Got back to work on my brother's '39 Olds. When we left off I had replaced the 18" front springs with some 9-1/2" and spacers on the front clip and had unbound the rear which had the stock triangulated arms and the upper links off a '70 Olds by removing th eupper links. I cut 1-1/2 coils off the rear. When the body was set down I could not believe the stance. Roof is below armpit level with a big chop. I'm running M/T 12.50x29 and have 3/4" clearance on the inside after trimming the frame and slicing the slant out of the fenderwells, but the 2" widened fenders are sitting on the bulge just past the tread. I guess the best thing is to cut a 2" strip just above the 1/2" rolled bead and move it up, spread it and reweld it. Or would you recommend just cutting the radius and welding a bead out of EMT? Would you thin up the bead with some smaller tubing?
Not sure I understand...but I have a way to stretch the metal for more room if that is what you need. See this album: http://allshops.org/cgi-bin/community/communityalbums.cgi?action=openalbum&albumid=9980138836765 John www.ghiaspecialties.com
I can't flare as opening is about 1" less than tire radius and wheel has 6" backspacing so I would have to flare A LOT to remove tire, and I don't want to widen fender as it already has 2"m so more will start to look stupid. I want to enlarge the radius to the wheel OD plus a couple inches for suspension movement. I would like to just cut the bead off, then a strip and put the bead back, but was curious if somone else has done this.
I've done what your thinking about Phil. It worked, but wasn't easy. If there is any way you can build a buck,so that you can cut out the opening and form a new edge,it will make for a cleaner job.
I've radiused a few fenders on stock cars, and what I did was... I taped a short piece of angle iron (1 x 1) to the grip on my plasma cutter. This acts as your guide. Just run the angle iron along the existing radius, and you'll get a perfect cut. Then roll a ring out of 3/8" solid round. You'll have to fit it to the contour of the fender, but once it's done, mud it up. (I never mudded the race cars). If you don't have a ring roller available, a tree or a 55 gal. drum will work fine. 3/8" bends real easy. JOE
The Jalopy Journal
