Fender Flaring On Trans-Am Camaros

[Jon Mello]

Steve, the Guldstrand car did not have flares like that back in the '60s. Those flares that you see on the car now were done when Bobby Joe McDonald restored the car in the late '80s. You were not really supposed to add or remove metal. You were supposed to reshape the wheel well with a hammer for extra clearance but the reality is that some people did add metal and reshape the wheel opening lip and they did not get hassled about it.

The fenders on Jon Ward's Camaro at Riverside in '68 are the same shape as when Titus drove it at Kent as a Firebird a month later. Much more radical than a stock fender but apparently the tech people had no problem with it.

[Steve Holmes]

Wow, great pics Jon! I think thats the first time I've seen the Jon Ward Camaro as a Camaro. Very interesting. I assume when it was converted to a Firebird, they simply cut some Firebird 'gills' into the rear quarters rather than replace the whole rear quarter panel? Like you say, the fenders are just as they were when it became the Firebird.

This car still has similar fenders now with the upper lip cut away. Did the fenders remain this way throughout its life or was it restored this way for historical accuracy?

Jon, who raced the Guldstrand '67 Camaro after Guldstrand? Did he drive this car in '68? 

One more question. In the magazine Vintage Motorsport when they did the Trans-Am history series back in the mid-1990s, Bill Mayberry was interviewed about the first Penske Camaro. He said they "flared the fenders by rolling them with baseball bats". What did he mean by this? Did they simply roll a bat between the fender and tire to to press the fender lip out away from the tire?

[Jon Mello]

Wow, great pics Jon! I think thats the first time I've seen the Jon Ward Camaro as a Camaro. Very interesting. I assume when it was converted to a Firebird, they simply cut some Firebird 'gills' into the rear quarters rather than replace the whole rear quarter panel? Like you say, the fenders are just as they were when it became the Firebird.

          Yes, Craig Fisher told me years ago that they added Firebird gills to the quarter panel.

This car still has similar fenders now with the upper lip cut away. Did the fenders remain this way throughout its life or was it restored this way for historical accuracy?

          No, none of the fenders on the ex-Ward/Titus car today are what was on there back then. I saw the car before it was restored and so did a few others that I know.

Jon, who raced the Guldstrand '67 Camaro after Guldstrand? Did he drive this car in '68? 

          Sam Coniglio out of Glendale, CA was the new owner when Dana Chevrolet sold the car after the '67 season. Guldstrand only drove it at the Riverside Trans-Am race during '68 as far as I know and it no longer had Dana sponsorship by then.

One more question. In the magazine Vintage Motorsport when they did the Trans-Am history series back in the mid-1990s, Bill Mayberry was interviewed about the first Penske Camaro. He said they "flared the fenders by rolling them with baseball bats". What did he mean by this? Did they simply roll a bat between the fender and tire to to press the fender lip out away from the tire?

          Well, I wasn't there of course, but that would be my interpretation of what he said.

[group/7]

great stuff as always jon ! I had come across a photo of that ward camaro, dated '68, somewhere on the net. had meant to ask about it, that was pretty radical for the time ! I thought the picture had the wrong date. thanks for the explanation of the rule bending.

mike....group/7

[Steve Holmes]

Wow, great pics Jon! I think thats the first time I've seen the Jon Ward Camaro as a Camaro. Very interesting. I assume when it was converted to a Firebird, they simply cut some Firebird 'gills' into the rear quarters rather than replace the whole rear quarter panel? Like you say, the fenders are just as they were when it became the Firebird.

          Yes, Craig Fisher told me years ago that they added Firebird gills to the quarter panel.

This car still has similar fenders now with the upper lip cut away. Did the fenders remain this way throughout its life or was it restored this way for historical accuracy?

          No, none of the fenders on the ex-Ward/Titus car today are what was on there back then. I saw the car before it was restored and so did a few others that I know.

Jon, who raced the Guldstrand '67 Camaro after Guldstrand? Did he drive this car in '68?

          Sam Coniglio out of Glendale, CA was the new owner when Dana Chevrolet sold the car after the '67 season. Guldstrand only drove it at the Riverside Trans-Am race during '68 as far as I know and it no longer had Dana sponsorship by then.

One more question. In the magazine Vintage Motorsport when they did the Trans-Am history series back in the mid-1990s, Bill Mayberry was interviewed about the first Penske Camaro. He said they "flared the fenders by rolling them with baseball bats". What did he mean by this? Did they simply roll a bat between the fender and tire to to press the fender lip out away from the tire?

          Well, I wasn't there of course, but that would be my interpretation of what he said.

Thanks Jon, great info!

[Jon Mello]

You're welcome, Steve. The fender clearance disparity between the Guldstrand car and the Ward car, both seen at the same race/same year, is quite striking.

[Steve Holmes]

Yes, I agree! In fact, from that angle, the Jon Ward car actually looks a little bizarre. He must have owned a hell of a big hammer, because those fenders are really a long way from standard.

[firstgenaddict]

We used to clearance first gen rear wheel wells with a piece of 2.5" or 3" pipe and roll the lips like the baseball bat method.

[Steve Holmes]

We used to clearance first gen rear wheel wells with a piece of 2.5" or 3" pipe and roll the lips like the baseball bat method.

Thanks, thats great to know. So this was relatively common practice? Did it stretch the metal to create a flare or did it have more the effect of flattening the inner lip to give more tire clearance?

[Jon Mello]

Steve, early on when tires sizes were not all that wide, especially on a non-factory entry, a rolled fender lip might do the trick. Sometimes instead of rolling the lip upward, I've seen it where somebody has made cuts every three inches or so and hammered the short segments upward so they would not interfere with the tire. By '69 I figure there was probably nobody left who didn't have some type of actual fender flare on their car due to the width of the tires.

[Steve Holmes]

I got to see the 'baseball bat' method in action last weekend when one of our New Zealand Historic Muscle Car guys was having trouble with his front tires rubbing against the fender after having made some castor changes to his '65 Mustang fastback. A tubular jack handle was used to roll the lip out to give extra clearance. It was certainly effective and produced the clearance needed, although the front fenders will need repainting. But it was a quick-fix done at the track to keep racing, and was pretty cool. Not to mention, pretty old-school.

[Jon Mello]

Steve, there's also the air chisel method of getting more tire clearance, but only when there's money and championship points on the line.

[Steve Holmes]

Ha ha ha, so true Jon! Neat photo, and very dramatic.

[Jon Mello]

I thought you'd get a chuckle out of that. 

[Steve Holmes]

Rather than start a whole new thread for one quirky question, I just thought I'd post this on here. Can anyone tell me why it was common practice for Trans-Am teams to paint the interior, trunk, and engine bay a separate color from the body? The most popular color was light grey, but there were other variations too. This is something that wasn't really practiced outside the US. In most other countries, the interior, engine bay, and trunk were all painted the same colour as the outer body, because it was easier and quicker. There is a lot of work involved in masking off those areas to paint a different color.