Thought I would p*** this along, I channeled my car about five inches, which makes the front wheels have no turning radious at all, and now I got to move the front wheel wells up about three inches or four, so I dont have to drive the streets like a 4x4. On sleds more suspention, less channel. A couple of guys wanted to know what the back of my project looked like, these are old pics, since then I took the trunk area out of my parts car and put larger pieces in place of all those little freakin pie cuts. The 63 corvette tail lights fit the slope pretty good.
NOOOO! raise them wheel openings! i think most cars dropped that low NEED the wheel openings higher for proper asthetics, nevermind being able to turn. the monster garage 54 was a real good example of how bad they can look if not done. if you don't want to go quite so far up with the wheel opening, weld in the lip from an olds or buick, or mid 50's chevy, whatever, they flare out and will buy you additional clearance for the tires. i'm in the middle(one side done) of doin this to this ****box falcon i have, raised em about 2" and you'd be hard pressed to pick it out without a stocker to compare to, but it looks RIGHT, that's what i was going for, not, "hey look, this guy butchered the wheel openings!"
that car was sectioned though and it needed it if these get raised theyll look goofy and theyll have to be lengthened because they are the original size and will be unproportionate.... bagging it will make it more drivable... less unwanted s****eing
i call ******** on them looking "goofy" ive done this before and some of coles car s have this done and it is indeed needed asteticly. its hard to pick out what was done AFTER it was done but you could definatly pic out what NEEDED to be done before
you don't know what you're talking about. goofy is a car "locked up" to be driveable, be it a chopped,sectioned custom, or a 64 impala. and it'll ride like *** too. goofy is the front fender covering the entire upper whitewall and half the wheel. there is a reason bathtub nash's are ugly ****ing cars! slam any other early 50's ride to the pavement without doing something with the wheel openings and you get the same ugly look. this is the same damn thing wrong with so many of the 60's cars with 20+ wheels, slam the damn car down over the wheels, and spend a few days to rework the wheel openings to properly frame the huge rollers. but then i also build my **** to operate safely and as planned at all heights, from pancaked to locked up, not that mine ever need to be locked up, cause i build the ground clearance in them, much like Kustchops appears to be doing. i put more work into reworking the driveshaft tunnel, ****** mount, frame, oil pan, everydamnthing was more work than than the wheel openings. i can dump the air on the interstate and not bust anything, and still turn the wheel lock to lock. i feel safe going down the road, and i don't give a damn if nobody notices the fact the car even HAS modified suspension, cause it LOOKS RIGHT, not broken, and the fact that the average **** on the street doesn't know why makes it all worthwhile. the work in making the fenders right on that 49 is NOTHING compared to the work in the chop and channeling.
The MG Chevy was sectioned BUT they didn't section the fenders...they just trimmed the bottom, which made the wheel openings too small. Guess they didn't have time to make a full length cut. That was the only part of the car I didn't really like.
if you do youre suspenion right itll ride better than a caddy on air... but whatever i dont care its not my car
The car is bagged on a 78 chev malibu, I set the ch***is up and did the channel after, it looks cool, and rides good, but I like to cruise low. A two inche channel would have been better, I guess instead of changing all the suspention again, I am gonna cut the front wells about three inches. Words of wisdom on the way low channel, I still have plenty of headroom, but I had to put in a tilt because the stock wheel sat on the seat, the engine is at the hood, and the radiator is way up front, with electric fan. I could have saved a bunch of work with a little less channel, and more suspention.
Aired out, it lays a inch off the turf, at ride height, it still needs a football field to do a u turn, I am gonna crash my computer tonight, and if it does not recover, I will be off the net for a while, so if I dont return any email Sorry in advance. I should be driving it to Canby swap meet, with a stupid price on it so I can get in early and lurk, if anyone is around, stop by and take a look. Thanks all James........
Why did you channel it so much. I ***ume you were trying to lay the rockers on the ground. didn't you just sit the frame on the ground and put the body over it and weld new floors in (about 3") so all the way down it will touch or just about touch. If you are going with hydraulics or airbags, is anything more really needed.
maybe post a full side shot of it so someone could photochop the wheel openings for you. should be pretty simple chop. personally i think they look better moved up a bit. gives it more of a tail dropped look. but then again who gives a rip what i think...cool car
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