Over here in the UK running fenderless is not strictly legal and you need to have fenders ready to fit in certain circumstances. In the rest of Europe running fenderless is forbidden. As I want to take my Modified to Le Mans I thougt I'd better fit fenders as a more or less permanent feature. I don't like bits of steel strap and/or rebar so I was looking around for something a bit more elegant. I decided to use front forks from 1930's bicycles - last time I posted this some bright spark asked me when I was going to fit the spiderwebs..... Here's some pictures of the first support - the fork is supported by bolting the drop out to the backing plate (I will use a stud and a dome nut in the final application), I've then drilled the fork and welded in a crush tube and that is then bolted to a weld nut that's been welded to the outer rim of the backing plate through one of the cooling holes I drilled originally. I will cut the fork at the appropriate distance and bend up some brackets to go under the fender and weld them on to the fork and shape it all to flow together. The fender will sit about 4" further back (it kept slipping off when I put it where it looks good). I will have a go at the bottom one tomorrow.
The age old problem is not getting stress cracks in any of the pieces. I've had a few backing plates from old 50s builds and they are always cracked, or even chucks missing on the outer flanges, where the bracket was mounted. Seems like if you make one part better, then it will stress crack some other place. Just watch a front cycle fender twitch, on even a fairly good road, they get beat to death. If I ever do some, I was thinking spring steel flat braces, but I suppose then the fender skins will crack around the mount points.
Not a lot of choice in running cycle fenders over here if you want to drive the car around Europe. I run fibreglass fenders on my O/T cars and they do wobble about but some rubber washers seem to help... I've been running the same set for 15 years.
Is it called the Allard Roadster, the sports car that had stock cycle fenders? I doubt I will ever get to look at one, but I wonder how they built the braces.
Cool! Thanks for the thread, you are giving me some ideas about how to put cycle fenders on my channeled 33 Ford coupe.
I use 5/8 X 1/8 wall DOM tubing, and add 1/4" steel mount plates that tie to the 3 spindle holes, looking along the axle from the front spring perch. They are at 11-0-clock, 8 and 4 on the passenger side spindle. One 6 ft piece of tubing bent round the spindle dia, w/three mount plates. Then heat and bend it over the tire w/ 3/8ths clearance off the tire tread. No cracks, flex or rattling.
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