Replacing Inner Fenders w/Tube Without Going Full Roll Cage?

[Sammy_Vegar]

Hi All,

I am at a bit of a crossroads with my 73 Vega project. It had the typical rust at the battery tray/passenger side core support. I was ready to patch that area when further digging in the inner fender area (removed plastic liners) revealed an absolute mess of warped brazed patches, pop rivets, bondo, fiberglass and even cardboard. The worst offenses were buried under loads of undercoating. Both the driver and passenger sides have been "repaired" in this manner. In my opinion, it would take hours of careful patch work to bring back this area to near factory condition. This car will mainly be a street car with a mild 350/Th350 combo so a full cage was never part of the plan. I know that the inner fender sheet metal is vital to the structure of the car. I see alot of cars on this forum with tubular frame rail strut bars that are tied into a roll cage. Most of these cars have the inner fenders cut out. Is there a way to replace the inner fenders with a tubular setup like this without tying into a cage? I've seen many other cars (besides H bodies) use thick plates at the firewall to support downtubes but the Vega firewall seems much too thin. Also, keeping the heater box is a priority because of my location in New England.

[Monza Harry]

Sammy Welcome to our group! Yes I think it would be possible but not likely practical I would do a search [Co-Part or the like] for a new to you front "frame horn" as they are sometimes referred to and re-hang them to the body. there are still some parts donors down south that may have some sheet metal to donate, this is still a sizable endeavor but I feel would smaller in the end and at least a road most body shops have done a hundred times in the past (so some help would/might be available possibly at a cost), your path would be a pretty singular path with little help from anyone's' actual experience. The biggest hurdle to a tubular solution will be getting enough surface area to prevent the tube from poking through the firewall. A tube set into the firewall might be acceptable but beyond my actual experience. Harry

[Sammy_Vegar]

Thanks Harry. I have been in the search for a parts car with good inner fenders for a little while now. I am not opposed to replacing them if I can just spot weld "new" ones on. However the idea of removing the offending area and gaining room for motor access, cooling and exhaust is tempting at the same time. I did some more digging on-site and found a thread with almost the exact same question I posed below.

http://forums.h-body.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=40333.

It looks like megavega describes a pretty plausible solution and given the quality of his other posts onsite I am inclined to believe in its merit. I looked around and found a handful of cars that had been done this way but I guess my next question is for some pics/details of the process.

[monzaaddict]

Go on Facebook. there are plenty of people parting out Vegas