Removing Inner Front Fender Panel

[KohrtRacing]

Race car application, who has removed their inner front fender? Would like to free up space in the engine bay and get rid of some of this junk however keeping stock suspension.

Plan is to run my 10-point roll cage bar typical routing through the firewall towards the front and bend downward by the radiator and then install a shock mount off of that for the shock.

Thinking I’ll fabricate a steel template that comes off the header so my shock mount tower is in the exact same location as where it sits now before I start cutting, which will give me exact shock location when it’s all disassembled.

I would cut the fender where it’s marked in the photo just above where the control arm mounts. The rest of the fender above would go completely away. I would keep the top rail for stronger mounting the actual fender, and fabricate arms with dzus to support the fender on the backside coming off the frame.

Thoughts from someone who has done this? Seems logical but would hate to screw up something I’m not thinking of.

13.0 car in 1/4 with race 440 going in it in the future.

 

[493 Mike]

Any examples of what I think you are proposing is to leave the entire shock mounting area and weld the front down bars to the top of the rails and the shock mount, leaving the top and horizontal sections of the inner to bolt the outer fender to. Is that your plan? If so you will only gain a little weight loss at the expense of a weaker front end. Remember these are unibody cars.
Mike

 

[mmissile]

This works...

 

[KohrtRacing]

This works...

View attachment 1949838

This is almost exactly what I'm after except I wouldn't have any of your new inner fenderwell. Nifty way to do it if you wanted to hide the bar.

 

[KohrtRacing]

Any examples of what I think you are proposing is to leave the entire shock mounting area and weld the front down bars to the top of the rails and the shock mount, leaving the top and horizontal sections of the inner to bolt the outer fender to. Is that your plan? If so you will only gain a little weight loss at the expense of a weaker front end. Remember these are unibody cars.
Mike

Picture from above and inside. Yellow would be cut. Red would be the 10-pt cage coming in. Shock mount would be on the cage. Many aftermarket mounts available.

If there’s any strength being given up, I think it’s made up with a cage bar running to the frame. This increases rigidity, drops weight and most importantly, frees up space in the bay.

I would consider keeping the top rail however Dad in the past has used aluminum angle as a stronger option.

 

[dvw]

The weight you remove isn't worth the amount of effort. The top of the shock tower is an integral part of the suspension. In fact if the car wheelies a lot that area needs to be reinforced. Mines been running long wheelies for 13 years. Body is still arrow straight. With no inners, mud, rubber get all over everything. Even leaving the fender splash shields off get the A pillars and hinges full of crap. Better places to lose weight. This car weighs 3125 empty and is all steel, except the hood, full interior minus the back seat.
Doug

 

[KohrtRacing]

The weight you remove isn't worth the amount of effort. The top of the shock tower is an integral part of the suspension. In fact if the car wheelies a lot that area needs to be reinforced. Mines been running long wheelies for 13 years. Body is still arrow straight. With no inners, mud, rubber get all over everything. Even leaving the fender splash shields off get the A pillars and hinges full of crap. Better places to lose weight. This car weighs 3125 empty and is all steel, except the hood, full interior minus the back seat.
Doug

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It’s less about the weight and more about access in the engine bay.

 

[dvw]

It’s less about the weight and more about access in the engine bay

The ony thing that is tough is the #5 plug. And that due more to header design than the inner fenders. The motor can be out in 1 hour, trans in 30 minutes. We swapped a water pump in between rounds this summer in less than 10 minutes. What do you need to access that inner fender removal will help with? My fan and radiator assy come out with one plug, 2 bolts and the hoses. Everything in the front is then easily accessable. I learned long ago as a dealer tech. Taking off a few parts that are easy is way quicker and easier than struggling to remove something that is buried. Try to make stuff simple. Case in point. Look at the sideways carb linkage. No bell cranks and pivots. Simply a long aftermarket $20 cable and a 15 minute steel cable bracket. Or the fuel regulator mount. The carb plate is tapped 1/4-20 with one stud and a piece of tubing to space it out. Both are cheap, clean, and easy.
Doug