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Radiused rear wheel wells lip..

47K views 49 replies 17 participants last post by  Timberline65 
#1 ·
Easy method for Radiused rear wheel wells with a nice finished edge on the cheap the we did it in the 60s is check the top sealing lip on a 55 gallon drum like it was made for Gasser.

Mike



 
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#35 ·
flyn A;15045] John ...... man that picture had me fooled I would have sworn it was from the early 80's I dig it. [/FONT][/SIZE][/B]


Andy
Oppps!!!!! Forgot to mention my post was in response to the above quote...... "that the pic could have been in the early 80's" ...... then forgot to write the rest ..... sooooooooooo....... was past my bedtime !!!!!

Back to radiused wheel wheels...... I have a lead on getting "tops" from 55 gallon drums..... like has been mentioned.

What I have already could be almost left as is..... with some grinding and more welding to bring wheel well closer to being a "true radius" I probably "skip" the rest.

Steve mentioned some time ago that I should consider making the rear wheel well opening like those on the front.....



But like Vall when he decided to paint his car rather than keep the "survivor-look"..... I have to "plan ahead" for the day when I will do the same thing. In fact, I might just "skip" the survivor-look and go right to "custom paint".

As you can see the "radius" is off.... back when this was first done it probably had some body putty to hide the irregular areas or the whole idea of using what you see was abandoned and that was when the "fender flares" where put on.



These "yellow lines" were done using the wheel & tire combo I AM going to use..... like Vall already noted..... you HAVE to know what you are SURE you are going to use IF you WANT a wheel well opening that is "close/tight" to the rear tire..... also you need to take into consideration if you plan to have wheels/tires for the street and another set for drag racing. If so a "happy medium" needs to be made.



To get an EXACT look of what NEEDS to be done ALL of the reference places used have to be done with "everything" as it is going to be.... in other words "rear suspension - ride height" have to be established..... no "guess-ti-mates" if you want the radius to be RIGHT.......

More about this later..... time to go to work..... ttyl ..... :cool:
 
#36 ·
John, I like the look without the flares, a little bit much tire sticking out though, I think I would look around at some late model vehicles that have simular lips like the fronts on the opel and weld them to the rears after you determine tire opening that should make the tire stick out alot less and blend better. Andy
 
#37 ·
Thanks for the reply ..... I didn't have time this morning to finish what that picture was all about.

Since getting the Opel late Summer 2011. As is the car was OK but when I started thinking (dangerous habit.... ha) about what I was going to do I knew the 8.8 Ford rear end was going to go. Then all of a sudden the "tube chasis" practically fell from Hot Rod Heaven into our workshop. Along with it came just what I a wanted .... a narrowed 9" Ford housing (35").


I also wanted to use "slightly" bigger wheels & tires than the combo that were on the Opel when I got it.



After I removed the rear fender flares I was able to put the bigger wheels & tires. The picture above is how I figured out if the 35" rear end housing would work with those wheels & tires or not and at what points the radius of the fenderwells were off.

Then I measured how far the tires stuck out "past" the lip of the rear fenderwell (the picture above) ..... then measured the 8.8" rear end which is under the Opel now .... the amount of tire I want sticking out past the fenderwell ..... did the math ..... equals.... 35" ...... looks like a perfect fit.

Like I mentioned in my post earlier this morning ...... before doing any cutting on the fenderwells it is best to have ALL of the pieces or at least have your mind made up for sure about what you are going to do & use.
 
#38 ·
John you just threw me for a loop. I never envisioned you all tatted up. That's the only bad thing about these boards and having friends all over the country. You get to know each other but you really never know each other. That's a good look for ya though. Now I see the custom car/biker influence. Do you do Rock-a-Billy? Mark
 
#39 ·
John you just threw me for a loop. I never envisioned you all tatted up. That's the only bad thing about these boards and having friends all over the country. You get to know each other but you really never know each other. That's a good look for ya though. Now I see the custom car/biker influence. Do you do Rock-a-Billy? Mark
Sir Markus UmissedThatOne Eous...... I am sure I have posted that picture somewhere on this forum sometime ago.

Told ya I didn't look like that "dumb-a$$ guy.... Ha!!!!

When I was a "kid" I used to draw one my arms and NOW look at me!!!! L o L !!!!! I getting tattoos with a very patriotic "Flying American Bald Eagle" tattoo (with flames) then another.... then another.

At the time I was heavy into building & working on motorcycles & choppers. Then Gina learned how to ride a motorcycle which was quite an accomplishment considering she had never learned how to drive a stick shift car.

Then we really got into it.... we built the workshop in the back of the house for me to work on them, bought a "Handy pnuematic motorcycle lift" etc, etc, etc.

Then I got the "bug" to build a custom chopper.... comissioned Discovery Channel biker built-off champion "Hank Young" from Maretta, Georgia to build a one-off custom frame I designed also had him rebuild & modify front forks from a '37 Indian Sport Scout..... little by little adding tats until I had both arms full of ink-artwork.



At the time I had no "hot rod projects" going on nor any plans to do any..... even though we both had new motorcycles we started buying then I re-injured my neck which I had major surgery on about five years before .... so much so my surgeon thought I might have to have another surgery to fix the problem. Needless to say riding a motorcyle was out of the question so much so there was the possibilty I would never be able to ride again.

I bought a C10 stepside pick-up from my nephew which was to be "daily driver" that quickly turned into the first of my "gasser projects" ...... then the El Camino & finally the Opel.

So that is how I am where I am now..... building an "Opel gasser".

================================================================

Back to the "radiused wheel wells.....

As you guys know not all wheels well openings have a true/equal radius style.... there are many different shapes & sizes used. I have always liked the ones most commonly used on 55-56 Chevys which usually have a "true radius" design.

To see where my opening is "off" I simply used a pencil tied to the end of a piece of string ..... then with the wheels & tires I am going to use on the car I held the string in the center of the rim's center cap and used the string & pencil as a "measuring compass" to establish where the current opening is off.


Of course with the change to using the tube chassis instead my original plan to modifying the exisiting unibody & sub frame setup will completely change the reference line I have made.

The one thing that "puzzles me" ...... how some cars are setup with practically "NO CLEARANCE" what so ever between the tire & the lip of the fenderwell ?????

As you can see in this picture there is practically NO CLEARANCE for suspension travel.

I just can't imagine hitting a bump or a dip in the road without the tire rubbing into the fenderwell lip ?????????


Guess I am missing something .... ?????
 
#41 ·
One of two things on those zero clearance fenders. Either they have very stiff suspension, or their axles are mounted solid to the frame like funny cars, altereds, or rails, and the tire pressure dictates the ride comfort. That's one of the reasons you see funny cars and rails hopping when they get out of the throttle at the end of a run.
 
#42 ·
Hey John love the bike in the pics. But I have to comment, your shop looks way much bigger inside than the pics from the outside (heh). Are you working with Alien Technology???? Markus O'OH
 
#43 ·
I wish I had that much room.... It was a picture taken a Hank Young's shop in Marietta, GA.

It would have been a great bike. But with not being able to ride (especially a hard tail) all it would have been was a show bike and a "money pit" to finish it.

Eventually I did sell it..... but not soon enough to get the '42 Willys sedan I wanted to buy.
 
#44 ·
On my first Pontiac (1964 Catlina post sedan) I radiused the wheelwell. I bought the first really big tires available for the street and needed room to put them on the car. They were JC Penny L60's (approx. 29 tall and a full 10 tread width) and the needed a lot of room. They did fit right to the edge of the fender line and even though my fender cuts were less than perfect, the car looked really good with them. I never did finish them off, sold the car before I could. I keep looking at my Cat now but the car sits too high now to get a good tight radius. I'm afraid I'll hate it once cut and not be able to go back. I had my son photoshop a radius pic and it doen't look too bad--but---. Mark L
 
#45 ·
Wish that I would have seen these before I built my radiused wells for my '55. If you have a '55 and want the radius look this is the simple way to go. Has the benefit of a bit more metal around them that would have been great for my 4-door to 2-door conversion.



http://www.woodyshotrodz.com/Golden-Star-GDS-QP13-55WA-p/gds-qp13-55wa.htm

Right now they are $200 delivered!
 
#48 ·
These fenders from "woodys hot rods" seems like a great plan for my project too, a 56 Fairlane, Victoria hardtop, and I am about ready to tackle that job. Anyone care to brainstorm with me about how they would or would not be a suitable panel to fab-up for my application?

Specifically, I think I just need to compare the rear quarter panel shape of a 55 chevy to the general shape of my 56 VIC rear quarter panel.
Probably parking the two together for a side by side comparison and then some "eye-ball engineering" is my first step.
 
#49 ·
I'd probably get some cardboard and make a pattern that fits the contour of your body. One of ahead and one behind the opening. Then once you have those you can hold them against a '55 Chevy, and see what differences you'll encounter. Offhand I think the Fords have more curve to the body, and that might create some challenges when trying to form the flat panels of a Chevy to the curvier Ford.
 
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