Okay! How Do You Do It? Raduising 55 Chevy quarters?

My friend has a 55 chevy that he wants to radius the rear quarters. How do you do it? What are my options?

How to pics would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

55 Nomad quarter panels.

 

In a 1965 Rod and re-styling mag they take a piece of 1/2 plywood and trace a bias-supply tire I believe it was a 6:00 16, they then take an mark out an inch larger circle around this one then they cut out the larger circle. leaving a huge circle cut out of a piece of plywood then they cut that piece in half making two templates then they roll the tire to the quarter panel and trace it then using a jig saw they cut the opening out of the quarter then they fit the plywood buck on the inside of the quarter leaving a inch of space, then once it is clamped tight they screw through the quarter into the wood buck.
Using a hammer they slowly work the lip around giving it strength and a nice finished radius. I hope this helps I have done the paggenger side on my 55 chevy and it was not to bad at all and it turned out very nice for my first try at it.

WeedsSpeed

 

yeah but are they readily available? im thinking about doing this to my 49 Ford like the valley customs did the one in my avatar. i just figured they used tubing of some sorts to fit the radius and welded them on.

 

Watching this one. Mine are pretty rusted out to start with so it was easy to make up my mind but I was curious about structural integrity once all is said and done also.

 

Like Chopolds said-run some Nomad quarters. A little more coin, a lot more class, (sorry, but it's true), AND you get your rigidity back in the panel because of that nice, formed fender lip.

 

Thanks so far. Nomad quarters way too much money. No option with that. Weedspeed do you have any pics so far?

 

ill third the nomad quarters...

 

I saw a post about using volvo front wheel fender openings ,and they look really good,i think it said mid 80's 240 sedan, and it was on two "lane blacktop" website,mine are cherry now (stock ) and i want to cut em, but iam skeered...

 

Got to get over the fear and do it. That is what I have been struggling with for a couple months. Hopefully someone will give us a real easy way to do it. I have seen a buch of cars where they didn't do anything to the lip. Thwey just cut it and that was it. Hopefully someone has a easy step by step method that will take no time and won't involve Nomad Quarters.

 

'87 Volvo 240 Front fenders.
That's what this guy said he used anyways.

 

Just my humble opinion but Nomad fenders stand out like a busted thumb. It's not a bad look, but it's totally obvious where the fender came from. I've looked at tons of 1955 chevy gasser picks, and almost every one of them has a perfectly round wheel opening. My suggestion is to go with a round opening.

Use 1987 Volvo 240 fenders as donors. If you are looking for a really nice round fender opening that is the way to go. Get them at a volvo junk yard and they should be cheap.

If you do some searching on the various two lane / graffiti websites you'll see that's what most of the guys suggest for a 55 fender radius.

 

oh man... i just couldn't type fast enough. You beat me!

 

You can also cut and raise the lip thats there now if it's good. There are patch panels with the lip on it too. I couldn't bring myself to cut my brand new 1/4's on my 55 so I raised the car!!!!

 

here is my idea:
mount a string on the center of the axle.
cut it to the length that you want the circle.
rotate the string across the 1/4 , scribe or mark with a pen.
then I would weld 1/4-1/2 inch round rod around the inside or outside depending if you want a lip or not, for strength.

the other option that might look ok is to modify some 55 front fender openings onto the rear.

 

Pretty simple - Do it the "old school" way.

I just finished a buddy's '55 using the same method I've used on 4 other cars over the years. It is a little more complicated if you still have the side spear trim on your car, but no biggie.

1. Take off the side trim (have to remove back seat and side panels to get to the nuts)

2. jack car up and remove tires/wheels.

3. Figure out how big you want to go based on tire height and how much open space you want above the wheel.

4. I use a simple wood dowel with a string tied around it and a pencil on the other end. I put the dowel in the center of the axle hub. Lengthen the string so you get the maximum to the side (front). Then using the string make a half circle. Experiment till you get the right contour.

5. then take 1/16" fine line tape and follow the pencil marks you just made.

6. Then apply 1" or or so tape (de-tack the tape so you won't lift marginal paint jobs with poor adhesion) and lay about 4 inches outside your fine-line. This is to keep the jigsaw off the paint you are keeping.

7. When it is laid out simply take a grinding wheel and follow the front and rear lower parts up till it is flat. Then resume with your jigsaw. The trick is to go very, very, very, slow. You want to leave as clean a cut as possible, minimizing the paint chipping.

8. I come back and use a sanding disc to clean up the edges.

9. Then mask off a 1/16" lip around what you just cut and spray and pinstripe of black to cover any paint chigging.

10. If you have side trim, now you tape in place. mark the contour you just cut - with fine line. Take off and cut the trim in half (split the spear) using a dremel tool and a small cutoff wheel. Clean up with scotch pad and reinstall.

It works great!! Good luck!

 

or buick quarters. '55 if remember correctly. we're goin' 40 years back into the memory banks here, and i've killed off a lot of brain cells since then. may or may not be more expensive than the volvo fenders. but the contour will be perfect.

 

i was actually thinking about this and looked at different vans? alot of early 90s vans have a radius with a flare

 

when you drive a 55 nomad & stop for gas or anywhere people all the time say: you sure did a good job on those rear wheelwells! i cant try to explain it to em anymore. people are gettin dumber!!

nomad wheelwells are the best but DO COST TOOOOO DARN MUCH!
---- take a good look at a nomad rear wheel opening once i mean really look at one. they are a work of art.

my advice to anyone cutting a 55 chev wheel opening is get the correct tire size you are running get them mounted on wheels, cut the quarter ""smaller"" then try the tire & wheel on. -- the hole does NOT need to be bigger than the tire.

55xgasrs looks good. but ive seen lots of them cut tooooooo big.

 

Funny thing everyone say use openings from other cars..Volvo, NoMad, ETC...

I have a Racer Buddy who ran a '57 in the '60s thru the '80s and he opened his up withhh...... WAIT FOR IT !...........

FRONT FENDER OPENING FROM THE SAME CAR !

If you know of some Beat front fenders for a '55 you can rework them for the rear.... Real close to Nomad openings & will resemble the fronts.

OR.... What i did on my '54 Ford was the string trick like the Orange '55..

I did mine twice, String lined it 1/2 the diameter of my tires..30" tires = 15" string.

Then i mounted the wheels on the car on the ground with wieght and did another line, This time i measured & free hand till i got what i wanted & cut again.

I have pic's of Rough finish if ya wanna send me yer E~Mail address

 

Yup, that or the Nomad quarters is how I would do it for a factory look. But, if you want the Two-Lane/Graffiti look you need the Volvo fenders.

 

I did pretty much what 55xgasr did, except roll some 1/2in od tubing around the opening to finish it off. (mine was a Henry J..)



-Abone.

 

I wondered about the front fender lips, like DE SOTO said. That is a cool idea.

 

I don't have any pics that show the wheel well done, but if you look reeeeal close, you get teh idea.

PS. Also, try not to notice the fact that my kid seems to be holding his junk. I'm sure it is just teh angle of teh picture.......



-Abone.

 

A big thanks so far for all your help. I really appreciate the pics and the explanation.

 

Hey,

Whatever method you wind up goin' for, bent emt (bent over a tyre)
round stock welded to the quarter opening, than leaded or mudded
in, or wheel openings off another vehicle be sure to completely weld
up the inner quarter/wheelhouse to the outer skin of the quarter.
These are long quarters and without a complete weld all around the
opening a week spot will be created at the center of the wheel open-
ing. The first time the tyres hook up and bite hard the quarter panel
will, in all likelyhood buckle, as they are no longer a box section.
Back when this was "all the shit" to do the first time, you use to
see plenty of "bulged quarters" because the inner quarters either
wern't welded through, or welded poorly.

Swankey Devils C.C.

"Meanwhile, back aboard The Tainted Pork"

 

Sounds like good advise man. Will do.

 

I gotta agree, the Nomad parts look nice on a Nomad, but otherwise suck on a sedan, unless you're into the "g-machine" or Pro Touring look....
Make `em round and gasser style.

 

I would think welding the inner wheel house to the 1/4 panel would warp the hell out of the sheet metal around it.

Reinforcing the opening & butting the wheelhouse to the 1/4 using a rubber gasket of sorts sounds O.K., but that much welding on the flat side of a '55 Chevy sounds like grounds of major warpage to the flat side of the 1/4