Cutting the wheel wells out opposed to tubbing the wheel wells...opinions?

[wow-thats-a-cool-car]

I have noticed that some Formula D drivers simply cut the front of the wheel wells out instead of tubbing the wheel wells. I have talked to Frank from Garage Boso about it and he said its fine because the front of the wheel wells do nothing for structure of the chassis and tubbing the wheel wells is just to keep dirt and grime out. But then I have had people say the complete opposite and that you really need to re seal the area to make the chassis rigid?

I live in southern california and I will probably never gonna drive my car in the rain and seldomly on the streets. Is this fine to do its my track car and if I don't have to tub the wheel wells why do? right? I have legit cuso strut tower bars so will i be fine?

reference pics....

http://ll.speedhunters.com/u/f/eagames/NFS/speedhunters.com/Images/Mike%20Garrett/1August/falkenseattle/sea7.jpg

[Om1kron]

I would never do that to a street car in a nutshell. water, dirt, animals are bad for your engine bay.

[wow-thats-a-cool-car]

Its a track car and it sits in the garage most of the time.

I have my comfy frontier with a/c and a nice stereo to daily and tow my car haha

[articdragon192]

Yeah, hell, when I first removed my fender liners the first time, I dug this out the next day!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/ArticDragon192/My%20Fairlady/CAM_0030.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/ArticDragon192/My%20Fairlady/CAM_0031.jpg

With no fender wells, expect happy critters finding their way into your engine bay.

[wow-thats-a-cool-car]

wtf? how did he get in there?

that reminds me when I ran over a opossum and it was literally cooking on my down pipe. It was the weirdest smell ever and I have to deal with it all the way home lol

[Om1kron]

well if it's a track car I don't see the harm, I had to repair knock sensor wiring on my moms car because a rat crawled up in there and started eating the engine harness.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v46/om1kron/My%20Cars/1996%20240sx%20Kouki/2009-01-10%20accord/2009-01-10008.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v46/om1kron/My%20Cars/1996%20240sx%20Kouki/2009-01-10%20accord/2009-01-10010.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v46/om1kron/My%20Cars/1996%20240sx%20Kouki/2009-01-10%20accord/2009-01-10011.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v46/om1kron/My%20Cars/1996%20240sx%20Kouki/2009-01-10%20accord/2009-01-10013.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v46/om1kron/My%20Cars/1996%20240sx%20Kouki/2009-01-10%20accord/2009-01-10015.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v46/om1kron/My%20Cars/1996%20240sx%20Kouki/2009-01-10%20accord/2009-01-10016.jpg

[michael_torres]

damn that sucks

[knucklehead1]

YOOOO DEVINNN.. ima do the same thing.. if its gunna be a track car i say screw it.. haha

[ayuaddict]

fuck it.

but tubs are really easy to make anyways though.

if it doesn't work out for whatever reason you can always add them.

[Xbroke_kidX]

^ good point.
Just cut that shit out for now Devin, and if later you want to add tubs it will be no big deal.

[IIIXziuR]

yeah, mini trucking style. No tubs necessary.

[smelly240]

funny - and true story... VW had a big problem with critters chewing wires on the mkIV cars that were made in mexico - because they used peanut oil to lub the wires to slide em into the loom/car easier.

Also funny and true - The mexican workers would spit on the gaskets of the N80 valves to get em to stick while they assembled it - and most of them chew tobacco - and the acidity of the chew and slobber caused the n80 valves to fail prematurely :P

[nathanong87]

i vote to do it!

[MIKE-240sx]

lol those pics are hillarious

[dato]

Or u can do this
http://i40.tinypic.com/e8ph09.jpg

[GSXRJJordan]

To me, this goes in the same category as "Can I run my car with no air filter like this drag car I saw?"

Sure, if you want to. By why would you want all the crap from the road getting into your nice engine bay... not only can animals get up there (lol @ Wayne and Edgar) but dirt/water/crap covers EVERYTHING, and can make troubleshooting more difficult.

It's not like tubs are difficult to design or fabricate. Oh, and those tubs that cover everything make finding room for intake and intercooler/piping very difficult... I ran into that with my horrible first tubs on the S14.

[dato]

^ not to worry I mocked everything up intercooler and power steering methonal do no problems for me

[TougeLabs]

I will hopefully be sending out my Aluminum tubs that will be bolt in to be formed in either frp or carbon. I'll keep you guys posted

[GSXRJJordan]

I will hopefully be sending out my Aluminum tubs that will be bolt in to be formed in either frp or carbon. I'll keep you guys posted

That'd be rad!!

I work with a guy that private labels bodywork, for something that simple he would probably do it really cheap ~ PM me a picture if you're still shopping around for composite shops, this guy's a master with FRP or CF, and will let you keep the mold(s).

[Slammed Assassin]

if its a full out track car do it!
i believe matt powers did the same thing

[dOMEmE]

I will hopefully be sending out my Aluminum tubs that will be bolt in to be formed in either frp or carbon. I'll keep you guys posted


OMG, yes please keep us posted!

[TougeLabs]

That'd be rad!!

I work with a guy that private labels bodywork, for something that simple he would probably do it really cheap ~ PM me a picture if you're still shopping around for composite shops, this guy's a master with FRP or CF, and will let you keep the mold(s).

I have everything mocked up need some time to make everything perfect and crispy. I will definitely keep in touch though as the project progresses. I think the carbon would be the way to go since it would be just a straight forward install for a finished project.

[WISH ONE]

Removing them makes for an extremely more comfortable, easily accessible and spacious work area, especially on a track car.
This was done on an s13 we helped put together for an old friend.
I say go for it and get or fabricate some "break-away" tubs, with zeus clips or a fastener of that sort.

[GSXRJJordan]

Removing them makes for an extremely more comfortable, easily accessible and spacious work area, especially on a track car.
This was done on an s13 we helped put together for an old friend.
I say go for it and get or fabricate some "break-away" tubs, with zeus clips or a fastener of that sort.

Dzus fasteners.

You can try to fool us with your American last name, but we know you're not from here. :ddog:

[brewster240]

I have everything mocked up need some time to make everything perfect and crispy. I will definitely keep in touch though as the project progresses. I think the carbon would be the way to go since it would be just a straight forward install for a finished project.

you do? where? i want to see.....

[Mister.E]

interesting topic. removable tubs would be epic.

[TougeLabs]

you do? where? i want to see.....

My bathroom Mike, Or the shop one of the two.

[zaquanh]

wat about the rears?

[sonomadrifter]

As long as you have access to a welder, some metal and not crunched for time, do it. Not because its "rigidity" based but its not hard to do so and doesnt take long, so why not?

I have some plugs out of my bay in the back of the wheel wells, only about half a quarter hole, and my bay is FILTHY dirty because of it.

[WISH ONE]

Dzus fasteners.

You can try to fool us with your American last name, but we know you're not from here. :ddog:

I do not really understand the point you are trying to make.
Are you mocking my terrible grammar or are you making fun of the fact that I actually thought these "dsuz" fasteners were actually named after a Greek god(Zeus)?
BTW,the only reason you know I am not from here is because I or someone else told you so, lol... You're not that clever.

either way those clips arent very attractive.
they were on my old BN sports at one point.
You being the mastermind engineer that you are, should redesign them to make them more cosmetically appealing.... while youre at it make some tubs too.

[ericcastro]

as soon as i get a daily, im doing it devin.

I talked to Mattley Crue about it at ASB last year.

He said it doesnt effect the car at all.
If its track only, go for it.

worse case, work gets slow, and you keep the 240 and sell the other car.
few hundred bucks and you can have the tubs complete.


I personally like the ability to see more of whats going on and the extra room, or feeling of it.

Just make sure you secure and relocate everything properly. anything loose in the engine bay is going on the street.

[GSXRJJordan]

BTW,the only reason you know I am not from here is because I or someone else told you so, lol... You're not that clever.

either way those clips arent very attractive.
they were on my old BN sports at one point.
You being the mastermind engineer that you are, should redesign them to make them more cosmetically appealing.... while youre at it make some tubs too.

Hahaha, it's true, Andrew spilled the beans.

Anyway, Dzus fasteners (named after Bill Dzus, pre-WWII airplane guy) are rad, and I think they look awesome... especially the flush-mount ones! For something like removable tubs, where flush-mounting is not a concern, I'd say to use these tool-less ones:

http://kurveygirl.com/shop/images/Ebay%20-%20Black%20Dzus%20Stud%20and%20Clip%20-%20Small.jpg

[Slidin' Sam]

When you guys say track only, are you referring to a car that is trailered to the track, or a car that just drives there and back home again...or both? I am starting to build my next car, I don't have a welder, and welding is expensive in Japan. The car I am building is going to be strictly for track and occasional touge. I guess if I pressure wash the engine bay once I get home from the track it should be cool yeah?...plus the roads are cleaner here and the only animals I have really seen are deer....soooo if I run over one of those I have more problems than being cheap and not tubing the fronts and just cutting them, yeah? Thoughts?

[godrifttoday]

im sure he means trailer, because if u drive it to the track, u drive through the streets sooo same thing as a daily

[Pandapants]

Those cars don't have tubs because its against FD rules.
I say cut 'em out.

[DJPimpFlex]

Removable CF tubes would sell like hotcakes for the right price. I would buy one. I need to cut my shit out though, its all hammered and looks gross.

[Slidin' Sam]

How would u install cf or fiberglass tubs?