seventysixvette

What did you do with your wheel wells?

Did you just leave them in the stock position? Didn't that add a lot of weight to be lifted? Did you attach the stock ones to the frame, so's they stayed put when lifting the front end?

Or did you build new ones and make them detachable so the engine is accessible when the dog house is tilted forward?

I've searched threads back years and can't find any info on the wheel wells......

Thanks!

John

SHOWME

The wheel wells went away.I might build partials for the rear if there is room when I'm finnished.Inner fenders can be simple as a aluminum sheet arched over and clear of the wheels.Tubs?

redvetracr

If you or anyone else is interested I have a complete "tilt" front end off a 69.....

seventysixvette

I'd given some thought to tubs.

Gawd, this is gonna sound Bubba-fied, but I have access to 35, 45, and 55 gallon plastic drums. Fairly squared off sides on the bottom. If one is the right diameter, a couple would make great front tubs after I cut them up. It shouldn't be too hard to fab up a way to pin them to the frame.

I appreciate the offer, but I'm just too fond of my rubber bumper front end.

The13Bats

It's the little details that matter....

The inner wheel wells always seem to be an after thought with tilt front clips,
Really gross looking and all standing out like a tu%d in a punchbowl in all the Makos I have seen...


The best looking in form and function are the ones mocking or using the style we see in a c4...


Yep..it gets heavy...a C4 front clip is heavy but a tilt is a trade off if you want it nice and as ridge as the stock version then it will weigh more....my Mako clip already has the same basic framing as the underside of a C3 hood, then my wheel well tops will be bonded in there...I will have alignment pins in several locations....no reason for a tilt front clip to be cheap and cheesy.

Something else to keep in mind while some people do make a stock front end into a tilt unit if you are not good with glass the hood seams will show thru if not crack over time...if you want tilt, buy a one piece....

Now here is a top shelf tilt front end....

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-g...-new-post.html

78Vette-SA

Take a look through this thread by 77Custom and the work he's doing. One of the better jobs of it I think. Too bad some of the pic links are gone but the last page still has the pics of the wheel wells.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-g...m-vette-3.html

seventysixvette

Yeah, I'm not at all decided I'm going to do this, but I'm trying to research a little and wheel wells is something I haven't seen a lot of discussion about.

It looks just like the Mako had the plastic drum bottoms.......after seeing that pic I think I'll pass on that idea....but I do like the C-4 wells.

I'm not all that good at 'glassing yet, but I'm learning fast and I follow the 'rules' with SMC. I'll be keeping the stock clip and doing the filling in. I plan to keep the flip ups.




Honestly, this exact thread is exactly what started me thinking about this. I just missed seeing the wheel well tops on the underside of that clip.

In comparing the pics Bats posted, the round drum-like wells on the Mako seems to look bad because the drum goes all the way over the top and hugs the tire, the pics of all the ones that look better all have the tops mounted on the underside of the flip clip.

Odd.....it's like if you see the top of the tire the set-up just looks more professional.


John

7vettes

Here's one that caught my eye at Daytona awhile back. It's the only pic I saved of the tilt but it looks like it might be the C4 style that Bats is talking about.

seventysixvette

I like your avatar! Angel Eyes!

I like the way the wheel wells look in your photo. I'm wondering if I can carefully remove the stock wells and do something with them......maybe not, but they'd have to come off anyway.

I've kinda decided me even doing this depends on whether I can design a hinge that'll let me pivot the dog house a full 90 degrees up and out of the way. It looks like on a lot of these C-3 tilt conversions the front end just opens about half way.

Dunno....I'll have a couple months to research before I can untarp the money pit and get it moved back into the garage.

John

rosslato

more pics here http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v323/rosslato/

just noticed you said "stock Clip", mine's an Eckler's 1 piece hood as is the Blue vert above.

seventysixvette

Your wheel wells are sweet! PM sent!

John

ylose

ack....must be so nice to work on the engine with the front clip removed....I am jealous!

seventysixvette

Exactly. I converted my '56 Nomad to a tilt front.

It was sooooo easy to tilt the whole dog house up and out of the way when I was working on the engine.....('specially when I was fighting that Hilborn injection)


John

SHOWME

I will probably just build partials in the rear.More like splash guards or bulkheads.I mounted my tilt front on pins that could be removed easy and the lights on plugs.It's nice to tilt it but to remove it is wonderful!

bobs77vet

i had a tilt front and i liked it alot.....the only thing you have to realize is that the inner fender skirts are not that structually sound unless yiou brace the top of them and if you lean on them they will break

rosslato

oh yeah, it's a great back saver, i love that aspect of the tilt. i just remove 2 bolts and unhook the lights and the hood is off

rosslato

thanx, i painted them w/Por-15 then topcoated w/Krylon semi black. i did the whole rear shell and rear fender wells w/por 15. it provides a rockhard finish that sticks to the fiberglass like glue and is easy to wipe down.

parkerracing

This is another Mako over at www.makoshark2.com



...and heres how he did it (spray foam is your friend)



and the finished product



Nice work Jim

Theres also quite a thread on double articulating hinges to keep the nose out of the road.

seventysixvette

That Makos wheel shields look better than the one with the plastic tubs Bats had in his post.

I have to admit though Ross's wells are exactly the look I'm after. I really like those.


I've just started doodling around with some simple mechanical drawings and models just screwing around to see if an articulating 4 point set up could raise the front point of the clip when the rear is close to it's up travel limit.

I've helped several guys locally set up their street rod hoods with a 4 point system like this:



It raises the hood, throws it forward, and then drops the front. There's a lot of kits to do this now. With the different length connectors between the Heim joints, it's not hard to understand.

I can't see why a tilt clip couldn't be set up to tilt forward and then raise up when it's almost opened up all the way.

Is the thread on the articulating hinges on the Mako site? If you could direct me to any threads that discusses this I'd appreciate it....I always like to see other ideas.

John

BenUK

Do you guys have Technical Lego in the US? It's great for mocking up this sort of mechanical stuff.