Author Topic: Handy body panel forming tool/fixture --  (Read 6697 times)

Online goodfellow

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Handy body panel forming tool/fixture --
« on: August 13, 2018, 05:46:38 PM »
I made one of these bucks a few years ago. I was helping a friend bend up some patches for his MG and after the second trip back to my house to use the sheetmetal brake, I suggested we build one of these things and take it with us. It took three hours to build, and we welded it up with my old AC stick welder using 6011 because the angle iron was pretty dirty. Thanks to Heiny57 for supplying the leftover metal from a job he had in my area. 

I overbuilt this thing so that it could take the stress of working with 16ga, so all the joints are welded and braced; including two cross braces for the feet. I just used junk that was in the shop -- 3/4" threaded rod, and nuts -- everything was at hand.









The top angle iron on the clamping side sits just a bit lover than the other side. Once I sit the clamping  angle iron on top of that lower angle iron, it makes a flush top for shaping metal.





Here you can see how the clamping angle sits flush because the angle iron brace underneath it is cut shorter in height.



Once the clamping surfaces were flush, they were trued up with a belt sander to make then smooth and crisp.



All painted up and ready for some more work. My buddy took it already back to his garage, and the paint wasn't even dry === LOL