How to get wider wheels in? - Flared arches?

G

Guy Engelsman

New Member
Has anyone out there fitted wider wheels to a 3500? I have a 4l 3500 (a 4000 I suppose you would call it), and I wish to fit wider 16" wheels during the rebuild.
I am the proud owner of a set of 16" Superlight alloy wheels and they look fantastic, but they rub on the inside of the rear wheel arches and extend outside the lip of the front wing. They are not stupidly wide, in fact they are all of 1.5" wider than the standard tyres but interfere with the movement of the suspension.
BEFORE I paint the car I want to know any recommendations for flaring the arches. I have seen pictures af a 3500 racing in the late 70s with a monster body kit and huge tyres so it must be possible, but I want to hear from anyone out there before I take the gas axe and mallet to the bodywork. ???
 
Go for it! I think if it's done subtly it would look great.

The only thing I'd be inclined to check first is the offset of the new wheels compared to the rover originals. This might expain why they foul so bady even though there only 1.5 inch wider. I haven't seen my car with wings on for a couple of years but I'm sure there was more than 3/4" between the wheel and the arch. Maybe some material can be removed from the back of the wheel to reduce the offset?

How would you go about creating the flare though? It seems like it might be quite a tough job to stretch the metal into the new shape, especially with the deep return on the arches.

Have a look at this
http://www.scotford.com/archtool.shtml
 
Further to last post I was surfing round the internet re flared arches. Apparently it's the kind of thing skilled panel beater can make short work of and is a lot less expensive than you'd think. Might be worth ringing around to find out how much, could save a lot of hassle.
 
race2.jpg


Is this the famous racer ? As BB said it all looks a bit serious to me! ( I realise this has not stopped you so far Guy !) I did see pictures of a Australian racer (yellow, Camel Cigs sponser'd) that look like it had those bulbous extensions you used to get on Mk1 Escort's, was not half as pretty as the above though. Big wheels in a P6 has always been a problem, you cannot have much offset outwards (I've fallen foul of this as well, excuse the pun). Rover SD1 Vitesse wheels are the biggest I've seen with unmodified body panels. Have you looked on this sites "modified" gallery for insperation ?.
 
:) Awsome stuff Ron!!!!!! That is the critter that I have been looking for, and is close to what I want to do!
I wish to be a little more subtle than that but it looks fantastic.
As to the exhaust that you are pestering me about, it required a mirror setup for standard on the drivers side with the fuel lines now run inside a heatproof sheild. Only a little bit of metal was removed to make way for the twisty bits at the back around the diff and suspension. It was quite simple with a skilled fitter doing all the work. Basically I told the bloke what I wanted and he went to it! :D
 
Thanks Guy, I think I was making it difficult in my head. I mean I've never seen it done, so people MUST have problems, must'nt they ?
 
Guy, found this while I was stumbling round the internet. This is how to create those super fat arches:

The fat capri

As you'll see it's more a case of fabricating a new arch than slightly flaring the old one!

Bennet
 
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