Straightening the front valance

[sunbeam74]

I ran into an interesting solution when I was trying to straighten my front valance on one of my cars. As usual with the Alpine, mine was stoved in at the center at the hole for the hand crank and numerous dents elsewhere. Also, wavy edges and lips that had been pushed in or pulled out.

I didn't think about it much at the time but rather than remove the valance I made wooden blocks or forms - male and female - and ran a large bolt through them creating a clamp to re-form the sheetmetal. Once positioned, I just torqued the nut down and it pulled the panel out. I had to adjust the curvature of the blocks once but they really didn't have to be that accurate

For the center it worked great. Far easier than removing the valance.
The lip edges cleaned up nicely, too. However, most of these could be taken out with a hammer and dolly.

I imagine each situation will be different but if you can't get a hammer on it the wooden clamps worked well.

Steve

 

[bmohr]

getting things straight or curved as the case may be

Steve,
Sounds good. Do you have a picture of the blocks? At some point my front valance will need some help. I guess it had to do with the DPO's (Dandy Prior Owner) son trying to stop the car Fred Flintstone style dragging his foot on the ground and hitting the upright freezer in the garage. Yabba Dabba Doo!

Bill Mohr

"Sound bites can be deceiving."

 

[sunbeam74]

Bill,

I sent a photo of the valance - I didn't have any photos of the work being done - but just envision a block on the outside of the apron that spans over the stoved in area then block on the inside all joined with a bolt. (Use large washers, too, you don't want to bread the wood in half, they will spread the pressure)

Again, it does help if you have a dent in an area you can't access with a hammer.

Steve

 

[gordonra]

I have been using long arm clamps and wodden blocks to do similar work in a couple of areas on my SV.

Rich

 

[john p]

Victoria British valances

For those interested, I just bought a new valance from VB. My existing valance was a mess so I had to start over. Anyway, the VB valance is not quite exact. It's too wide and runs too deep on the passenger side of the car. it can be worked to fit but it's not a perfect match. The piece is made in England (per the tag) and is hand formed probably on an english wheel. It is composed of several pieces welded together. Overall, it's not bad but it was very expensive. I'm not sure that it couldn't have been replicated by a decent fabricator.

I tought this was worth note for those looking for replacement valances.

 

[jumpinjan]

It's too wide and runs too deep on the passenger side of the car. it can be worked to fit but it's not a perfect match.

I would say its not the new valance, but more than likely your fenders are not aligned. I have seen this problem many times.
Jan

 

[65beam]

front valance

jan

doug ran into the same problem on our blue car.we had one of their valance's and it did not fit. he measured and found it to be wider than the original.

 

[sunbeam74]

It is interesting the discussion of sheet metal accuracy... Rootes probably did a better job than most on their stampings but I am sure there was some deviation.

Who's heard that hanging a TR-3 fender at the factory could take up to an hour or two to get right? I am sure this was exaggerated but comparing piles of TR's front fenders it is clear the accuracy could vary widely. Check out how much adjustment "latitude" they allowed with the slots for mounting. Lots of adjustment!



Steve