wheel well

[c1arke]

hi my outer wheel well on My mk1 is rotten and i was thinking of replacing it but i cant get the role and curve to work without it looking like crap so am thinking of cutting the other wheel well out and just make it go strait to the side of the car. so my question is will the wheel arch be strong enough and has aney one else done it? i have added a pick black is the existing green is the out side of the car and red is wat am thinking of doing

 

a href="http://s203.photobucket.com/albums/aa36/c1arke88/?action=view&current=arch.jpg" target="_blank">

 

 

thanks

[Rick]

not the best drawing dude try get a pic

[mrmoo]

so what your saying is the inner arch is rotton where it meets the inside of the outer wing?

 

you wanna use a piece of flat plate rolled to fit the profile of the existing arch, and weld it to the top of the old inner arch and directly to the inside of the body panel?

[evil knievel]

if you're saying what i think you're saying then no, i don't think it will pass it's MOT like that mate.

 

get a bette pic' though because i'm only guessing at what you mean!!

[kirk10]

right ive seen his car and will try and say what he means

 

all of the back arches have rotted around base of them were it meets the floor of the car

 

and around the middle strip were the 2 inner arches meet

 

so hes wondering if its ok to cut all the arches out

and in affect tub the rear end like retro does his

 

but he wants to keep the standerd arches and not bubbles

[kirk10]

the yellow is were his are rotten all the way round

 

 

 

so he wants to do this -- but keep the standerd arches

 

 

so will the outer qaurter panel and arch be strong enough ?

[kirk10]

[Rick]

id imagine its strong enough.

 

when some people fit bubbles the just fibreglass that gap up

[caprinerd]

i think you`ll find that it will flex bit like the side of a van unless you can find a way of giving it support or stength could you weld a strip to the inner lip of the arch before tubing it

[kirk10]

i would say it will be strong enough once he welds it all the way around the new tub

then has the lip of the arch and so on to give it the strengh

 

will only be about 6 inches all the way around

 

its a question for gary i think

[mrmoo]

i will be needing to tub my rear archs this winter

there in good nick so i was going to cut down the centre of the inner arch and basically just move it inwards

 

thanks clarke, ive hyjacked your picture, i hope its not copyrighted

 

this is the strongest way i could think of doing it

as the inner arch is still attached to the outer arch there shouldnt be any flex?

[kirk10]

dont think you will be able to move it in to much as the chassis rail is there

would make a bit more clearance in the left hand corner tho but then again no point making clearance 1 side if your going to leeve the other corner standerd ?

[mrmoo]

i think theres a bit more space on the mk1 capri

it looked like i might get upto 2"

also where the inner arch comes down theres quite a pronounced tapper

so if the arch went straight up where it is now there could be another 1" clearance

[mrmoo]

 

sort of like that

[c1arke]

thanks but you got it wrong, don't want to tub it all just the bit from the side of the car half way in, that is the rotten bit. but if it wasn't strong i was going to do 2 plates that stay tight up against the side of the car that flow it to give a bit of strength

[Retromotorsport]

The strength part is the box section from by the inner panels and the outer 1/4, its ok to do what you say, as long as the tub is welded to the outer 1/4 AND the inner stiffeners, without attaching the inner stiffeners the 1/4 flexes as the chassis loads are now just going through a curving out panel, the rear 1/4.

 

The biggest problem unless you skilled at trimming to fit is when you weld the tub to the 1/4, a big gap means a big weld to fill the gap, a big weld is loads of heat and you will have loads of distortion ...

 

As for the lower part, the arch, being too flexable, look at the front arch, its unsuported all the way up and it dosnt wobble. The strength in the lower 1/4 is there because of the arch shape, the lip and sweep out makes it strong.

[c1arke]

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE GOD HAS SPOKEN thanks i can carry on with my car now.

 

am not skilled but am making them in paper first then fitting them then welding them. was thinking of stitch welding them 1" welded 1" not and so on and then seam sealer both sides

[speedydaveb]

I'd look for another 'scort and cut the whole of the inner arch out, did that with mine and upgraded from the bar to turreted dampers at the same time. Any rot will be easy to repair with the inner off the car

 

Use card rather than paper, if it flexes too much your template won't be that accurate (speaking from experience!)

[c1arke]

ye i did mean card lol soz

[Retromotorsport]

If you split it into two halfs ...like the original... then you can have a 2" over lap and keep trimming the steel against the 1/4 till it fits with no gaps at all .. then trim the middle join down to 1/2" and weld it all in ..