How much is too much cutting

[stony]

Well my car is a tube chassis drag car. Its connected to the body along the rocker door jam and in the rear of the car. Im going to install subtle Z 1/4's.

 

what I want to do is just like most people do when going with overfenders. cut out the unneeded part of the 1/4 fold it under and weld it to the wheel tub.

my problem is the wheel tubs go very high on the body. in the pic below i want to cut to the lower black line and fold the sheet metal under and weld it to the tub.

the tub is all welded in and it should make the body more rigid. more so then just adding the frp panel.

 

 

opinions? too much to remove?

 

Oh BTW got the first 1/4 75% welded in

[lowdown]

Doesn't the subtle fenders replace all of that anyways? Just cut it at the highest point, and brace it for the glass fenders.... or am i just missing something with what you are trying to achieve?

[emeraldlion]

In response to the above poster, the inner fender is part of the unibody structure and adds rigidity. It's best to weld it to inner structure after cutting.

[Dan Juday]

You can go all the way to about 1/4" below the top crease line on the fender. I'd leave about an inch of metal below that though so you can make a flange to attach the fender to, either bonding or dzus fittings.

 

If you're not going to install fender liners you might just want to flange the whole opening and go bigger, like two inches or so. Without liners small rocks that get kicked up onto the backside of the fiberglass will leave star chips in the paint on the top side.

 

But either way you should have your over-fenders and test fit before you start cutting. JMHO.

[Nelsonian]

Here is how I had my fenders prepared for the subtlez kit. I am planning,(hoping they will fit), on using the group buy Rota RBR's in 17x9.5" with GC coilovers, adj lower control arms and adj camber plates.

[stony]

Here is how I had my fenders prepared for the subtlez kit. I am planning,(hoping they will fit), on using the group buy Rota RBR's in 17x9.5" with GC coilovers, adj lower control arms and adj camber plates.

 

That is how i plan on doing mine. But with a back halve car with huge tubs mine will go a lot higher. my car also has most of the inner structure removed. i was just worried if i took too much out it would the back of the car weak. but if i weld it up to the tubs that should compensate for that right??? the body no longer is a structure the tube frame is. so im thinking it will be alright.

 

 

here is what it looked like before

[stony]

OK here is a better pic of what I'm planning on doing. i have no inner structure that is connected to the outer skin i plan on cutting to the masking tape line then folding under the metal to weld to the wheels tubs which are welded to the chassis. I'm thinking once i do that and bond the fiberglass fender in with panel glue everything will be good. just want to get some opinions.

 

 

The upper line is the fold line and the lower line is the cut line.

Edited May 8, 2011 by stony

[garvice]

By folding it under, how are you going to keep the nice curve of the fold line?

Only way I can think of having a section folded under is to cut little strips (like 1 inch sections), but if you do that it will not be a curve but a curve made of 1 inch sections.

 

Is there a way to do it to keep the curve?

[stony]

yes...

 

2 ways either make a curved flange that will be welded to both the inner wheel tub and the outer skin, or like you mentioned cutting little slits and folding each individual slit under and welding it. I'm not concerned how it looks because like mentioned above i'm installing subtle Z 1/4s over it.

[garvice]

Cheers mate.