[rcrfly]

Back in "the day" roadsters ran what was referred to as "motocycle style" front fenders in order to control rocks that were picked up and thrown from
the front wheel tire tread. This very functional "fashion que", however, appears to currently be dormant in the hot rod world. Well, after forking over thousands of G's for a House of Kolor candy paint job guess what gang? My '32 is going to make a single car attempt at bringing this style of fender back. And, if I am not succeesful in reviving the style, I will at least succeed in saving my windshield, as well as my firewall and rear fender paint. (Do not tell anyone but my real reason to run these front fenders is to save my paint. I do not really care if anyone else wants to blow their doe on chipped paint and busted glass. That is their business. And, if the guys who write the hot rod "rags" call me a sissy for running front fenders on my '32 I will gladly
take the fenders off to fit into their idea of what a "real" roadster is if each one of the rod trade magazines will send me a check for $5,000 G's for doing so. ) In the mean time, does anybody know where "old school" style roadster
front cycle fenders can be sourced? Or, do I need to do what my hot rodding fore fathers did, ie get a pair of raw cycle fenders and fabricate my heart out? All input will be appreciated.

[Henry Highrise]

I have noticed those on several rods recently. They use those a lot up in the New England area , I think because of thier fender laws.

[dickl]

When I built my rod back in 52 we used spare tire covers, thats old school.

[rcrfly]

Highrise:

Thanks for your comments. I was at NSRA this past weekend and saw one
car with this type of front fenders, and they were made out of clear plastic
and designed to be more of a giant mud flap than a fender. I talked to the
guy who owned the rod and he said that without them he just killed his absolutely cool paint job. And he drives his rod all the time all over the US.
Hopefully someone from the "front fender law" states will see this post and
jump into the conversation.

[powerrodsmike]

If you go to a online motorcycle catalog such as J&P cycles or custom chrome or drag specialities, you will find bunches of steel motorcycle fenders. Many of the custom ones are listed with dimensions. A bracket will be easy once you get the fender.

I deal with J&P alot, they are friendly and have good quality stuff. see fenders here

I spent some time looking for some that were made up already but came up with zero.

Hope this helps, mikey

[rcrfly]

Thanks Mike:
I trolled J&P's site earlier today. From what I could tell in my abreviated
visit it appears that I will have to get an early model back fender and work
from there as all of the front fenders I saw were too narrow to accomodate
my front tire width and an "inner fender" mount for the brackets. May be
more fun to make a set myself than to try and track a souce down.

[powerrodsmike]

check that link again, there is 6 pages of rears

[rcrfly]

Good One Dickl:

Now we are talking! When you say spare tire covers are you talking about the ones that were used on the fender mounted spares, or the ones that were used on a continental kit style spare cover? If you would, can you give me a year range of spare cover to search for?

[home brew]

It all depends on what size tires you are using. Some of the old fender spare covers would work on your front wheels if the tires were narrow enough but they were made for wheels and tires that were much taller than 15 inch wheels. The continental kit wheel covers of the 50's and 60's were made for 14 and 15 inch wheels and will fit much better. We used to just cut down the stock rear fenders if the car wasn't channeled to much. If the tire is to wide you can you can add a strip from another fender to widen it. Another way is to use trailer fenders and modify them to fit. You are not the only one to want to use fenders to protect your paint and to make it much easier to drive your rod in the rain. Here is a pic of my brother-in-law's Model A complete with fenders. Modified trailer fenders in the front and stock widened, flared and cut down in the rear.

[cboy]

Home brew is right about the trailer fender idea. Around here Fleet Farm stocks them in a number of different sizes and shapes and if you have a Tractor Supply Store in your area they probably have them as well. The big question is how close a fit do you want to your front tires and whether the cycle or trailer fenders will meet your specs. I see this type of fender treatment a lot around Wisconsin...also helps to keep rain from shooting off the tires and into the cockpit when you turn a corner.

[Centerline]

Originally Posted by rcrfly

Highrise:

Thanks for your comments. I was at NSRA this past weekend and saw one
car with this type of front fenders, and they were made out of clear plastic
and designed to be more of a giant mud flap than a fender. I talked to the
guy who owned the rod and he said that without them he just killed his absolutely cool paint job. And he drives his rod all the time all over the US.
Hopefully someone from the "front fender law" states will see this post and
jump into the conversation.

That would have been Desoto. He's new here and a long time friend of mine. Now that I've told him about this place we'll probably never get him to shut up.

[home brew]

Here is link to a pic of Desoto's ride:

Early Hemi and Electrical guy

There is also some pics of it at this link but it may take a while to find it:

http://public.fotki.com/Boones/car_s...reet_rod_nats/

[willowbilly3]

I have an old Ford spare tire (36 I think) cover to make my front fenders out of. That was pretty standard practice back in the 50s. I will have all the fenders easily removable though.

[fred56]

I have a 29 Model A and I did what you want to do the only problem is it will take some sectioning and welding but the end result was worth it.
I bought a pair of boat trailer fenders off EBay for $10. Than I cut them in half to the length I wanted than split it down the middle to match the width of the tire. After the fabricating you can mount them to the backing plate if you are running a solid axle or to the bolts holding the caliper(Mustang II discs).
The end result was worth the work.
P.S. make sure you use 1/2" square tubing for the mounts. I tries solid 3/8 rod to start but they vibrated side to side so much they kept fracturing but since I changed to square tubing(last year) I have had no problem.
Good Luck - Jerry

[rcrfly]

Willowbilly3 & Fred 56:

Thank you both for you input. Willow, is there any way that you can post
a picture or describe how you make your front fender removeable as this is
exactly what I want to do. I want to do my runs with the front fenders on and then have the option of removing them when I get to the show,cruise, etc. that I am going to. I have at least two "looks" for my rod. The current one is pro street with a large scoop on top of my carburetor. Actually, the scoop covers the entire top of my 427 BBC and then some. Yes, I currently
run with no hood pieces. The second look I am going to create is by
fabricating a hood top center section and either joining another scoop or cutting around the existing scoop in order to create a different profile. It is with this "look" that I will probably leave the front fenders installed. As with most everything else in hot rodding, and given that I am in no way a graphic artist, when I see the finished product I will know what pieces I want to leave on and which to take off. I am going to fabricate the hood section out of fiberglass. Yes, I talked to one of the leading 32 Ford Hood fabricators and after he quoted me a price for a raw piece of metal designed to do what I want to do I figured out that I can buy a truck load of glass and resin, go through a steep learning curve on working glass, fail twice, and still be money ahead. Plus, doing my own glass I have total design freedom. But you see. this is what I consider rodding to be all about. Push you personal design and fab skills to a new level. As Fred 56 said in his description of his efforts in fabing his fenders; "it was well worth it". And now when you guys talk about your cars you can say, "I made those fenders". Hopefully, with a little luck, and a lot of patience, I will be able to join you two as a fender fabricator, and go one more by also being a hood section fabricator.