Otter LRC CM4647296 comes home

[Jordan Baker]

This afternoon I spent a few hours in the shop getting the one new fender installed and welded up. Last week Stew Robertson and myself spent a day at his shop working on getting my three original fenders bent back into shape. We also did the basic press brake work on the new fender I needed to make. Today’s time I the shop was spent getting the edge that fits against the hull cut out and the basic holes drilled in place to get it bolted up. Once bolted up I was able to tweak the fender flares a bit and then get them welded up. I’ve still got to sort out the headlamp mounting holes. But that can be for another day.

[Jordan Baker]

Today was spent getting more holes drilled into my new fender. I’m quite happy with how it turned out.

[Jordan Baker]

I also started on getting the left rear fender fitted in for welding up the flares. These original fenders all had the flares badly smashed in. It was suggested to me to make all new fenders but with this vehicle still being so original I figured I owed it ti keep as many original pieces as possible. The last picture shows what I started with. I’ve still got to cut out and replace where the metal has rusted right through but that sill be for another day.

[Jordan Baker]

It’s been a while since I’ve worked on the Otter. This afternoon I decided to tackle another of the original fenders. This one had taken a beating with entire fender flare rolled into and under the upper surface. The original bend crease was still there but a new edge had been rolled into it. This made it quite the challenge to get the upper surface flat again and not loose the original bend. Below are two pictures of what it looked like when I got the Otter.

[Jordan Baker]

Here is where I am at after a few hours of work. A lot of work was done previously with the fender off the Otter trying to get the pieces close. Once the fender was bolted onto the hull I was able to do the final fitting. Ball peen hammer and a chunk of heavy metal were the main tools. I also made up a plywood jig to continually check my profile to keep everything in place. I’m quite happy with how it turned out. It had been suggested to me to simply replace them as they won’t look as nice as the rest of the vehicle once everything is restored. However I just couldn’t toss them considering how complete this vehicle is.

[Mike Gurr]

Well done Jordan, well worth the effort to keep it as original as possible.

[Jordan Baker]

Last fender getting the rebuild treatment. I had to cut out the rear edge as it was badly rusted out in spots. I also had to weld up the bend along the front edge. The metal had gotten very thin and then was cracking along the bend when the flare was bent back to shape. Lots of weld, grind and repeat.