Tilted fender.

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ivaldes1
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Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2019 1:32 am
First Name: Ignacio
Last Name: Valdes
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1924 Touring
Location: Houston, Tx
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Tilted fender.

Post by ivaldes1 » Wed Sep 15, 2021 2:27 am

So my left rear fender is tilted. Is the hanger causing this? It seems like the end should be parallel to the ground. If so do I bend the hanger by hammering it on an anvil or some other method? I tried to bend a front fender hanger before, it did not go well.
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Wayne Sheldon
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* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1915 Runabout 1913 Speedster
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Re: Tilted fender.

Post by Wayne Sheldon » Wed Sep 15, 2021 5:55 am

I see two things. One, the fender bracket bolted onto the body side is bent slightly wrong. Getting the fenders to all fit and balance properly is usually a bit tricky. One bracket will be too high, another too low, one tweaked forward a bit, another tweaked back. One usually needs to put all fenders on, and then measure and stand back and look for the balance. Usually, you will need to bend, tweak, and re-bend and refit several times until everything looks right.
That one bracket, the top piece of it that slips underneath the rear fender, is not near the right angle. It needs to be almost perfectly level to level ground, and should be almost perfectly straight across and perfectly in line with the bracket on the other side. The height relative to the frame and ground will have to be checked very carefully for the fenders to look right. These fender brackets often need to be bent and re-bent and bent again until everything fits together like they should.

The other thing I see, is that it appears the fender bracket (rod) isn't seated in the fender's bracket properly. The upper portion of the rod and the flat surface of the fender should be almost parallel to each other. The 'folded angle iron bracket' riveted to the top of the fender should have two 'half moon' 'cradles' that the body-to-fender bracket clamps into. The eye bolt should fit between the angle irons and loop around the fender iron between the two cradles to pull it in tight.
In the photo, it looks as though the fender iron (rod) isn't sitting in the cradles.

You will probably be touching up a bunch of paint before you are done!


Allan
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Re: Tilted fender.

Post by Allan » Wed Sep 15, 2021 6:39 am

Ignatio, did they fit before you had them painted?

Allan from down under.


mtntee20
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Re: Tilted fender.

Post by mtntee20 » Wed Sep 15, 2021 6:42 am

I recently had to bend a fender iron to get it to fit the fender. To do so, I wrapped the fender iron in a rag and clamped it in my vice. Grabbing the long end of the iron, I manually pulled/pushed to bend the end to the desired position. I had to do this 3 or 4 times as I would bend a little and fit check, bend a little and fit check, until I had it where it needed to be. Not as hard as I expected so go easy at first and then just enough to bend a bit the check so as you do not bend too far. I thought about annealing but decided to try without it. In previous posts about fender irons and head light bucket mounts, the general consensus was bend without. Many even suggested using a pipe wrench to get enough leverage and I have seen pipe wrench jaw/tooth marks on several head light bucket mounts. So, it must be a more common practice than I had thought.

As for the fender, I didn't have to bend mine. It was the bracket that was not correct.

Good Luck


TXGOAT2
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Re: Tilted fender.

Post by TXGOAT2 » Wed Sep 15, 2021 6:56 am

I would not hammer on a fender iron or put a pipe wrench on it. Use a tree fork and something like a cheater pipe for leverage, or make a bending fork with a forked end with rounded edges where it will contact the fender iron.


John kuehn
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Re: Tilted fender.

Post by John kuehn » Wed Sep 15, 2021 10:21 am

The fender itself may be slightly warped to one side. I had a good pair I had bought for my 21 Touring and after painting them before final assembly I noticed the right one slightly warped. I slightly bent it downward and it’s pretty close now. I should have caught it early before painting. I guess I should have looked closely first.

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