MTFCA Forum

I've been researching and planning and making the necessary pieces for my delivery car. One item was the fender irons. I have drawn these unique fender irons up and 3D printed them to exact dimensions. I have now finally secured a foundry that will cast these for me. I was only going to have one set cast, but a forum member had contacted me and asked me about rear fender irons because he too is doing a delivery car, I told him where I was in the project. The foundry I'm working with is willing to do a small run. If anyone else would like a pair please contact me via email or call to discuss. The run is queued in December so I will need to know really soon if interested.

Mike

mikebird@lifeattheridge.net or 574-584-6744

Nice work Mike.
I know next to nothing about delivery cars, but wondered how different are the rear fender brackets from the forged running board brackets? Maybe a little heat and a hacksaw...
Keith

Keith,
I’m sure perhaps if someone had the energy and time maybe they could fashion a set, they would probably need some finishing work though to get them looking right. On the pad section where the bolt holes are there is a bend to follow the curvature of the body. Before I had pursued this route if making my own I purchased some 13 rear fender irons and set out to bend but decided to just have them cast then I would know the measurements would be right on and not waste time in trying to straighten and bend old ones.

Mike, can you share info on what type of material is used in the castings? Fender irons are usually steel forgings, which can take some heat and bending. I once had some 1912 rear corner frame brackets made in cast steel. They were considerably more costly than comparable cast iron items

Allan from down under.

Note that your cast fender irons will not be the same size when you get them back as the ones you send to the foundry for casting.
Craig

Count me in Mike, nice work.
Michael A

Craig E. Luton wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 17, 2021 12:00 am

Note that your cast fender irons will not be the same size when you get them back as the ones you send to the foundry for casting.
Craig

Yes that's true if you don't adjust for shrinkage. I 3D printed several molds to adjust for the right shrinkage for the castings as per the foundry.
Thanks for your input and advice.

Allan wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 16, 2021 11:55 pm

Mike, can you share info on what type of material is used in the castings? Fender irons are usually steel forgings, which can take some heat and bending. I once had some 1912 rear corner frame brackets made in cast steel. They were considerably more costly than comparable cast iron items

Allan from down under.

Allan,
The material that it is being casted in is ductile Iron which has a higher tensile strength and shock absorption to steel.
Yield strength- Ductile Iron- 40 ksi vs 36 ksi steel. There is a difference in cast iron and ductile iron as well. Cast iron has the potential to break when heated and bent and is a "cheaper" casting where ductile iron does not. Ductile iron is flexible as cast iron is not. I had to settle with ductile iron because to find a foundry near me that would cast these and do a small job was difficult enough. I know it's not "original" but these fender irons only hold the fender with support from the running boards. Not a whole lot of weight will be hanging on these.

Thanks Mike. I thought there would be something different from cast iron.

Allan from down under.

I haven't worked with the tools for over 30 years, but as I remember, gray iron can be changed to white iron through the heat-treating process. You will have to inquire with a heat treater on that.

Craig

Mike,
Is this a delivery car rear fender bracket?
Keith

Keith, unfortunately it is not. Those are the standard 13 fender irons that someone has bent the mounting pad up. On the delivery car irons the iron towards the bottom of the pad. Before making my own I thought of modifying 13 irons, but just too much work.
Here are the ones I had casted.

Mike, any thought on how much for the finished product, I think something like this would work well on my "home-made pickup. George Hand

George Hand wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 27, 2024 6:02 pm

Mike, any thought on how much for the finished product, I think something like this would work well on my "home-made pickup. George Hand

George, I had these casted back in 2022 for my Delivery Car project and only made a small run of them for those who requested them. At the time they were $125/pair. I don’t foresee making another run because getting the foundry to do them was pretty difficult since I was a walk in customer.