Sometimes you just need to back up and punt.
Even though I have been working on this car far too long, with travel for the day job and two other resto's having been quite an interruption..... you get to where you finally see light at the end of the tunnel, and just come to grips with something that needs to come back out....
When I originally did this roof repair, I did not have the Lennox nibbler or English wheel or many of the tools I now have, and the patch panel you see below.....
....was fabricated using incremental bends in an apron brake. Given the creases you see due to the fabrication method, I likely made this shorter than I should have in an attempt to limit the creases, and the result was the horizontal weld was not up high enough to be readily accessible for planishing. After making these patch panels for a second roof repair......
.....it was more apparent that the first attempt was not the best, and if I wasn't happy with it before, this new panel really made the old one grab my attention...each time I've walked by.
Well a person with spare patches lying around can only take so much, so tonight I checked the fit of one of the spare patch panels.... Looking at the front, the panel needed just a bit more crown....
And the rear needed just a bit less....
So with the Go Kart slick mounted up and ready to go, a 6" then 3.75" radius lower anvil added the crown needed for the front and a 24" radius flattened out the rear for a much better fit.
These panels are about 4" high and put the weld up above the roof boxing structure, so planishing will be more accessible to give us a better job. I'll get the patch all primed on the inside and let it cure. Then cut out the old patch and get this new one welded in.. More to come..