratcher]

Having another little fettle with my long side panel repair piece while I wait for the inner support posts to arrive and it feels like it's slightly too short.

I can kind of get it to line up with the rear arch by pushing the B post back a little:

But then there's going to be a horrible gap where it meets the dogleg:

Obviously having it sit slightly lower would make it line up, but then I'm thinking it's not going to be tight against the inner supports.

The lower lip of the panel should be pretty much flush with the bottom of the inner rocker, right?

I'm thinking I might have to make a cut to lengthen the panel by a couple of mm, either down by the B post, or at the other end and move the wheel arch lip back a little. Option 2 seems like a better idea now I think about it...

[Kb65single]

I vote option two. Get the panel to set correctly on the b-pillar and horizontally on the inner rocker. Lengthen the rear or widen the rear wheel well. Good luck
Ken

[TDCTDI]

Make sure that the contour matches the dogleg. Adjust the fit to the dogleg, then move the panel downwards. As the panel moves down, the diagonal trailing edge will get “longer”.
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[Huetti_1989]

I used a nos repair panel for that, it also was a little to short, i put a flat metal in the rear section front of the wheel arch and hammer it so strech the panel till it fit, now i would use the english wheel to strech it.

Stretching a panel is easyer that shrinking🙂

-Christian
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My 1952 Panel:
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[Mr Margaret Scratcher]

[Huetti_1989]

[Mr Margaret Scratcher]

[Mr Margaret Scratcher]

Basically this is how I predict it will unfold:


Link

[Oldfart]

[Huetti_1989]

[Mr Margaret Scratcher]

[edgood1]

I would flatten out the bend and rebend it such that it fits the bus
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1987 Syncro Westfalia powered by Subaru
1963 Panel to Deluxe Bus project :::: (photo album)
'65 Westfalia

[Mr Margaret Scratcher]

[Kb65single]

Yes practice on metal first. Take a piece of metal, bend 2 ends at 90deg. Then measure the overall length of that piece. Then start hammer and dolly and see if the 3-4 mm stretch is possible. Make that piece at least 300mm wide, don't use a thin piece. Thin pieces are easy to bend and shape. Then you can decide if that's how you want to proceed (and how the piece looks). The b-pillar repair section has to line up with the top section via a straight edge. You can cheat the dogleg to b-pillar a little either way, but the bottom gap of the front door might fight you. You might have to adjust the dogleg if the b-pillar alignment ends up way off. The video was hilarious, yes Don't be Father Ted.

[edgood1]

[Mr Margaret Scratcher]

Well, I had a little attempt:

Started with this:

and I managed to get an extra 1mm

And a surface that is as rough as a badger's arse, as we say here in the UK:

Leaning towards the cut and re-join method, but also I think the brand new round hammer I got today has some sort of weird laquer on it that was making the marks, so maybe I'll look at trying to smooth that off and give it another go tomorrow

[Bulli Klinik]

From what I'm seeing, you don't want to stretch the panel in that location, you just need to redress the flange at the wheel well.

Lay the outside of the panel flat on a bench. Take a dull chisel (corking tool), stick it inside of the flange, hold the panel tight against the bench and tap the chisel to move the flange to the rear.

I use this technique when installing rockers so that the flange ends up in the correct location once welded.

Right side set and locked into place:

Left side short:

Halfway throgh dressing with a dull chisel. It's not stretching so much as a controlled way of moving the flange over. No metal is getting stretched:

Personally, I would just weld it on and blend the opening at the rear once it's on the Bus.
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Mike K
Bulli Klinik
Colorado Springs

[Mr Margaret Scratcher]

This looks like a good plan - trying to move the flange at the B post was ending up with the edge getting less sharp and so the join between dogleg and side panel would be inconsistent. The rear flamge diesnt have this join so should be more forgiving in this respect

[Mr Margaret Scratcher]

Okay this might just work, going from this:

to this:

Obviously still some straightening out to do to get it perfect

Thanks everyone for their advice!

[Bulli Klinik]

Nice work. A little hammer and sharp dolly work and it'll look perfect.
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PM me about quality metal-work on your vehicle.
Mike K
Bulli Klinik
Colorado Springs