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"Steamroller"
Rear Fenders
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call them steamroller fenders thanks to their size and shape--they're
12" wide, 30" in diameter, with a 4" overhang.
They're bigger than you want them. These photos are courtesy
of Chet Burdett, who runs LocostUSA.com and drives this scratch
built Miata powered car. |
| Since
Chet runs some serious racing rubber and a wide track on a
narrow car, he runs these fenders full width. He trimmed an
eyepleasing angle to the front and rear edges and trimmed
the overhang to what looks like 2, maybe 2-1/2 inches. |
| At
the other end of the spectrum is MAX, with skinny tires and
narrow track, fenders trimmed 8-3/4" wide with an overhang
that tapers from 1" in front, to 2-3/4" at the top,
and back down to 1-1/2" at the rear. They look quite
petite, but these fenders started off as steamrollers, just
like Chet's. |
Fitting and installation
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Here's what
they look like out of the box. Normally you would fit all
the body panelling before fitting the fenders, and mount
the wheels and tires so you know just how wide you want
them; these photos are just to show you what you'll be getting
into.
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I don't reccommend
using masking tape as a trim line, either, but it shows
up clearly in the photos. Use a felt pen, and trim with
a body saw or a saber saw with a fine metal-cutting blade.
You can trim it by hand with a hacksaw blade, if you've
got all day.
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The slick trick
to these fenders is the flange. Typically, fiberglass fenders
are made with the mounting flange as part of the fender--which
is fine if there's a fender available in exactly the width
you want, and you don't mind replacing a complete fender
assembly if you hit a cone. On ours, you attach the flange
to your car with...
(This is a
good place to point out a benefit to the steamroller's round
profile. many locost fenders sweep back in the back, into
the bend of the lower rear chassis tube. When they do, they
leave a gap between the body and the fender. I don't like
that look myself, so our fenders come forward a bit at the
back, just forward of that bent tube, for a flush fit. And
now, back to the instructions.)
...attach the
flange to your car with bolts, rivets, or even the plastic
body panel hardware from your local auto parts house. Trim
the bottom ends of the flange to fit the bottom of your
chassis.
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| After
the flange is mounted, you can slip the fender over the flange
and flush to the body. Then affix the fender to the flange
(rivets, bolts, hardware of choice...or if you want an invisible
fit you can bond the fender to the flange with fiberglass
and resin, or even epoxy glue) and you're done. |
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Here's Chet's
car Augist '08, painted menacing black, with street wheels
and tires. His taillights are kinda cool; they're off a
fork lift.
By the way,
for you autocrossers, the right and left fenders are symmetrical
(unless you choose to trim them otherwise) so you'll only
need one spare when you go to the Nats.
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...or back for more
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