Best 427 original rear wheel well shape ?

[Chaplin]

IMO, ERA has the best shaped rear fenders of any car made, whether glass or aluminum. Unique and SPFs are a totally different shape than ERA. And while it is true that most people order the "street" rear fenders, they do offer "competition" flares as an option.






Here's another image courtesy of ERA's website comparing the rear fenders of various cars



edit-
I can't get the pics to display here, but the pictures can be found at

http://www.erareplicas.com/427/blue.htm
http://www.erareplicas.com/427/profiles/index.htm

[FUNFER2]

That's exactly what I needed, a compairison from several company's. Thanks !
The West Coast sure looks strange.
The North American Fiberglass and B & B has too large of an opening.
Again, the ERA looks very nice !

[Power Surge]

Originally Posted by Chaplin

http://www.erareplicas.com/427/blue.htm

I think they got their lefts and rights confused .

[FUNFER2]

LOL !!!
Well, now you've done it Sal !
I'm dreaming of a Kirkham..........AGAIN !
Thanks a lot !!!

[Power Surge]

Originally Posted by FUNFER2

LOL !!!
Well, now you've done it Sal !
I'm dreaming of a Kirkham..........AGAIN !
Thanks a lot !!!

I can tell you right now... there is NO experiance like it. The car is a beautiful work of art, wrapped around constantly improved design. The company is top notch. The Kirkhams will bend over backwards for you. You will feel like you are part of a big family.

[Excaliber]

Can't find a picture I want, YET! Side by side views does not tell the whole story. On the Hi Tech (I mentioned above) the lowest part of the rear fender flair sticks out quite noticably from others I've seen. WAY out compared to the ERA, but you can only see it from a rear view perspective. Looks almost 'cartoonish'.

I modified one of my own pics...

[427PMS]

I know that I have read in Kit Car mag (July 2005) that Premier Motorsports had purchased Hi-tech I had also spoken with the owner Chuck Nickloy about this too.As far as the fender flares I think that Premier has modified the molds on the flares since the bought them and they donot stick out as far I will look to see if I have any pics of them.

[CobraDan]

Premier Cobra

[Chaplin]

My ERA

[WarrenG]

Originally Posted by redd

kirkham has the most correct rearwheel arch of any manufacturer.

I'm trying to figure out how that works, since by their own addmission, their wheel wells (and the new Shelby's) are 2" wider than the originals.

[RedEsprit]

On original cars, there were basically three rear flare configurations, wide hip, narrow hip, and comp. Early wide hip cars had no lip and also had Sunburst wheels (8.5) which made the wheels and tires of early street cars look "lost" in all that rear fender. (The best look in my opinion and no one makes it other than Kirkham) Peter's BRG street car at ERA has been modified to get that "look". The lost in the fender look was modified with narrow hip versions where the rear flare was less round. What almost all replica manufacturers miss is the "squat" of the 427 where the yop of the rear tire cannot be seen in the fender well. ERA's adjustable suspension allows you to adjust the cars ride height to get this effect and make the car look right. Most manufacturers have a narrow hip version with a lip. Makes it more difficult to tuck large tires up under the fender where they belong without contacted the fender.

[computerworks]

Originally Posted by WarrenG

I'm trying to figure out how that works, since by their own addmission, their wheel wells (and the new Shelby's) are 2" wider than the originals.

I believe that "2-inch-wider" may relate to the width available for a wider rear tire, not a change to the body shape.

One of the few departures from the original Cobra frame design on the Kirkham is the movement of a vertical square tube on the frame, inside the rear wheel well, to accommodate a wider tire.

I know this has been moved, since it interferes with mounting S/C rear brake cooling ducts in the same way as the original...

I have modified the ducts...so it's OK.... and the tires have nice clearance with that tube moved inward.

[computerworks]

Originally Posted by RedEsprit

On original cars, there were basically three rear flare configurations, wide hip, narrow hip, and comp.

Actually..there were three configurations of the rear shape:

The Comp cars and most of the street cars were what is known now as 'wide-hip'... broad rear wings with no flare.

The S/Cs had a 1-inch flare pounded into them before paint for street use, but they were Comp cars with wide hip to begin with

And finally, the 'narrow-hip' was a design change that lasted only for a few dozen street cars in the first production run. After they changed over to street production, they tried to minimize the size of the rear fenders, since the street-sized tires left a lot of "air" in the wheel arch opening. A few dozen were built that way...but it didn't look as good as the old way, so they switched back. The 'narrow-hip' had no flare either.

[CobraDan]

Kirkham

[Roscoe]

A & C

[richsd]

Pictures of my Kirkham



During the painting process

[Chaplin]

A&C has a nice looking arse too.

[Roscoe]

And believe it or not that is gelcoat. Eight years on the road and never been painted yet. Just the way it came from A&C.

Roscoe

[G.R.]

In defense of NAF if that NAF's, pictured on the link posted, rearend was lowered and adjusted a bit the look would be totaly different and the rear wheel arch wouldn't look "too big".

A friend of mine owns a early NAF 427 and it looks just great w/ the rearend lowered. The tire fills the wheel arch.

[Hal Copple]

Our SPF with Chris at the wheel, shows how the big Roger kraus vintage treaded Goodyears fill out the wheelwell. We typically drop the car a little for track events, raise it up for the street. Note the less of a lip a the bottom of the rear valence.

all the best...