Can a Hot Rod have fenders

[Boones]

Well, I am back on search for a project now that i have a little money saved. Was leaning very hard towards a 48-50 chevy PU (its the SO What truck posts fault) but I still would love to have something old.. So I am also leaning towards a 28-31 Model A sedan or coupe (thou much harder time time)... As I think about one I am leaning towards a full fender hot rod with no hood, chrome reverse wheels, cheater slicks, SBC or ?? with a few carbs and if I do a sedan, possible a Deuce style top insert in white..

So can a Hot Rod have fenders.... when I look around there are mostly fenderless (I know I can build what ever I want,,, its mine) but I would like the opinion of other HAMBers... anyone have any cool full fendered hot rod pics...

[manyolcars]

??????????????

[Boones]

manyolcars.. I see I confused you with all the talk....

I was just looking for folks opinions on whether a hot rod can have fenders.. Lots of my friends say that a hot rod should not have fenders....

[porknbeaner]

Yea, they're just not called fenderless.

[Roothawg]

A. Get new friends
B. See pic below.

Dad's 36 in 1960.

[Roothawg]

Here's the motor.

[Rocky]

Welp, I don't want no steenking fenders on my hot rod. BUT! I realize fender laws are sometimes a local issue with different degrees of enforcement and punishments. In my state the fender law simply states that you cannot be a danger to other motorists by throwing mud and water with open wheels. Alas, I paraphrase but you get the idea...no clear-cut state fender law! Now, that said, you can get in trouble in several areas of Nebraaska for running fenderless due to local statutes. Yeah! In Auburn Ne., you better have fenders or you're gonna get written up..it's well know and we don't go there unless we got fenders in place..
In the Rocky 33, I didn't mind hitting the ocassional water puddle but my buddy Steve [FlyinJ1 on the HAMB] drives a non-fendered 34 Chevy tub with no top and he HATES getting slimed when the tires throw up road skung. He even went so far as to build a top for his tub but after he got it all finished, he was too tall to fit in the damn car. Check the photo to see what I mean....Big, ain't he?
Anyway, Boones.....build it without fenders if your laws allow it. If you don't like it, fender it later. Hell, I even have a full set of fenders for the Rocky 36 sitting up in my rafters.......just in case.

[dusty]

Seems like in some areas of the country, back in the day, you didnt have much choice if you didnt want hassled by Joe cop. You may have gotten by with motorcycle fenders but Im sure some of the cops wouldnt stand for that ruse. So if its your pleasure, go for it! Had it not been that Im knee deep into my coupe project, I would have bought an early 60s 31 coupe w/hemi and it had fenders, small but still had em. It was an east coast car.

[andysdeuce]

I like fenders on a hot rod if you get the correct tire and rims to put the wheels up in the fenders so it does'nt look like a four wheel drive. If you put the front right on the ground the fenders just make it look that much lower imo. Thats why my radiator gravel guard is all bent up at the bottom. It's all about stance and the fenders just accentuate the correct stance. What do I know....do what YOU like!!! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

[Hackerbilt]

What do fenders have to do with it????

Bill

[Tony]

Boone's,
Here's a pic of my truck (again http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif)
'A' fenders, chrome steelies, sbc,etc....
http://photo.starblvd.net/~Packrat/1-2-4.jpg

I think it's a hotrod..... with fenders.
but thats just my oppinion http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Rat....

[Tinbender]

I'm all set to go fenderless with my 33, and then Rat goes and posts a pic of his truck again http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

[gowjob29]

I have a 29 and the first thing I told the old guy when I bought it was that I was going to chop it and rip all those damn fenders off. He about had a heart attack. lol. I have decided that all I'm going to do is chop it being that the fenders have grown on me. Some cars I think beg to have the fenders off and some just look right with them. I think I would pull them off it was a 30-32 being that the fenders in the front don't seem to mold around the tire. Anyways, this is what mine looks like just so you can see what I mean. I would go with the A, but I'm a little biased http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

[metalshapes]

Just the first 3 Real Hot Rods with fenders I happened to think of...
The California Kid, The Milner '32 Coupe, Vic Edelbrock Sr. Deuce Roadster.

[CharlieLed]

Damn Root...lookin' at that pic of your dad and his 36 proves that you have some good hotroddin' genes in ya... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Wowcars]

Just to add to the practical part of it, keeping fender almost always requires more work, I have yet to see a set of fenders for anything that don't require a good amount of body work, rust repair, tear repair, alignment, etc. Granted, a traditional hot rod CAN look bitchin with fenders, just too much body work for me.

[delaware george]

we have a fender law...but i still like certain cars with fenders...and now it would make your car stand out in a world of fenderless hot rods...i think i'm gonna paint mine blue also

[Fat Hack]

"I could get a car done a whole lot quicker and cheaper if I left all that extra stuff off. That's why I didn't run fenders...it costs you as much money putting fenders on a car as it does to build a car!" - John Buttera

I actually LIKE fenders on a hot rod, if done correctly, but I see Lil John's point. Finding, shaping and mounting a set of fenders on an early steel rod is no five minute job...and nothing would ruin the lines of an otherwise killer rod than a set of dinged up, hastily mounted fenders tacked on as an afterthought!

There are many cars I've seen with fenders that really looked great, and a great many more that shouldn't have them! If you're gonna run fenders, then make sure you take the time to make them appear to be part of the whole picture...not just a set of cheap-looking mud catchers stolen off your neighbor's utility trailer and stuck on at the last minute!

To answer your question...Yes, I believe a car can have fenders and still qualify as a hot rod...it just takes more work and dedication to pull it off!

[HOTRODPRIMER]

Boones, don't ask me which one makes a good hot rod ,,,,
I have a hard time with decisions,,,,,they both work for me. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif HRP

[Deuce Roadster]

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

http://photo.starblvd.net/~DeuceRoadster/1-5-1.jpg

I do not know.....BOTH of mine have fenders......... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif



http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

[Smokin Joe]

It's more about what's under the hood if you ask me. A hot rod has to make a statement. Fenders or no fenders. Otherwise it's just a street rod.

[Chuck R]

http://photo.starblvd.net/~copshop/2-2-1.jpg
That would be a "YES"

Cal's 33 is the baddest in the land.

Next question.
Chuck

[Boones]

Ok so it does appear that there is lots of good examples of fendered Hot Rods out there... When I started this post I could only think of several Deuces (some pictured above) but not many Model A (Don's coupe comes to mind)...

A few yrs back there was a yellow full fendered tub from the NW that had painted steelies hanging out the back, lots of carbs and just a plain cool stance.. I was thinking of doing a sedan version of it.. Anyone know what car I am talking about or have a pic (I can not find mine).

[Tony]

I think i know the one....A youngin' built it if i'm not mistaken.
SBC with either 4 or 6 two's, yellow wheels with slicks poking out in back, nasty stance and a moon tank out front.
If thats the one, there was some coverage of it in R/C a while ago.
Really cool car.

Rat..

[Boones]

Rat that is the car I was talking about... it was a younger guy.. Take that car and cross it with this one for the look I am thinking about

[andysdeuce]

Notice how the wheels and tires fit up inside the fenders on that '33 coupe?? They need to fit like this to look cool. The running boards also show the rake of the frame and follow the same angle as the hood and chop of the car. When you look at the car all these things blend together and make the car look really low. More so I think than if it were a highboy. It is a lot more work but worth it in my opinion.

[Tony]

Damn, thats a cool C-dan!
I can dig what your thinking of..
The simple " take no prisoner's" stance that yellow tub had would make the C-dan that much better.

Rat....

[HOTRODPRIMER]

Boones thats a sweet blue 28/29 sedan!

[flatordead]

I like T&As fenderless and chopped and 32-34 Fords fullfendered and unchopped. But a chopped and fullfendered Model A tudor hits also my taste. All a matter of personal taste I think.

[Boones]

I am not sure if that blue A sedan is chopped.. If it is its not much.. I was leaning towards no or little chop (2 inch max)..with a strong rake (since the rear tires may hang out slightly), tucking the front tires.. As for grills, I have a nice chrome A like the blue one but could go deuce..

[Nick32vic]

Well, In Albert Drakes book Fifty's Flashback, he said that if a car was a hotrod it didnt have fender's. Disobaying his father he ripped the fenders off of a car (I think a A) that he bought. But that was the Fifty's, This is 2003. I think A car can look great either way. As long as they have a good stance like some said a fendered car looks awesome. I think a car with fender's gives it more depth. More to look at and think about. But a fenderless car just looks awesome anytime. I would say just find a good project and start on it then when your further into the build then look at it and decide how you think it would look with and w/out fenders.

Nick

[Boones]

Ok found a pic and scanned in two cars that resemble some of the style I like.. First the tub

[Boones]

Now here is a Deuce sedan but with alot of the features I want...

[Boones]

Nick, I agree with what you say but I think I almost need to decide up front because if I go fenderless then I will probably go with a 32 chassis, but it I go with fenders then its an A frame... I am not a fame of Model A's on A frames, they sit to far inward for my taste...

[Nick32vic]

Hmmm, i see what you mean.

[Detonator]

I kinda prefer hot rods fenderless, but when I inherited my dad's '29, it was full-fendered. I decided to keep it that way in his honor and now it's kind of grown on me. The 28-29 has a bitchen arc to the front fender that later models don't have, so it's a great candidate for full fenders. But assembling the fenders, aprons, hood, etc etc is a GIANT PAIN IN THE ASS. Especially if you're running an original set of frame rails that have been torgued, tweaked and hot-rodded for 70 years. If I had to build this car over, I'd consider a new, rigid set of frame rails. There's some things left to do -- interior, odds and ends, and these tires came off my '38. The "littles" need to be littler, the "bigs" bigger -- but I kinda like the look. So, IMHO, go with fenders if you like 'em.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Awesome A Detonator! That's how they should look! Like to see it in person some day! Next Pleasanton? Please!

[porknbeaner]

Uh, I think the Milner Coupe had fenders (sort of). The California Kid has fenders. Unless I'm mistaken they are both hot rods (of course the KID was recently detunned to survive on modern gas).
Just a matter of personal taste, and the style of rod that you're building. I'm personally partial to bicycle fenders, or no fenders at all. But I've seen some with bobbed fenders that were as rightious as it gets.
One thing to consider is that front fenders have a tendency to catch air. Just a thought.

[Boones]

Damn that is a clean roadster you have.. I like it..

[delaware george]

detonator's roadster has everything i've been talking about...i want a few different sets of wheels...with an easy wheel change,roof on or off,hood on or off...maybe some different air cleaners or scoops...you could dramaticly change the appearance of that car easily...depending on your mood...a real hot rod with fenders...that rules

[Detonator]

Thanks Jim, Boones. I actually drove to Billetproof last Fall. I think full fendered cars are best when they're kept clean and simple. There are so many more "factory" design elements to deal with that modifying any of the shapes has a much greater effect on the overall look than it does on a fenderless car. Hiboys and channeled cars NEED chopped top for instance, but it's hard to get a top chop looking right on a pre-33 fendered car. Don't get me wrong, there are cars that have pulled it off -- but there are a lot more that haven't. Same with hoods, generally a fendered car looks kinda choppy with no hood. It breaks up the lines of the car. But there are lots of exceptions -- and that's what makes this all so cool? Right? There are no rules (except Germ's http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif)

[SKR8PN]

http://photo.starblvd.net/~SKR8PN/1-5-4.jpg

I have to agree WITH the fenders AND the hood.
Makes everything flow
Anything built without,has a 'bad-ass' attitude and look to it. And that is NOT a bad thing. I just believe that the cars and trucks of the 30's and 40's look more elegant WITH the fenders. Just my $.02 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Oh ya......we are JUST about ready to make this thing a very purdy RED.......Thought you all MIGHT be getting TIRED of the GREEN picture......... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Rob in NH]

Whats a fender?

http://www.ammoman.com/CHEVY/ATubby003.jpg

Who's car is it anyways?, It's YOUR DECISION!

Rob's 31' Chevy Sedan gone' TUB Hotrod CLICK HERE (http://http://www.ammoman.com/CHEVY/)

[flt-blk]

I like Fenders.
TZ

[Chuck R]

Detonator,
WOW WOW WOW.......That is such a tough hot rod. It has a perfect stance and the wind shield is right on target. It needs nothing. Except to be driven and enjoyed.
Hope we can hook up one day.
Happy Holidays
Chuck

[Just Gary]

You mean a fendered coupe like this?

[gettingreasy]

No Gary, I think he means one like this......

[derelict]

Detonator, I've got to agree with you on the fenders, they're a bitch but the look good on a 28-29. I had my roadster pickup through a number of rebuilds since 1959, all the time without fenders. This last go around I put fenders on it and it's been a son of a bitch fitting and matching, but it does look good, it's real low. It's got to have a chopped and laid back windshield though for the mean attitude. I saw your car at the Livermore Billetproof and it looks just as good when you see it for real.

[Donzie]

Here's a shot of Frank's (fab32) sedan. I think it would qualify as a hot rod.

[SamIyam]

I'm kinda partial to Model A's with fenders... because that's what I grew up around... here's a pic of mine... although it now sits an inch or more lower in the front. Anyways, I will agree that it is a SHITLOAD of work to put fenders on a car... sure some people can just bolt them on, but to get them RIGHT, it's a shit load of work.
Sam.

[DrJ]

I think a better question would be
"Can a HOT ROD run without fenders?"
And the answer would be
"It depends on the class rules it's running in at the race venue"
I vaguely remember hearing about someone a couple or three years ago driving a highboy roadster to Bonneville, bolting on racing wheels and tires AND REAR FENDERS because the STREET ROD class requires them, and after racing he removed the fenders and drove back home.

Of all the cars pictured, I'd have to say the two jacked up in the front gassers are the only strictly HOT RODs in the bunch.
The rest are "STREET RODS"
Even Samiyam's coupe is a STREET ROD, (as well as being a HOTROD). I know this because I've driven many miles on the street in caravan with it so I know it's driven on the street, and that's all that needs to be for a hotrod to also be a street rod, for it to be driven on the street, ever.
(STREET ROD is not a cuss word)

The ONLY thing a car has to have to be a HOT ROD is owner-increased performance above and beyond what was available on the car from the factory.

HOT ROD is NOT about A LOOK, it's about PERFORMANCE.
Faster, quicker, more manuverable, these are the words that describe a HOT ROD.
Now if in making changes to achieve the above adjectives causes the looks of the car to change in a certain way, so be it, but those looks aren't what makes it a HOT ROD, only the faster, quicker, and more manuverable make it a HOT ROD.
Cars that are modified with the primary agenda being what it LOOKS like, and are driven on the STREET are by definition STREET RODS.
Now if they are HOT, that is, faster, quicker and more manuverable than they were stock, then they are also HOT RODS.

If they aren't faster, quicker, and more manuverable then they are probably CUSTOMS rather than HOT RODS!
(Not to denigrate CUSTOMS, I really like them. In fact I like them more and feel they are more honest than STREET RODS that aren't HOT.)

But there's another category of cars known as "REAL HOT RODS" and one has to understand the term as used by Tex Smith in his book "How to Build Real Hotrods" to know what it is.
I think if you understand what it is you know that it isn't a list of rules.
Rules are for racers to bend.
It is just a gut feeling for what YOU like.

Historically, I would imagine the front fenders came off RACE CARS because they lifted the front of a car making it want to fly and/or caused drag. The rear fenders probably came off because bigger tires wouldn't fit under them.
HOT ROD RACE CAR rake was probably a result of big & littles, and high rear ends make it easier to change quick change rear end gears without jacking up the car.
The STREET RODDERs copied these HOT ROD RACE CAR looks on their street driven cars whether they intended to ever RACE them or not.

[hatch]

DrJ nailed it....that's why I'm driving a hotrod toyota...I increaed the top end by removing the rocker panel mldgs. Looks mean NOTHING http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

[Just Gary]

Although this is a Deuce, not an A, it's fender-tire placement is IMHO just about perfect.

[Rolf]

Of course they can have fenders. Detonator, that's a bloody cool car. Got more pix?

[Kevin Lee]

Talking about hot rods and Customs is great until someone throws some "superlative" in the mix. Christ. I like fenders on hot rods. Build it up, Boones.