1968 Ford F-100 National Parts Depo Fender Wheelwell Install - All's Well That Ends Wheel Well

While it may resemble the Grand Canyon now, after a little deburring I can slide the wheelwell in from the bottom and continue fitting and trimming.

After my first try and some more measuring, I figured out I had to cut some metal off the bottom of the wheelwells to clear the upper coilover mounts just to get the new pieces in there. They were cut right above their stock inward bulge. Remember your safety glasses!

The point of reference for all this is the straight box section in the top of the stock inner fender running back to front that I'm holding the wheelwell against. This shot is after several hours of careful trimming of the other three sides that netted little to no gap all the way around. I think it might just work...

Another obstacle when dealing with severely lowered vehicles like this is that the tire wants to inhabit the space occupied by the hood hinge. 1967-72 Chevys seem to lose most of their hinges during this process, but I think it'll be all right after a small amount of trimming.

With the wheelwell clamped in place, I trimmed and fitted the hood hinge to the point where it was going to work. The front lower mounting bolt was sacrificed, but I could add another to the back and/or box in what's left of the hinge base. With the hinge all the way down, there is just enough clearance to the new wheelwell-cool.

Going up was a bit different and will require a little dimple via the torch and hammer to clear, but nothing major.

Once I decided the wheelwell was fit and in place, I traced its shape on the inner fender panel, and vice versa. Now I can finish trimming the inner fender like so and begin to clean up and grind all the lines where I'll be welding things together. I also trimmed most of the excess off the bottom of the new wheelwell below my tracing of the opening's shape. The rest will be trimmed after welding it in place.

I fired up our handy dandy Miller Auto-Set MIG welder and prepared to make some sparks. This is Miller's entry level MIG designed for those afraid to take the plunge, basically an MIG for dummies with very basic controls. Visit the Miller website for more info.

I tack-welded the perimeter of the wheelwell starting with the flat side closest to the fender. This side was clamped to the inner fender with as many vise-grips as I could find before welding. I also made sure to push up on the wheelwell from the backside to ensure a tight fit before tacking the other sides. If something doesn't fit right, now is the time to fix it!

I haven't been entirely honest with you. I knew I would be replacing my passenger-side inner fender due to the excessive rust where the battery once was, so I tested out my ideas on that inner fender first. This was smart in the end, because I trimmed a little too much on the engine side and had a gap I wasn't happy about. Hey, I've never done this before; gimme a break! Here, I'm tracing my measurements from the old one to the N.O.S. piece from NPD along with the cutout at the bottom to clear the IFS.

After cutting most of the opening out, I installed the new inner fender with great results. Even though I had pretty good measurements from the test panel, I still cut inside my lines so I could sneak up on it in case there were any differences in the panels. The trickiest part of the whole job was probably in the back of this one by the curved "notch" in the stock inner fender for the heater hose-lots of compound curves and angles!

While everything dimensionally checked out side to side, I also put the angle finder on it to make sure they sat the same as well as giving the whole shebang a good twice-over with my eyes-which can ultimately be the most important tool. The new inner fender has a galvanized finish on it that needs to be ground off of both sides anywhere that will be welded. Same goes for the primer on the wheelwell. Notice the tight fit!

Again, it was time to stitch it all together. Take care to only weld small sections at a time, maybe up to an inch depending on your welding style, to avoid warpage. Also, jump around the perimeter while letting the other places cool in between welds.

Ta da! While I still need to finish welding it all up and trim any excess off the bottom side, I think it's a success. When the engine bay is all in one color, it'll look as if the factory intended it to be like this-which was my overall goal. Now it's your turn!