My new fender(s)

[Kinserin]

Well, its been WAY to long since I've worked on the Ex (it sort of got the back burner once I put it through 5 feet of water and it didnt want to work 2 weeks after.. And I needed another vehicle, so my Jetta has been taking my time) but I figured I'd do something about my fenders finally. The cops around here appearntly are picky about how far your tires stick out, so I started fabbing my fenders.

I was going to just buy the glass fenders and call it a day, but whats the fun in that?! And besides... I have a soft spot for fabrication..

I'll let the pictures talk for a bit.

Once these are done I'm either going to get to work on getting the damn engine working again, or I'll just do my rear quarters similar to the front.

And if anyone wants to know what happened to my truck, I don't really know. It would run periodically and then not want to fire. It turns over like its new, but it just wont fire anymore. I dont have a CEL when I turn the key to on anymore either though.. But I've tried changing ECUs and still no dice

-Edit-

Its amazing what you notice looking at a picture.. I just noticed that my fenders when they're done, are going to do nothing as far as keeping debris down near the bottom of the door.. /shrug I'll think of something.

 

[ProjectAviator]

Cool fenders, kinda like the tube fenders Jeeps are running. you going to cover them with metal or glass??
MMMM the ideas are a flowing. just need a welder and a place to use it.

Tim

 

[410Fortune]

no more crumple zones for you

looking forward to seeing more

 

[UKExploder]

You look like an artist with metal mate .....you should use sheet metal to cover them now just to make people do double takes.......hahaha.... ......looks good

 

[Kinserin]

I'll be using plate steel to cover the INSIDE of the tube frames (so you can still see the tubular work ). Im not sure what gauge.. I originally wanted 10ga, but those things are bloody heavy as they are.. And its only 1.5" tubing with 1/8" wall... I originally wanted to run a tube exo-cage (never seen a tube cage before.. Figured I'd be the first to try it? Its strong enough, but the weight *might* be a problem) so I started on the fenders first. Progress will be slow, but Im expecting to finish the driver side fender this weekend at least, and have my passenger side fender framed. I already have the passenger side like, 1/3 framed but the drivers fender took me roughly 7-8 hours... It wasnt very angle friendly.

And thanks for the comments, I especially appreciate the "You look like an artist with metal mate" one, comments like that are what keep me going! Once my front fenders are done I'm either going to try the rears, or just get my SAS over and done with... Or fix my engine no-start problem that nobody seems to be able to solve so far its a huge downer because I refuse to run a carb on my future 302 just to bypass my broken electrical system...

I'll keep everyone posted so long as everything stays on schedule

 

[Brian1]

14 ga would be more than enough to skin them with. I just skinned my Jeep fenders with 14 ga and it didnt add much more weight and it is plenty strong.

I like how they are coming out, definately origional and functional too!

 

[Kinserin]

Yeah, I was even thinking 16ga mainly because its retardedly easy to cut... I dont think I have any 14ga at my shop, so my options were (as of this morning.. Found out we had 12ga too) 10ga 12ga and 16ga. Generally we only stock 10ga and 16ga, so Im not quite sure where the 12 came from but whatever lol.

 

[colindo94]

I give it another year and the whole truck will be looking like that Nice work

 

[IZwack]

Dunno how often you take this rig on the trail but I was just thinking that if you leaned the fender on a tree, it might damage the radiator core support (or something else) since the tubing probably wont give and shove everything inboard.

 

[colindo94]

That means a whole engine cage

 

[Kinserin]

Dunno how often you take this rig on the trail but I was just thinking that if you leaned the fender on a tree, it might damage the radiator core support (or something else) since the tubing probably wont give and shove everything inboard.

Colindo has it closish to right. I forgot to mention my plan for an engine cage of some sort. Since its going to have an exo-cage I was going to run supports from one fender to another, overtop the hood. For instance, one at the back near the wipers, and one over the front lip of the hood. I was also going to run a piece to the frame somehow (the piece of tube by the door, thats just one piece to follow the body) either in a 'boot' (slip yoke type dealio) or with a pad bolted/welded to the frame.

I didnt do ANYTHING with my fenders today since Im overly determined to get my truck running again.. And narrowed it down once again to the ECU not telling the injectors to spray.. I have fuel all the way down the intake manifold right up until the injectors, they just dont spray Tomorrow I'll be trying a known-good ECU with the same options as my Ex and hope that works.. If it does I guess I'm buying another ECU, just hopefully one that works unlike the last one I bought...

 

[Kinserin]

Oh and IZWack, Im stealing your hydro setup. Just figured I'd let you know For my Dana 44 that is...

 

[Kinserin]

Well since I sorta disappeared and what not.. I figured I'd chime in quick.

For the people that were/still are interested in this, I should be done sometime soon once Im done school. I had to leave town for 2 months for school so yeah. Im done this Friday and then I'll probably finish them up once I get my car running because me+vehicles=no start issues all the time

Anywho, Im first going to try and reuse the fender skin (just because if it fits, why not reuse it right?) and if that doesnt work then I'll just cut some 12ga out and plate the inside of the fenders. Hopefully I can pretty the welds up a bit and what not too once its all skinned.

Again, sorry for just disappearing for those of you who were interested

 

[95offroadx]

yeah man i have something similiar planed for my explorer! I will be using round tubing though, but bending the tube to look right, gonna then put sheet metal over it. This is a much better idea then buying fiberglass fenders which will break the first time i bounce of a tree, or loose my tire again haha.

Awesome job!

 

[Kinserin]

Just to bump my own post, I should have *both* fenders done and mounted hopefully before this week is up... The drivers side is pretty well done, just needs another layer of bondo to fill some of my low spots (had to beat the skin with a hammer to hit the tubing to my liking). The passenger side is all welded up but it just needs the fender skin beat in better and then bondo'd a bit.

And incase anyone is wondering, no, I havent been working on them all this time I've been out of town due to school but thats over and its back to working on the truck. Hopefully before May I'll have my 302, Dana 60 rear and 44 done completely and driving... Good times.

 

[Kinserin]

So I have to apologize for the lack of pictures for tonight.. I've got the passenger fender fully welded and about 90% ground down for bondo. I got rear ended on yesterday so I've been busy with their insurance company and what not sorting things out so my poor Jetta can stop looking like a beater (Its been hit 3 times since I got it last June... all of'em werent my fault luckily!). Both bumpers are all cracked and messed up now too lol.

Im hoping I'll have them bondo'd up and ready for paint tomorrow night, and then *done* on Sunday.

 

[Kinserin]

Im disappointed that these still arent complete, but life comes first!

Anyhow, onto the pictures!

The drivers fender still needs one last tube cap and some minor grinding of those welds at the front and then new epoxy primer and she'll be done.

Passenger still needs a few hours of sanding and probably one or two more coats of bondo. I say a few hours because my palm sander died on Friday so its been hand sanded today. Might pick one up after work tomorrow and get'er done.

But there they are. Comments/questions are always welcome Hopefully the weather gets nice so I can grab my truck and bring it back into the shop... Didnt want to today because it was cool outside and well, I wasnt expecting much motivation this afternoon lol.

 

[general x]

Wow! Those are truly awsome and if I had half the skill id be thinking about how to steal your fender tech to make myself a flip hood (OF STEEL!) Probably wouldnt be too hard to put a few of them flush mount waterproof trailer lights in the sheet metal to shine some handy dandy light into your wheel wells for night fix's and such. Are you planning on putting an outer skin to the fenders or keeping them rugged as they are?......so many mounting points *drool*

 

[Kinserin]

They're staying as is in regards to the skinning. I opted to skin the inside because I like the 'rugged' look it gives. And because I wanted to reuse my fender skin that I had cut out, and it wouldnt fit on the outside

I've been getting off work lately at like 8pm.. which is kinda lame, so I've been to tired to actually work on them again... Probably wont touch them today either since I have other things that need taking care of.

But yeah once they're done and on the truck I'll be connecting them to the frame and to each other atop the hood so I don't mess up whats left of my front clip.

 

[Kinserin]

Wow.. Promises promises promises, and I couldn't deliver something so simple as pictures.. Which I don't have today either haha.

They're *done* and on the truck.. Only in primer because I still don't know what I want the truck to look like. But at least they're done. They were taking way to much time bondoing them and the only reason I started bondoing was because my brother in law said "oh, well it'll only take a few coats to get'em almost new!" .. <---newbie at body work, it wasnt that easy and it eventually turned into a "lets see how purdy we can make the fenders!" To bad the truck is gonna get beat up. So I finally stopped and just painted them... They're acceptable, not perfect, but yeah.

I'll try and steal a picture of three on the weekend if I can get my hood latch working again.. It looks weird with the hood perma-popped heh.