Following up with more details of the inner fender removal, the ultimate goal was clearance for fenderwell headers. The more immediate need was cutting out rust before it spread any further. And a third objective was simply ease of maintenance such as greasing the front end. I’m 63 and retain the same automotive enthusiasm I had as a teenager. Unfortunately with missing spinal discs and bad knees the carcass doesn’t always cooperate, so anything that makes working on the truck easier is welcome
Since I don’t weld, and couldn’t find any better examples of used inner fenders locally for a budget price, I decided to cut out everything I didn’t want, and repair the remaining rust damage as usual with JB Weld. For those that may have missed it, I’ve used JB Weld on just about everything imaginable as detailed in this thread:
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...p+hole+filling
Here’s what the forward end of both panels looked like before starting the project. As can be seen rust was blistering from the outer panel, over the top and down toward the frame on both sides. Fortunately it was all contained on the inner fenders. Here’s the passenger side:
And the driver side:
Had I realized years earlier this would be caused by the open bracket underneath collecting and packing up with road debris I would have simply sealed all the openings from the bottom and avoided all this rust to begin with.
But a little late for preventative measures at this point, so the slicing was started. Cutting the rear edge free without damaging the firewall was very difficult. It would have been much easier with the panels out of the truck, but I didn’t want to extend the project with more disassembly:
Here’s the last shot before cutting began:
First the passenger side was removed, followed by the driver side:
