As our Vary Rover restoration undertaking strikes alongside, we’ve reached a degree the place we now have to make some restore panels for the rear ground. The principle ground panel, which we’ve already minimize out, rests on a fringe lip that has nearly utterly rotted away. There are aftermarket substitute panels for the facet panels that initially incorporate these flanges, however utilizing these would have meant eradicating much more metallic than simply the rusted space.
As an alternative, we determined to manufacture our personal patch panels utilizing 20-gauge metal sheet. The sections we’re going to restore are primarily straight panels with a pair of opposing 90-degree bends. The ground solely drops down about half of an inch, a reasonably tight jog for a benchtop brake.
As a result of the ground is a little bit over 53 inches lengthy and the device we’re utilizing to bend these panels solely has a gap of about 20 inches huge, so we make three 18-inch lengthy items per facet which we’ll have to weld collectively to make a single run.
Right here I’ve taken my trimmed up blanks and marked the bending line utilizing a large marker and my outdated dial calipers. That is the place I’ll make the primary bend on the brake. I’ve additionally made reference marks for my very own use.
Watch the episode beneath to see how we use the Eastwood Versa Bend sheet metallic brake to kind these patch panels.
