"Tubbing" my Front End.

[65BBODY]

Is that even possible? yeah sure, I guess. No one has probably ever referred to it as such but that is what I am going to be calling this little project of mine.

So i own a 65' Impala, With 20"s up front and 2 inch drop spindles. I had to get a pair of those Ghetto spring spacers from the auto parts store to keep it from rubbing on the Inner fenders. Even still when i hit a bump or take turns the front tires still rub on the fenders.

I plan on doing an air-ride system as soon as I get the cash, but in the meanwhile i figured that i would "Tub" the front end. So a popular mod I have seen people do (including Fesler on their C-10) is to use trailer fenders in place of the stock inner fenders. So on Saturday I went down to the trailer supply store and picked up a couple of trailer fenders (i will post pics later).

What I am wanting to do here is get some recommendations on how to go about doing this project, I plan on setting the new fender heights to be equal to the lowest point on the car to the overall tire height on the front wheels with an inch or so of extra clearance. I plan on the car laying out once the air-ride project is finished.

My new fenders are around 8 to 9 inches wide, I am wondering if I will need to make them wider, to compensate when turning.?

along with this job i plan on making the engine bay of the car a whole lot cleaner in the process (looks terrible now), not sure how i am going to do this, I was think about making a "new" firewall, that sticks out an 1/2" or so past the factory firewall. (Additional recommendations for the firewall mod encouraged as well)

So if anyone has had the oppportunity to tackle a similar project or has any helpful insight or would like to post up some flicks of similar projects I would REALLY appreciate it! Thanks in advace fellers!

65BB.

[65BBODY]

http://www.feslerbuilt.com/1967ChevyTruck.htm

[mikey]

I saw a 57 chevy that someone had used a trailer type fender and mounted it up like a motorcycle fender. It was a pretty neat looking deal it looked to be mounted to the spindle not sure how though. It was real close to the tire and moved with the suspension. Might be a idea you could modify to your tastes.

[65BBODY]

i like that idea sounds very cool.

[mikey]

If it was in a magazine it would've been super chevy. I'm pretty sure it was either the local world of wheels or the Kansas goodguys show. I'm pretty sure it was like a corvette yellow. Maybe someone here has seen it also.

[GM Muscle]

i did it once on a chevelle. i just bought some 50 dollar round trailer fenders and spliced them and added a strip to get them the right witdth. then i mounted them to the fender. i got a piece of card board and added a few brakes and edges to it to "fill" in the gap around the well to the firewall and frame and core support. once i got it all filled in i pulled it out and transfered it to a sheet of steel and trimmed and broke it to the same shape i had the cardboard. then i just mocked it up and went to welding. i just used bondo on my finger to "smooth" the welds. i really wish i had pics but it was much easier that i had imagined. be sure to get the carboard exactly like you want it

[65BBODY]

Man, i wish you had pics too!
I was going over the process in my head and was thinking of doing it just like you described. Sounds like im probably going to have to widen the fenders, i was hoping that i did not need to do that. Maybe Ill buy another set of fenders or even just one fender and cut that up to weld in to make them wider.
Did you do all of this when the motor was in the car etc?

i did it once on a chevelle. i just bought some 50 dollar round trailer fenders and spliced them and added a strip to get them the right witdth. then i mounted them to the fender. i got a piece of card board and added a few brakes and edges to it to "fill" in the gap around the well to the firewall and frame and core support. once i got it all filled in i pulled it out and transfered it to a sheet of steel and trimmed and broke it to the same shape i had the cardboard. then i just mocked it up and went to welding. i just used bondo on my finger to "smooth" the welds. i really wish i had pics but it was much easier that i had imagined. be sure to get the carboard exactly like you want it

[Fesler built]

Since we are talking about my truck I just to clear things up we dont buy any tub in any car or truck we do, we hand build them all in our projects, you will not get the fit you want with a trailer fender they are not even close and will require a lot of work. I have seen people do it this way but dont really like tI he outcome. I will see if I can find a few pics to post up for you to see. Thanks

Is that even possible? yeah sure, I guess. No one has probably ever referred to it as such but that is what I am going to be calling this little project of mine.

So i own a 65' Impala, With 20"s up front and 2 inch drop spindles. I had to get a pair of those Ghetto spring spacers from the auto parts store to keep it from rubbing on the Inner fenders. Even still when i hit a bump or take turns the front tires still rub on the fenders.

I plan on doing an air-ride system as soon as I get the cash, but in the meanwhile i figured that i would "Tub" the front end. So a popular mod I have seen people do (including Fesler on their C-10) is to use trailer fenders in place of the stock inner fenders. So on Saturday I went down to the trailer supply store and picked up a couple of trailer fenders (i will post pics later).

What I am wanting to do here is get some recommendations on how to go about doing this project, I plan on setting the new fender heights to be equal to the lowest point on the car to the overall tire height on the front wheels with an inch or so of extra clearance. I plan on the car laying out once the air-ride project is finished.

My new fenders are around 8 to 9 inches wide, I am wondering if I will need to make them wider, to compensate when turning.?

along with this job i plan on making the engine bay of the car a whole lot cleaner in the process (looks terrible now), not sure how i am going to do this, I was think about making a "new" firewall, that sticks out an 1/2" or so past the factory firewall. (Additional recommendations for the firewall mod encouraged as well)

So if anyone has had the oppportunity to tackle a similar project or has any helpful insight or would like to post up some flicks of similar projects I would REALLY appreciate it! Thanks in advace fellers!

65BB.

[Rhino]

While I haven't completed it, I am planning on widening my inner fenders. My plan is to split them and add a ribbon a few inches wide down the center.
I did the same to a set of inner rear wheel houses and am really pleased by the results.

I'll be running a custom front sub so I shouldn't need to worry about frame rub.

[65BBODY]

My Bad Chris, I should have figured that the truck was all hand fabed. I had just seen other folks do the trailer style fenders and they looked similar, but obviously no where near as good.
I have noticed on your blazer that you don not run any inner fenders. is there just no room to put them in or you like the look without them?
I am was open to the idea of just pulling the stock ones out all together, but its a driver and wanted to keep the engine bay as clean and kept up as possible.
still deciding how to do the front, I have seen some other stuff that people have done and I am considering similar routes. The way the car is now though is totally unsafe, the tires rub on pretty much every single bump and when i take large right hand turns on freeway ramps etc. the tires rub so bad that it looks like i had just done a burnout.
Planning on bagging the car as soon as i get the money so its going to have to be done eventually.

Since we are talking about my truck I just to clear things up we dont buy any tub in any car or truck we do, we hand build them all in our projects, you will not get the fit you want with a trailer fender they are not even close and will require a lot of work. I have seen people do it this way but dont really like tI he outcome. I will see if I can find a few pics to post up for you to see. Thanks

[65BBODY]

you should post up pictures of that project, im sure everyone would enjoy seeing what you come up with, myself included. I think i am going to have to do the same process on the trailer fenders that i bought by buying another set and widening them same way you propose to do so. I just hope it doesn't look like ****e once its all in there. Two big ass tubs in the engine bay of a car will probably look not that great?

While I haven't completed it, I am planning on widening my inner fenders. My plan is to split them and add a ribbon a few inches wide down the center.
I did the same to a set of inner rear wheel houses and am really pleased by the results.

I'll be running a custom front sub so I shouldn't need to worry about frame rub.

[Rhino]

I just hope it doesn't look like ****e once its all in there. Two big ass tubs in the engine bay of a car will probably look not that great?

I'll post up when I have it completed, but I'm way to early in the process right now.

As far as it looking good... there's only one way to find out.

[meenaggie]

Prodigy built some out of fiberglass for Empty Nest (firebird). I even think Frank was going to market them to F-body guys. I am sure he could do the same for a B-body.

[65BBODY]

Just looked at the Prodigy link above and did not see anything on that car's front wheel wells.

[jackfrost]

i think Motiv8r got them, too. You might check the thread stickied in the Project Updates section.