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after a "spirit" drive on not always perfect country roads , passenger side fender has a crack.... first time i could realy push it now with the steering finaly sorted out .
PO had Goodyears 225/70/15 , i mounted Avon's 225/65/15 , but those have a bit wider contact pad , less rounded . Perhaps that made it happen ?
I do see paint rubbed away at the underside fender lip , driver side also but less severe.
Would like to put flares on it , as subtle as possible to avoid future problems again. Just repair it has little sense , it will happen again.
I see vendors of such flares , but that are almost complete fenders. Would like to see it less "big" . No need for wider tires , just eliminate that rubbing danger.
I asked pics of the parts here , they claim to be subtle ? https://corvetteupgrade.com/product/...fender-flares/
I'm partial to flares myself. Besides being able to run wider tires/rims, you can also lower the car. That significantly improves handling and I like the 60's road race look. Stock/original is good, modified is better (-:
Barry, from the other forum I mistakenly thought the crack happened in your Rally car. What is your camber setting on the front? You might be able to increase the negative camber to get a hair more clearance. But a 225 width tire is often a pretty tough fit on the front of a C2. I’m surprised a 225/70 fit at all and didn’t collide somewhere with the front fender lip or inside of inner wheel well on tight turns. You will really open a can of worms bringing up flares here. The ones you pictured are the ones that IMO look best on the car - the best except for stock and unmodified. I would look elsewhere for a solution (more backspace on wheels, or 215 tires, or different tire with more rounded shoulder). But that’s just me.
BBerry,
As you know there are some folks on this forum with some nice looking flares...If interested in doing that, you surely know what work it will be. I considered these (see link below). There are others of course. I called the folks at JD Corvette. They said they make them, so I believe it was about a month or so to have them made. https://www.jdcorvette.com/63-67-FLA...UR_p_2395.html
You also might consider these from "Dynamic Corvette". I know they make a good product...they seem like the are wider, but not a total fender reshape... https://www.ebay.com/itm/401361491667
The rules from the sanctioning bodies for vintage racing allows flares as long as the original shape of the wheel opening is retained, so we're not allowed to use flares like those in your link. Years ago we'd order stock quarter panels and fenders made using the same material as the flexible fiberglass bumpers for 73-82 Corvettes so that we could bow them slightly when installing them. With the popularity of restomods there are now stock appearing fenders and quarters available with a 1 1/2" flare, but the stock wheel opening. These are what we now use for fenders on our vintage racing Corvettes. By the way on our 65 we run 6.00x15 front tires (25.5" dia., 10" section width, 8.5" tread) and 7.00x15 rears (27" dia, 12" section width, 9" tread) on 8" rims.
We like the fit and quality of the fenders and quarters made by Dynamic Corvettes, but there are others out there. Below are links to their full and partial 1.5" flare front fenders and their 1.5" rear quarters.
Perhaps i can try with a bit more BS wheels , shave the fender lip ... and just repair the crack as now.
I'm also not favorite for flares and sure don't want it to look overkill with then "to small" wheels under it .
I assume with more BS ( i have now 3.76" ) a 225 tire will rubb sooner against the chassis ? Of course less problem then messing up the fender......
i was thinking of flares that just make that horizontal part of the fender rounded. But do those exist ?
So they are out there as are ballooned out rear fenders. But now you are talking a lot of work and probably a full paint job.
No Dan , those are almost complete fenders ....wider but keeping the stock appearance. I thought of just little pieces to make that fender horizontal line just into round profile , not wider.
here are some nice examples starting at post #26 C-2 fender flares - Page 2 - CorvetteForum - Chevrolet Corvette Forum Discussion
Many of us have solved your problem with more backspace. I run 4.5” with 235/50R17s front and back. LouieM 4.75” BS.
4.5" BS front seems a lot ( i assume you have 7" wide wheels ? )
I have now 3.76" , that would mean wheels 0.74" more inboard ( = 18.8 mm )
Doesn't that give "a look" with wheels deep in the fenders ?
When on the lift i will compare the contact wides of the Avon's versus the old Goodyears. ( which didn't seem to have been a problem, unless it was never driven hard ) Perhaps i can start with that difference taken at least into more BS above my 3.76".
PS i do have 4.75" BS in the rear , but on 8" wheels with 245/60/15 Avon's. ( changed the emergency brake bracket ) ( PO did shave the fenders , had 7" wheels ,3.76 BS , 225 tires ) So there all i did was going 1" wider wheel , 1" more inboard. Just fit with the trailing arms .
can somebody please help me and phone that company to ask for pics from the parts they sell ? I send already 2 mails but get no answer.
I would like to see the parts to have a idea of body work involved .
On the site we only see completed cars.
Van de Walle Norbert,
I called the vendor, just now, and got a message/answering machine. I left a message for the fellow to call me. I will let you know what he says when he calls me. I will send you a separate message regarding this from my personal e-mail which is jbjacks@mailfence.com. You might want to check your junk mail for my message...."Mailfence.com" is what I use. They are a server farm in Belgium (oddly coincidental) that doesn't' track or sell your data and usage info to other parties. Because its unusual, it can be misidentified as spam. Thanks.
Johnny Jackson, Hereford AZ
No gentleman , i don't want it wider , i just think of the idea to get that flat part "round" in the wheel opening profile. That would be small pieces to bond in ?
No wider wheels , i'm fine with the setup i have now . 7" / 225 front and 8" / 245 rear.
Plan B is to repair the crack as now and machine my front wheels 1/2" more BS.
I run a 235/55-17 on a 7 inch wide rim with 4.25 inch BS on my 1966 and F41 suspension (1 inch lower). No body modifications and it doesn’t rub at all lock to lock.
04-14-2024, 06:43 AM
C2 front fender flares
