Just thinking about doing the side panels.

I'd like to bend the tops of them not just onto the horizontal but down the inside of the chassis top rail aswell and rivet on the inside.

Is this best done by bending it around/over the chassis rail itself (by complex process of hammer ) or would I see much benefit from getting access to a sheet metal bender and using that?

Basically I want it to look good which suggests I should use the sheet bender- only thing is, it'll be a lot of hassle/called in favours to get the access. If people have managed to do a good job 'in situ' with a hammer I'd rather do that.

Thanks for any hints,

Cheers,
James

Yeah,

I'm just starting to fit my floor and sides on with double sided sticky tape (may stick a few rivets in the corners) and was wondering about this too for my side panels.

I have 1mm thick ns4 and it seems it will bend OK in situ, starting of with some vice grips and finishing with a hammer (covered in rag or something). I have round tube sill tops and will try and wrap the ally all the way round and stick underneath.

Good luck,

Liam

James,

I too have ben thinking about this, i'm probably jusy giong to opt for a longish piece of wood to spread the laod of the hammer blows and knock it round with that so as to avoid hammer marks on the ally. i recon it should give a good enough finish, a bending press would be nice, but big and wieldly to operate depending ot he size of the panels, also getting the compound bends might prove tricky? In situ gets my vote..

I've always found that the problem with using a hammer to do this is that it's very difficult to bend the ally evenly along it's length. This intruduces stretch, and eventually a curve in the bend, which is virtually impossible to remove without putting wrinkles on the outer surface.
You can limit this by VERY firmly clamping the aluminium to the member you're bending it around, lots of clamps, etc, needed.
Personally I wouldn't attempt the double bend you mention, I think you'll find this much harder to do than you think without a proper bending press. Chances are you'll probably need to cover the top edge with a foam strip or similar as a bonnet landing, which would cover the rivet heads anyway.
If you MUST try it you'll want to practise your method on some scrap pieces first - don't mess up a nice, expensive piece of ally.

Good Luck!

Geoff.

James, Here's a picture of my side panels with a double bend, got the machine shop to put one bend in to get a nice fold line, then used a rubber mallet to tap over the second side.

The one inch riveting is just force of habit. looks good enough that I'm not going to bother with any covering trim.

Atb Dan.

[img][/img]

I've used a hammer to do this, and am fairly happy with the result.

I don't think you can have too many clamps. I clamped a length of rhs to the outside of the panel to stop the vertical section bending outwards when i did it the second time

Make sure you use a soft, light hammer and take your time. A bender will give you a much sharper bend, but I'm happy with my finish.

HTH

David

http://www.irvined.co.uk/gallery/Arches/cimg0230

You can just see the finish here, its not dead square which is a combination of lack of experience and no bender, but I think it looks ok.

I prefer using the hammer instead of a brake was well. One advantage is that the bend closely follows the contours of the chassis tube.

I cut my sheet and laid it against the side of the chassis, clamping it in place as tight as I could with 2x4s and long wood clamps. I did the bottom first, including putting in the rivets, to give me a solid reference.

The top is easier to clamp in place. There are a few tricks - clamp with wood (so as not to scratch the surface) about 1/4" below the tube top as tight as you can. Use a non-metalic hammer - hard plastic is okay, hard rubber better. Soft rubber works but is a bit slow. Start hammering at the bend line, move the metal a little a time along the bend before moving up to finish it. You don't have to hammer much above the bend point This'll keep the ali tight to the tube as it bends. Make sure the bend is made smooth along the length, don't hit too hard and put divots into the ali.

You need to cut a "v" at that break point in the chassis and it helps to drill a small hole at the tip of it to stop the ali cracking there.

Move the wood and clamps to the top again set back 1/4", and move the inside flange down the same way. Leave the clamps in place while you drill and rivet, and it'll stay nice and tight to the chassis tubes.

I never thought to get a picture of the sides, but you can spot the bends here:Side panel bends

The front wing is on the left and only bent around the top, the side panel is on the right and goes around the inside.

HTH, good luck!