Modern Rodding Tech

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Making Cycle Fenders typography
Making Cycle Fenders typography
A Little Creativity With Recycled Parts and You Have Cool Fenders
By Ron Covell Photography by BRIAN BRENNAN
O

ne great way to make cycle fenders for an open-wheel car is to start with a spare tire cover. For many hot rods with big ’n’ littles, this works to perfection for the smaller front wheels–but there are often fitment issues with the larger rear tires.

Dean Livermore, of Hot Rods by Dean, has a long history of finding great solutions for problems like this. He called on his chief fabricator, Ron McCorkle, to do the fabrication on this job.

Two ’36 Ford spare tire covers were used, and each was cut in half to make two fenders. For the front fenders, the original contour and width was just about perfect for the front tires of the pickup, but some major modifications were needed at the rear to fit the substantial Coker Classic Radial 700R16 tires (PN 62244).

McCorkle used an English wheel to re-arch the wheel covers to match the two rear tires. Most of the action was at the edges, which are somewhat challenging because they are made with a hemmed (double-thickness) edge.

Once each fender was stretched enough to match the big tires, plus a bit more for clearance, the fenders were ready to be widened. A bandsaw was used to split the fenders in half, right along the centerline. Next the fender halves were positioned on the tire so the width could be measured for the filler piece.

Two strips of metal were cut about 2 inches wide and carefully aligned and tack-welded to one fender half. After the strip was fully tacked to one fender side, the other side was attached in the same way. After verifying the fit, all the joints were finish welded and smoothed.

The last step was making the fender mounting tabs. Strips of 1/4×1-inch flat bar were contoured to fit snugly inside the fenders, and each piece was held to the fender with two screws. The tabs were drilled and tapped so that no nuts would be required on the inside, allowing the fender to hug the tire closely.

Brackets were welded to the front and rear of the rear axle housings to hold the bottom of the fender stanchions, which are made from 5/8-inch od heavy wall tubing. Bosses were welded to the bottom of the stanchions, which were nicely hollowed out to hide the hex head of the mounting bolt. The tops of the stanchions were given a graceful curve where they attach to the tabs screwed to the fenders.

One of the last steps was to position the fenders over the tires, trim and fit the top of the stanchions to match the fender tabs, and tack-weld them together. After disassembly, they were finish welded on the bench.

This is a great way to get vintage-looking fenders with minimum fabrication; they match the style of this pickup perfectly!

a red ’36 Ford tire cover over a spare tire on a car frame

1. Spare tire covers can make excellent fenders for open-wheeled cars. A ’36 Ford tire cover is the perfect size for these 5.50R16 front tires.

inside view of a spare tire on a car frame with a red tire cover

2. The key to mounting cycle-style fenders is to make the mounts strong but unobtrusive. We’ll detail how these cool mounts were made and how the fenders attach to them.

a Ford tire cover sits over a tire with too large a width

3. The size and shape of the Ford tire cover is woefully out of proportion for the massive rear tires.

mechanic Ron McCorkle uses an english wheel to stretch the edges of the tire cover, opening the contour

4. Ron McCorkle is using an English wheel here to stretch the edges of the tire cover, opening the contour.

mechanic tests the fit of the new contour

5. Here is the tire cover nearly fitted to the tire. A little more clearance is needed for the tire.

mechanic Ron uses a bandsaw to split the fender down the center

6. The tire cover needs to be widened considerably. Ron is using a bandsaw to split the fender down the center.

the spare tire cover after cutting

7. Here’s the spare tire cover after cutting.

the rear fender sits in comparison to the front fender on a counter

8. You can see how much the rear fender has been expanded by comparing it to the front fender in the background.

mechanic holds the fender halves in place to check for clearance

9. The fender halves are carefully positioned on the tire, making sure the tread is covered and that there is sufficient clearance of the tire. Two strips of metal are cut to widen the fenders.

mechanic tack-welds one strip of metal to one fender half
10. On the bench, one strip of metal is tack-welded to one fender half.
a close-up view of the tack welds
11. Here’s a close-up view of the tack welds. It’s important to get good alignment at the joint before finish welding.
a clamp holds the second side of the cover being welded
12. Now the second side can be tack-welded into place.
a front and rear fender sit side by side for comparison in width
13. The rear fenders are much wider than the front, but the raised detail in the center gives them a similar character.
underside view of a tire cover with a mounting tab and spacer tape for clearance
14. The fenders need mounting tabs. These are made from steel bar that has been contoured to fit snugly inside the fender. Note the spacer taped into place, giving the fender clearance from the tire.
close view of a mountin bracket, welded to the front and rear of the axle housings close to the backing plates

15. Mounting brackets were welded to the front and rear of the axle housings close to the backing plates.

close view of the tubular stanchion welded to a boss for the mounting bolt

16. Here you can see the tubular stanchion welded to a boss for the mounting bolt. Note that the hex head of the nut is recessed–a nice detail.

view of a stanchion with a gracefully curved end

17. The upper ends of the stanchions were given a graceful curve and trimmed where they will fit to the mounting tabs on the fenders.

the spacers are used to give the fender proper clearance, so the stanchions can be fitted and tack-welded to the tabs

18. Here the spacers are being used to give the fender proper clearance, so the stanchions can be fitted and tack-welded to the tabs.

outter view of the tire cover with welded tabs

19. After tack-welding on the truck, the tabs were finish welded on the bench.

a stanchion with both ends attached

20. Here is the stanchion with both ends attached.

the ends of the tabs were paired down for a cleaner look

21. After welding, the ends of the tabs were paired down for a cleaner look.

view of the wheel cover installed without a wheel

22. With the wheel removed you can see the relationship between the fenders and stanchions.

the finished rear fender installed atop the wheel

23. Here’s the finished fender. It’s perfectly sized for these wheels and tires and it maintains the hot rod theme of the pickup.

 SOURCES
Coker Tire
(888) 441-8524
cokertire.com
Hot Rods by Dean
(623) 581-1932
hotrodsbydean.com
Modern Rodding

VOLUME 3 • ISSUE 18 • 2022