Enlarging fender radius

[Phil1934]

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?

[John_Kelly]

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=99801 38836765

John www.ghiaspecialties.com (http://www.ghiaspecialties.com)

[Phil1934]

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.

[Tinbender]

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.

[Junkyard Dog 32]

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.

JOEhttp://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif