Buring fenders.

[Legends16]

Hey guys,

         I know this has been discused before but Im still trying to find answers. Im still destroying my left front Ford fender  with the exhuast. The body sits right on top of the collector. The real area of concern is the curved pipe exiting the muffler where its burning through the body. Ive tried moving the grill section back towards the engine in an effort to put more curve into the fender and possibly lift up the area of the car. Ive tried loosening the exhaust and retightening it as I apply pressure down on it. Ive even tried shiming the fender up off the nerf bar which works until you try and open the door and it rubs horribly.

        Im at a loss and am frusterated. This is a terrible design. I know what Id like to do is bolt a tab on the fender and secure it to the center body of the car with a Dzus fastener but Im not sure how legal that would be. The rulebook states no other body braces.

         Maybe someone else has some suggestions? 


Thanks,
Eric

[VMS Motorsports]

I had to heat up the fender, cut slits out of the mounting area so that it could flex more, and rivet a piece of metal inside the fender as a heat shield. While it has always been a problem with the 34 fenders, it has gotten worse since the muffler has been changed to be about an inch longer

[knoxracing]

Sent you a private message.

[Legends16]

I had to heat up the fender, cut slits out of the mounting area so that it could flex more, and rivet a piece of metal inside the fender as a heat shield. While it has always been a problem with the 34 fenders, it has gotten worse since the muffler has been changed to be about an inch longer

Interesting Jim. The sheet metal doesnt transfer the heat to the fender? Do you have any pictures of this?

Thanks,

Eric

[VMS Motorsports]

No pics available currently, as the front end was torn off Sunday. Will be putting new fenders on tomorrow (hopefully).
The metal transfers heat, but not enough to burn as the whole piece is heated, not just the 2 square inches of fiberglass.
I'm sure there are better insulators, but I just use what I have here at the time

[legends13]

cut a hole over the spot that is burning. Pretty simple to do, and allows the heat to escape.

[VMS Motorsports]

It is usually down where the fender flattens out to meet the running board. Cutting there weakens the fender a lot, that's why I went with sheetmetal

[Legends16]

I should have been a little more specific in the post. See the attached picture (although its not very good). Ive got the maximum 10 holes drilled on that fender. One directly above the muffler and one at the base of the running board at the exhaust tip. The main issue where the exit pipe bends down as the fender rests up against it (see the burn mark). I really cant drill another hole, to be legal Id have to leave a little bit of fiberglass there between the two holes and that wouldnt be curing the problem. Im also getting that running board pretty hot as Im burning the paint on it.

[VMS Motorsports]

Sheetmetal inside the fender will take care of it. I cut up an old firewall from a previous car