Fabricating inner wheelhouses, or tubs as they're sometimes referred to, is a pretty straightforward affair. But with a bit of imagination (in place of specialized equipment), the do-it-yourselfer can add a bit of detail to the project that'll give it that "professionally done" look.
Normally, any of us would fabricate a pair of tubs using a couple pieces of sheetmetal attached at right angles-one piece bent in the appropriate-sized arc and the other as the inner vertical wall. However, adding a nice radius at the edge of the joint will lend a bit of class to a necessary but basically unimpressive bit of fabrication. The easiest way for those of us with less than a shop full of professional metalworking tools to achieve this task is a trip to the local metal or trailer supply house for an inexpensive single-wheel trailer fender. These fenders can then be modified into or dissected for the perfect components for a pair of eye-pleasing wheeltubs. Take a look at the accompanying photos to get an idea of what we're talking about, and keep in mind that there are a lot of answers to fabrication dilemmas all around us-it's just a matter of using that bit of "MacGyver" that's in all of us car guys.
Here's a view of a nearly...
Here's a view of a nearly completed tub viewed from the front (passenger compartment) of the vehicle.
As we stated earlier, the...
As we stated earlier, the rounded edge is a section of an inexpensive universal trailer fender purchased from a local metal supply/hardware outlet.
In this case, the trailer...
In this case, the trailer fender was first split in half (side to side, of course) giving us two equal 4-inch-wide halves.
The remaining radiused edges...
The remaining radiused edges will then be placed in the appropriate spot (depending on the depth needed for the new wheelhouses) to be used to form a good-looking transition from the horizontal top to the vertical sidewalls-a much more refined look than a plain right-angle joint.
Most times a simple half-circle...
Most times a simple half-circle wheelhouse will suffice, but in our case we wanted the new one to flow along the lines of the sloping shape of the outer quarter-panels of the vehicle for a more dramatic effect.
Starting at the front, we...
Starting at the front, we tacked the wheelhouse tops to the flanges and inner hoops, forming the top radius as we went.
About three quarters of the...
About three quarters of the way back, we started to bend and shape the wheelhouse top we'd cut out to follow the contour of the quarter-panel slope.
A pair of separate flat pieces...
A pair of separate flat pieces of radiused metal were attached to the wheelhouse tops to cap the insides, and a bit more bending and beating resulted in a couple of nice radiused caps where the tubs meet the trunk floor at the rear.