MOVING WHEELWELLS 101
| If you need to get
more tire under your stock wheelwells, this is the easiest way to move
them inboard, no matter what car you have. Retaining as much of
the original well as possible greatly minimizes the work and cutting involved.
Re-using the stock inner well also makes it easier to re-weld in place
as well as re-fitting other brackets that are attached to the wells. The only advantage to
completely replacing the entire well is the fact that aftermarket ones
will be square vertically, thus allowing a taller tire. The stock wells
will accomodate up to around 29.5, though the stock front edge of the quarter
is the limiting factor. |
Here are the stock
wells in my '69 Swinger before any cutting. Before changing anything, make
a cardboard pattern so your floor cut will be the same shape as the stock
well. Also notice the location of the trunk bracket in relation to the "shelf" on the well. Coincidence?
In the front you'll have
to drill the spot welds holding the face of the package tray. You can then
just bend it out of the way and hammer it back down to match the new well
later on. It's also a good idea to remove the gas tank, filler, fuel line,
and brake line where it runs through the well. |
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| After cutting the
trunk bracket off, cut up over the center of the well, then around the
bottom edge. stay close to the well around the front and back as this area
wont be trimmed much. Some places are easier to reach from inside the wheelwell.
Once it's out, drill the spot welds holding the piece or trunk bracket
on, as well as the strip from the trunk floor. It's also easier to remove
the undercoating now for welding. It's dirty job when it's above your head.
Once this is done its ready to re-install. |
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Now
lay your cardboard pattern over the trunk floor with the middle area flush
with the framerail. Most of this pattern is straight. It's only the ends
that curve around, so alot of this cut will be against the rail. If there
are any doubts on the curves, leave extra metal and trim them to fit later.
The finished cut shows how far the trunk bracket is over the new well location.
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After some trimming
by trial and error, you'll see that the trunk bracket now rests nicely
on the "shelf" on the wheelwell. The diagonal brace also needed to be slightly
trimmed on the bottom side to clear the well. You couldn't see it in the
pic above, but I moved the cut over near the bottom to leave the seat bracket
in the original location...one less measurement. You also lose the outer
mount for the seat belt. This plate could be moved though, as it's not
important to have in an exact location.
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| Once you're satisfied
with the fit tack the well in place and look it over once again. One thing
to watch is that you dont rotate it fore or aft. make sure the top is even
front to back with the top of the outer half. Sorry for the blurry
pic...couldn't hold still:) If everything looks good,
weld the trunk bracket on, then the package tray face plate. This will
keep the well in place for the rest of the job. |
| Finish welding up
the inner well. Spot welds a half to an inch aparts are fine, although
it wouldn't hurt to weld it solid. Next step is to cut a strip of metal
to fill the gap between the two halves. In my case, this gap was 2 3/4".
Dont cut one long strip and expect to weld it right up. Cut shorter pieces
like 10" or so and weld them in from one end to the other. The gap isnt
going to be perfectly straight so these pieces will have to be hammered
slightly to fit. Tack an end and work your way to the other end. The best
way to weld this up is from inside the well. Its not a fun job, but the
results are worth the effort. Once you're finished, hammer any spots flat,
and any other finish work you may want to do, and you're done. |
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Here's
the finished well. I chose to use seam sealer at this point, and then just
paint it. It looks factory to the untrained eye, and is just as reliable.
Even to a trained eye, a non-original, non-show car doesnt need to be massaged
more than this. If you want though, you can weld it up and use some filler
to smooth the well out to look like the original solid piece. |
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| All finished. That
wasn't so bad. Actually, I spent about 10 hours a side, if you count all
the coffee breaks:) Not too bad to fit 12.5's
in there.I hope these pages help some of you out who were thinking of doing this work. Any comments of course are welcome:) |
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