Anyone with an Exocet knows that the fenders are terrible. The mounting brackets are not well designed. They flex too much, which allows them to crack and break. Over the last three seasons, I have tried a number of fixes with variable results. This winter, I decided to start from scratch and build new ones.
To start with, I cut this base plate out of 3/8″ plate steel. 1/4″ would probably also work, but I already owned this big chunk. I used a plasma cutter to cut out the basic shape, and then a hole saw in a drill press to cut out the center hole. There’s an extra piece of 1/8″ x 1/2″ steel welded along the edge to help prevent flexing.
Then I used 3/8″ steel rod to make the fender support. I made sure every corner and bend was supported and braced. In 2-3 planes when possible.
The rear brace was also cut from the same slab of plate steel with a plasma cutter. But this time I made it big enough to be attached by the two caliper retainer bolts, instead just the top one. I had taken some pictures of these parts before I installed them, but now I can’t find them
The angle of the fender supports is the same as on the stock parts.
The left side was a little different, because of the location of the clutch master cylinder. I moved the rear strut down a few inches, and then made a cut out in the fender.
Once that was done, it was time to actually make the fenders. I bought some 13g aluminum from the interweb. I tried bending it around a tire, but that didn’t work so well.
I went to a couple of fab shops to ask about forming the fenders for me. They all wanted more than $100 to do two fenders. Well, I can buy a slip roller for <$150. It was pretty easy to use and produced a nice results
Once the general shape and the mounting was where I wanted it, I put the finishing touches on it. I drilled some holes to allow air to escape; fenders act like air scoops and parachutes. Do these holes really help? IDK, but it can’t hurt. Then I used a dimple die to raise the edges and make the metal a little stiffer.
Some people think dimple dies and bead rollers will make the base metal stronger. That really isn’t true. But it does make it stiffer. Not exactly the same thing. I had originally planned on some ridges with a bead roller. But 13g was a little stiffer than my roller can manage.
We raced last week end. Seemed to be strong enough, no trauma, nothing came loose. We’ll see how the season goes.