Wheel arch revisited

Was playing with the passenger wheel arch.  I know this will require many pictures, and I just have not taken any yet.  Too busy trying to get something done.  I will get some tomorrow night when I am playing again.

Please keep in mind that every van will be different.  My van's panel was destroyed in an accident and half ass repaired, not rotted out so the majority of my panel was in good to very good condition.  My repair was based on this and yours may be different.  I anticipate my driver's side to be worse.

After cleaning up the remaining pieces of the former wheel arch so I wont cut my hand to shreds, I started prepping the area by grinding out the old spot welds.  By doing this, I was able to separate the outer panel from the remaining piece of wheel arch that also forms a large portion of the inner rear wheel well.

What I decided to do is to clean up the edge, use a cutting wheel to cut just inside the wheel well at the tab from the upper panel.  I gave myself a 1/8 inch working space in order to fit the new panel in between the older panel and the tab of the upper panel. 

The new panel I trimmed to have a 1.5 inch tab to insert between said panel pieces.  I worked the new panel into place, starting in the front (tried it the other way, was not going to happen), and using a couple screwdrivers to flex open the panel pieces as I slid the panel into place a little bit at a time.

I am not too disappointed with the panels dimensions, but ALL aftermarket panels will need some massaging to work correctly.  I have this panel into place to determine what 'massaging' will need to take place to ensure all body lines are correctly lined up.

I also want to sandblast the seam completely (inside and out), punch spot weld holes holes in new panel and work the fitment a bit better

The rear lower corner panel needed little altering, but it fits well and will look even better.

A word of note - the undercoating in the wheel well is thick.  Not only that, it is flammable.  The grinder had it going pretty good, so be careful.  ALSO - make sure before cutting into the upper panel that you have removed the fiberglass insulation and have blocked the path of sparks and hot metal from finding something to smoulder within.  I used pieces of roofing shingle - cheap, accessible and easily placed / removed.