More Fairlane Progress

I know it's been some time since there were any updates here, but believe me there has been a lot going on in the last three weeks. I've moved into a new shop, got the Studebaker on the road (an put over 1000 miles on it already!) and run a few short time jobs through the shop along with making serious progress on the usual suspects. Speaking of which...

The 1957 Fairlane has had a lot of panels replaced and repaired since the last time we took a look. Here's an overview of all the work.

The driver's side lower quarter panel and rocker needed replacement.

When I cut away the quarter it revealed some further rot on the inner fenderwell. here is the front section after replacement

Here is the rear section of the inner wheel well after repairs. That was it for the inner on this side.

The quarter panel patches trimmed and clamped in place, ready for welding.

Here's how the ptch panel fit in the door opening. Not too bad.

Here it is all stitched up and back on the ground.

I also replaced the outer rocker panel.

The driver's side toe board had been replaced once with flat sheet but the repair was poorly done. I cut it out and repaired it correctly.

The tail pan had a lot of rot in it, it was all bondo in the bottom one third of the panel.

After I cut it all away I discovered the inner trunk floor extension was gone. There was nothing there.

I started by making the outer edge in four sections, the middle two were bent i the brake and then formed in the shrinker stretcher to make the inside and outside radiuses.

Here's a closeup of the middle two pieces, you can see the two additional rusted spots that I had to make and replace.

Here is everything bent up and tacked in place.

And this is the whole new trunk floor extension welded in and sanded smooth. Next up is the outer tail pan!