I'm trying like heck to keep my inner fenders intact while I go through my build, both because I would like to keep mud and junk off the engine and because I don't really want to deal with the added fabrication. That said, I'm running into clearance issues at full compression-pic below. For those of you who have had to deal with this, what did you decide and why? Did it make much of a difference in terms of engine mess? If you took out the fenders, how did you provide support to the front of the body?

Just drill out all the spot weld and push it forward on that corner. Or what I was looking at doing also is just raising the whole wheel tub.

I'm leaning towards moving the whole inner fender up and forward.

I've thought seriously about relocating the fenders. The only thing I'm not sure about is how best to deal with the body mount and the battery. I've considered switching to smaller dual batteries under the passenger's seat, but don't have the $$ to do that right now.

You could mount the battery up against the firewall like I did on BSD, on my rig there was nothing there to interfere. As for the body mount, you could always relocate it to the top of the frame like the rear most mounts are.

Tube it! I don't get much dirt and mess on my engine and it is so much easier to work on if you need to. You've come this far, what's a little more bent tubing?

What did you use for yours? I'm thinking if I went that route that I'd do 1.5" .120 wall.

I was going to say tube it as well, though mine isn't structural it worked out really well. It is bolted to the firewall with a plate on the back side (think sandwich), so I can remove my entire front clip. I recently spent 3 days scouting in a VERY wet area and had a lot of water crossings to go through and I didn't encounter any problems with not having inner fenders.

I've been thinking a lot about doing a tube front clip. My front end is badly out of whack from an accident the PO had & didn't properly fix. My firewall is a mess too. The sheetmetal above the inner fenders is a mess, and I'm worried once I cut the fender well out, there might not be much good metal left. I'm a little surprised you guys aren't running any fender wells, but its good to know.

I'm playing my front end move by ear. I'm going in with an open mind and will see where it leads.

The other factor I'm kicking around is the is the overall value of the rig. I'm wanting to end up with something that is very capable off road, but not a full blown almost-buggy. Basically a restomod approach. Other than the rockers (which are going away) the body on mine is in really good shape, so I don't want to do anything that will detract from that end goal. Thoughts on that?

I don't think that a tube front clip will make it a buggy, it still will be a full body rig with all of the sheet metal other than the inner fenders, aprons, and core support


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I don't really have much left of the inner wheel wells toward the engine and haven't had many issues with mud or dirt getting into the engine. It does get dusty but no flingin which I was surprised with.

My Bronco came with the inner fenders removed.

The main problem I have is the air cleaner gets fed really dirty air.

Battery is behind the passenger, I plan to move it back to the front above the right shock tower.

Previous owner built support with square tubing, works fine but doesn't look the best..a very basic support system.

I plan on building some aluminum inner fenders that can snap in and out as needed.


J.E.

I wanted to remove my inner fenders for a few reasons - more air flow should mean a cooler engine plus wanted to see the motor and headers.

Here is what I did on the old 74. This was stock suspension compressed on factory bump stops.







Back of wheel tub



Front of wheel tub

Thanks, that's helpful. I suspect what I'll end up doing, as it'll be the easiest to get done. I like fab, but am at the point where a line needs to get drawn about how much I do or its never going to get done.