Hey all, so I’ve run into a major snag on my project build and I’m hoping someone has an idea to get me back on track. I’ve put in a new axle housing (9” ford narrowed) that I purchased from a reputable online parts company. I also purchased a 4 link and new axles. With all that behind me (install went pretty well) I’m trying to get rear tires under the old girl. I have 15” wheels and 2 different sized tires (neither of which come even close to fitting). My problem is that when trying to get the wheel in the tire hits on the wheel well opening. There is no chance of getting the wheel and tire on there. What I would like to do (since I need to replace the quarter panel around the wheel housing anyway) is just make that opening larger to accommodate a 15” wheel and larger tire. I’m wondering if anyone has done a similar mod using maybe the quarter panel from another vehicle. I was thinking something with a little bit of a flare to it. At the moment I’m pretty much on hold until I get past this hang up. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Nova’s also have small rear wheel wells but I think Falcons are even smaller.. Have you tried to put the wheel on with the suspension fully extended? Do you have coil overs and were they limiting the axle from extending down as far as possible..? Did you disconnect them to see if you could get the wheel onto the axle? How narrow is your axle..? What size tires are you trying to fit in there..?
There's A 64/65 Falcon running here that cut the quarter panel out around the wheel well. added a strip of metal and put dzus fastners in. quick removal to change tires, and from a distance looks like the stock quarter panel.
The 55 Chevy commonly has this problem.You can lift the car by the frame so the back wheels drop.that lets you get a larger tire up in there.Let the car down,and your fine......until you get a flat out on the highway,and cant lift the car to get the bad tire off.Sometimes you can trim the inner fender well....or as they say,roll it to give a bit of clearance.What the Gasser guys do is radius the quarter panel so you have a large curved opening.You might look at front,and rear openings on mustangs.You could graf the opening to your quarter panel.
You might PM koolbeans, he has a killer roadrace Falcon with BIG flares front and rear, he might have some suggestions. Check it out. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/32-five-window-30-62-falcon.1148567/
Years and years ago , I used a Volvo front fender opening added to a Falcon quarter panel . It was a damn close match to the front and worked out nicely . I have no idea what the Volvo was it was sitting in a scrap pile and we cut the wheel openings out way big with a hammer and chisel .
Back in the day, most were cut out using a jig saw... that was it. The nicer jobs guys used 1/2" EMT electrical conduit formed to give the wheel opening of choice then welded it in for a finished edge. If you go this route, be sure to sand the galvanizing off the conduit before welding. '50s/many early '60s Fords have notoriously small rear wheelhouses, it can be very tough to get large tires under them.
I saw a Falcon that the guy took the wheel well openings from the Falcon front fenders and used them in the rear quarter panels to open up the wheel wells. It really looked good.
Can't enlarge the wheel house to work with the tires and just jack it up high enough to go under the wheel well ? DON'T radius those rear wheel openings!! Please. 6sally6
do not understand why you did not do more measuring, planning and mock up before getting to this point ?? - post several pics to help understand how much clearance that you need
the front fender trick really works. even used it a falcon ranchero. every falcon I've ever done had this mod.
In addition to the front wheel opening trick, you will likely need larger outer wheel houses. The outer wheel houses tuck-in, almost immediately after the pinch weld with the quarter skin. You not only need the tire to clear when you are not moving, but when the axle hits the bump-stop, too. Even if you do not swap wheel arches, if you don't address this, this will be your next problem area. These are mounted about 1-inch lower than the fronts, and I ran them through the shrinker/stretcher to tighten up the cure a bit. Here's a sample outer wheel house, in progress.:
The Jalopy Journal
