Chassis Repair and Spare Wheel Well

Having removed the old spare wheel well (see previous post) I have made a start on a repair piece for the corroded chassis end. This should be fashioned out of 16 gauge to be reasonably true to original Volvo spec.

I made a card template to cover the base and the missing edge/lip as a single piece. I intend to make and add side pieces once the main repair has been attached.

Here is the initial cut panel which fits pretty well actually (reasonably happy with that). However, I though it prudent to move on to the fit-up of the new wheel well/floor panels before I actually welded it in place. I have therefore cleaned up the inside of the chassis box with wire brushes and treated it with Fertan rust converter.

Trial fitting the spare wheel well sections proved to be more complicated than I anticipated. I perhaps naively assumed that the new panels would simply drop into place but it seems that the main section of the wheel well needs some modification. Firstly, the leading front edge (towards the axle) needs to be bent/hammered up to meet the angle of the floor.

The next issue concerns the fitting together of the two halves of the wheel well. There is a small plate spot welded to the rear edge of the main panel which fouls the side piece.

No matter how I tried to fit the two halves of the well together I couldn't make this work. In the end I removed it. Even then, the halves will not fit together as per the original panels*. I needed to cut out a small notch to allow the panels to slide together.

With these 'tweaks' I have eventually managed to complete the fit-up, using the two spare wheel well panels and the outer/lower rear quarter. (I hope this image helps to explain the mods.)

I am generally pleased with how everything is coming together (with all that sparkly new metal in place, the Volvo is threatening to look like a car again), but I am not convinced about the positioning front to back. After some deliberation I have decided that the best course of action is to replace the rear panel first, then build forward from there.

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* I am fortunate in that my friend who owns the '67 4dr competition prepared amazon also has an unrestored '63 car with all panels pretty much as original. This is proving to be invaluable as reference.

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