Has anyone re-radiused rear wheelwells?

[RoadRacer]

I was thinking about the 'problem' where the rear isn't in the center of the wheelwell. Some talk about lengthening the 3 links, panhard bar and driveshaft but that seems expensive. Has anyone sliced in front of the wheel well, moving the front half forward an inch? Then re-glass the gap. (I'm keeping it simplistic here, but you may need to cut out the entire wheelwell and move forward, to keep the radius)

I don't have a body yet (stage 1) so I don't know if there's anything in the way of doing that, but I wonder if this is simpler and less expensive? The glasswork would be pretty simple to fill an inch gap..

[GoDadGo]

I shortened the wheelbase on my MK-4 Roadster by 5/8" to move the rear wheela forward so that they were better centered in the wheel arches.
I don't know how lengthening the wheelbase would impact the 33 Hotrod's set up, but it seems possible.
If you can clear the upper rear link (Da-Banana-Bracket) then the next thing that may be needed is to scoot the coil overs back a bit to make sure that they don't bind.
Spacers for the coil overs can be found at Jegs, Summit or Speedway Motors.
Also, I got a set of custom lower control arms made by Spohn Performance.
The stock pieces are 17 5/8" (Center-To-Center) so mine are now a tad shorter at 17".

http://www.spohn.net/shop/Custom-Par...ed-Length.html

Finally, make sure that you have enough yoke in your transmission since this will be impacted as well.

Good Luck & Hope You Get That Look That You Want!

[NAZ]

For me, moving the rear axle to the rear is way less work than cutting body and fenders to fit. But then body work is not my core competency while fabrication is. Yes, you need longer UCA & LCA and possibly a longer driveshaft if you don't have the room to move the engine to the rear a bit. Since I have the tools and skill I fabricated my own control arms that are far superior to the FFR originals. If you have to farm this out I don't expect that would cost all that much if you order the materials and cut the tubing to length so all the welding shop has to do is the welding. The trick is finding a welder that will do the work when you tell them what it's for (liability issue). Welders and machinists tend to not get too worried about parts for your tractor, plow, or barn doors but any critical item on a car such as suspension or steering raises a red flag...

[myjones]

I was thinking about the 'problem' where the rear isn't in the center of the wheelwell. Some talk about lengthening the 3 links, panhard bar and driveshaft but that seems expensive. Has anyone sliced in front of the wheel well, moving the front half forward an inch? Then re-glass the gap. (I'm keeping it simplistic here, but you may need to cut out the entire wheelwell and move forward, to keep the radius)

I don't have a body yet (stage 1) so I don't know if there's anything in the way of doing that, but I wonder if this is simpler and less expensive? The glasswork would be pretty simple to fill an inch gap..

You should call and chat with Dan Ruth
He has done more sectioning and re-shaping on the 33 than anyone I know of.
HTH
Dale
7L Hemi 33

[erlihemi]

I'll have to recheck, but I remember the frame is tapered ahead of the wheel well, so that going forward also means going outward. Therefore you end up playing with axle width and back space also. Its easier to go back and adjust the coil over mounts and tweak the aluminum. I didn't think it was worth the effort for a small dimensional gain. I have fully adjustable 4 link sitting under the bench for that day when I change rear diff and coil overs.... And I left some drive shaft room to go back. Don't forget that depending on lower arm position your wheels/axle will push back during suspension travel and move away from the front of the wheel well.

BW

[myjones]

The funny thing is that FF moves the axle center back 1/2" on the IRS set-up so it's only off center with the fenders by 1/2" instead of the full inch.
They ran TALL tires on the first/design mule 33 IRS so they HAD to center it better in the fenders.
The body is 113, the live axle chassis is 112 and the IRS chassis is 112.5
Dale

[1932]

Must have been hard for FFR.