My '76 restoration (long post)

[MYBAD79]

Keep in mind that with the stock lower strut rod angle your camber goes negative during suspensionn travel.
You're right it is difficult to say just by looking at pictures.... But I'd make sure before I start cutting..... Maybe you only need to grind the fender lip a bit.....

 

[denpo]

Keep in mind that with the stock lower strut rod angle your camber goes negative during suspensionn travel.
You're right it is difficult to say just by looking at pictures.... But I'd make sure before I start cutting..... Maybe you only need to grind the fender lip a bit.....

Good call Kastern, I'm gonna try to take more pics.

 

[MYBAD79]

Maybe put a jack under the frame to barely lift the car, then disconnect the leaf spring and push the trailing arm upwards..... I'd hate to cut a perfectly good fender if it's not necessary....

 

[denpo]

Maybe put a jack under the frame to barely lift the car, then disconnect the leaf spring and push the trailing arm upwards..... I'd hate to cut a perfectly good fender if it's not necessary....

Good idea, will do that.
But what if my lower rod are not correctly adjusted?

More pics:

 

[MYBAD79]

Now on these photos you can really see that the camber is off. Get the alignment better before you cut and flare so you know how wide you have to go.... What size tire is this?

You can adjust the strut rods and trailing arm shims for camber and toe, you can eyeball it to get it at least close... Right now you really way off....

 

[denpo]

Now on these photos you can really see that the camber is off. Get the alignment better before you cut and flare so you know how wide you have to go.... What size tire is this?

You can adjust the strut rods and trailing arm shims for camber and toe, you can eyeball it to get it at least close... Right now you really way off....

Tires are 275 on, if i measured correctly, 10.5" rims.
Front are 245 on 8", staggered setup.
I'm gonna try to get them perpendicular to the ground, I already did a ballpark adjustment of the toe.
From the pic I think I probably can't get away from a flare job.

 

[MYBAD79]

Best thing you can do is to get the alignment somewhat close, then see if the tires hit the fender or if they don't.....
If the tires don't rub they don't rub..... As long as you find out before bodywork and paint it's all good

 

[denpo]

Camber roughly aligned, got enough to get wheels perpendicular to the ground.
Now it get obvious.








I'm not yet a the desired ride height, but obviously the lower I'll get the wider the the tires will stick out.
So I'm aiming for a 1.5" enlargement at the top of the lip.
Thank you so much Karsten for pointing this out.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

or you can just jack up the back with some air shocks :mullet:

 

[7t9l82]

what backspace do you have on your wheel.?

 

[MYBAD79]

Wow, now it really looks like it's sticking out a little


Is a 275/60 tire still available? Might want to look into what sizes are available - i think 295/50 is a good choice for a 10" rim (rims are measured inboard the lip where the tire sits, that's why you measure 10.5 outboard).

A 325/50 might fit a 10" rim , that would be some massive "meat" back there..... Nah, the 295 is probably enough..... Lol....

 

[denpo]

or you can just jack up the back with some air shocks :mullet:

And what doing it Donk style, 22" rim :bonkers::amused:

what backspace do you have on your wheel.?

Good question, never measured it.
All I can say it that in the current state tire are close enough from the TA (non offset) to make me want relocate the parking brake bracket.

Wow, now it really looks like it's sticking out a little


Is a 275/60 tire still available? Might want to look into what sizes are available - i think 295/50 is a good choice for a 10" rim (rims are measured inboard the lip where the tire sits, that's why you measure 10.5 outboard).

A 325/50 might fit a 10" rim , that would be some massive "meat" back there..... Nah, the 295 is probably enough..... Lol....

Yes they are still available, at least as much as 295/50 are.
On the TireRack website, both come in BF Radial flavor and.... that's it.
I understand the outside diameters will be pretty similar, but do you know what I should expect for the width?
I'm all for ridiculously meaty tires. I mean, If I was really was aiming for performance I'd go 17". Right now it's all about emphasizing the turbine wheel awesomeness.
One day I'll be rich and have 17" turbine wheel replica custom made. Can't understand why no one never came with the idea.
Or maybe I'll find this bmw series 6/7 staggered rims set that look like vector wheels at fair price.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

I'm all for ridiculously meaty tires. I mean, If I was really was aiming for performance I'd go 17". Right now it's all about emphasizing the turbine wheel awesomeness.
One day I'll be rich and have 17" turbine wheel replica custom made. Can't understand why no one never came with the idea.

the only reason I can think of "why not" is because they're breathtakingly ugly.

 

[MYBAD79]

:lol:

I kinda like the wheels :tomato::tomato:

 

[denpo]

I'm all for ridiculously meaty tires. I mean, If I was really was aiming for performance I'd go 17". Right now it's all about emphasizing the turbine wheel awesomeness.
One day I'll be rich and have 17" turbine wheel replica custom made. Can't understand why no one never came with the idea.

the only reason I can think of "why not" is because they're breathtakingly ugly.

Well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder I guess.
I see lot of people drooling over those 17" torq thrust, and I'm just all meh about them.
Any rational for the hate? A-team van? Duke of hazard?
From an non american it seems groundless.

 

[MYBAD79]

I think these are pretty cool, on a black car I could even picture these in a flat gold powdercoat ..... Many will say 'eeuww' .... Good thing we all have different things we like otherwise all our cars would look the same ...lol

 

[denpo]

I think these are pretty cool, on a black car I could even picture these in a flat gold powdercoat ..... Many will say 'eeuww' .... Good thing we all have different things we like otherwise all our cars would look the same ...lol

Absolutely.
This rim design have a definitive exotic flavor to me, as european, and reminds me of some car I liked when I was teen.
If I understand Aaron's joke correctly they have a redneck connotation, General Lee syndrome I presume.
It's all cool, my love for those goes way over reason.:loveletter::bonkers:

 

[denpo]

what backspace do you have on your wheel.?

Update
I took some "eyeballed" (tire on car) measurement tonight.
The 4" backspace is deduced from the other measurements.

Edit: and the closest the tire get to the TA is 1".

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

I'm all for ridiculously meaty tires. I mean, If I was really was aiming for performance I'd go 17". Right now it's all about emphasizing the turbine wheel awesomeness.
One day I'll be rich and have 17" turbine wheel replica custom made. Can't understand why no one never came with the idea.

the only reason I can think of "why not" is because they're breathtakingly ugly.

Well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder I guess.
I see lot of people drooling over those 17" torq thrust, and I'm just all meh about them.
Any rational for the hate? A-team van? Duke of hazard?
From an non american it seems groundless.

They were on my dad's 76 El Camino. He bought the wheels new, then modified that boat by putting in a 5.7L diesel motor. That was what I got to drive for my driving test when I was 16.... but no, I've no idea why I hate them so much (did I ever mention I call el camino mullet cars? business in the front, party in the back... probably not relevant, but then again, it could be).

 

[denpo]

They were on my dad's 76 El Camino. He bought the wheels new, then modified that boat by putting in a 5.7L diesel motor. That was what I got to drive for my driving test when I was 16.... but no, I've no idea why I hate them so much (did I ever mention I call el camino mullet cars? business in the front, party in the back... probably not relevant, but then again, it could be).

Thanks Aaron for the input.
I guess if my dad did bought a set of those I wouldn't find they that exotic indeed.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

They were on my dad's 76 El Camino. He bought the wheels new, then modified that boat by putting in a 5.7L diesel motor. That was what I got to drive for my driving test when I was 16.... but no, I've no idea why I hate them so much (did I ever mention I call el camino mullet cars? business in the front, party in the back... probably not relevant, but then again, it could be).

Thanks Aaron for the input.
I guess if my dad did bought a set of those I wouldn't find they that exotic indeed.

fortunately, I'm completely over it now :amused:

 

[denpo]

Lastest purchase : a set of vintage headlight beam tuning tool.
They just work on old kind of headlights thus come pretty cheap on Ebay.




I made a set of bracket to make my flare adjusting process easier





Well, it's time to fire the dremel, there will be not turning back beyond this point.

 

[phantomjock]

Wow - way cool FLARE ADJUSTMENT "tool."
When you're through, I could use those mid-May or so.
Won't be home for your April Trip.

Cheers - Jim

 

[denpo]

Wow - way cool FLARE ADJUSTMENT "tool."
When you're through, I could use those mid-May or so.
Won't be home for your April Trip.

Cheers - Jim

When I'm done they're yours.:drink:
Edit: That's unfortunate you won't be there in April, I'm sure we could have spend a couple of beer creatively. Next time.

 

[phantomjock]

Guess I could have a neighbor put one on the porch! Oh - it's CaNaDa where they'd stay cold! They'd be warm in FL.
Next time! Cheers.

 

[denpo]

Ok, no turning back now





I made a last minute change to the cutting shape on the back.




While my reference tells to cut through both layers of fiberglass, I preferred to just cut though the first, then with the help of an heat gun and some persuasion, unglued it from the back part. It's a potential support area.





So here's with the lip on:
In the quick setup pictured enlargement at the top is 1.4". I like it.
The tire's walls are still slightly protruding but all the thread it covered.
I may have to cut the inner face of the lip as a last minute adjustment, no biggie.















I wonder how it would look if you'd leave the bottom gap open and make a flat duck to go cool rear brake. How well, who want to cool rear brakes anyway.

 

[BBShark]

I don't know if this will make sense but, are you planning on widening by moving the cut lip out horizontally (middle drawing) or splicing in a new part (far right)?

 

[denpo]

I don't know if this will make sense but, are you planning on widening by moving the cut lip out horizontally (middle drawing) or splicing in a new part (far right)?

I'm moving the lip horizontaly (middle drawing).
For now I'm making more bracket and contemplating the setup.
Once I make my mind, I'll trim off the material from both side as marked by the two other line. Right now it's all about making sure the lip move horizontaly and only horizontaly.


Right now I'm at step 2

 

[denpo]

One more bracket at the front:



One more at the back:


Now I can set my final stance





Once I've put my the markers on the brackets I took the lip off, and with a belt sander I took all the upward curve off. Now the lip follow the exact angle at its border.



Then I projected the line from the lip back into the fender. I ended up pretty close to the upper curve change line.

Then I've cut the fender along this line:





The difficulty of blending the lines grows from back to front. That's why I stopped halfway for now. I'm gonna start with the back and see if I can learn that. The lip shapes at the very front are gonna be tricky to deal with.

 

[denpo]

I went full throttle this weekend.
I felt I had enough with planning and making mold and such, I went straight to the point.
I took woven fiber for the bridging part, because it's very flexible.
First I glued the fabric at the bottom, I just dabbed of epoxy on the body and pressed the cloth on it.


Then I glassed the whole thing.




Then I ground the top edge to maximize contact area.
And of course roughed the brigding area.




First layer of glassing on top of it.
As the initial bridging layer wasn't air tight I couldn't get rid of all the bubble.
But believe me it's not as bad at it look. It's actually pretty good.


After the second pass of glassing (6 layers of fiberglass total) and some quick sanding.