To reach your plugs........

[jrinlv]

Has anyone here cut inside the wheel-well to make it easier to reach your spark plugs??? What size/shape hole works best, pics would be cool. It's just such a tight fit with my ape hands in the engine compartment... let me know what you think before I cut into my new 57 project

I was thinking of a smaller hole (or two) up higher to tune the carbs, its such a pain when your triing to tune your set up, but I will probably wait on that until I know what carbs I'll be running...

Let me know JR

[oval55]

I had cut my inner fender, just to make adjusting the carbs a little easier. I cut a rectangle about 2" by 8". Looks fine, rarely drive in any weather conditions so the concern of mud and stuff is not there. If it makes things easier, why not. The hole can always be welded back in if you dont like the look. Good Luck

[yetibone]

I did the same thing to make it easier to adjust the carbs. I sometimes drive in rain and stuff so I drilled round holes about 3/4" diameter, 2 5/8" apart, and closed them over with rubber grommet-type plugs from Home Depot when I'm not tuning.

Never tried that for plug replacement. I always used a super short 3/8 ratchet, and stuck my arm, elbow and all, down behind the fan shroud. I use my right arm on the left side, and my left arm on the right side for removing #1, and #3, but I've got some pretty long, skinny arms though, and it's not too bad for me to reach.

I think the plugs on a TypeI are about 6" or 7" apart. You will need to measure for yourself to be sure. The diameter of the holes would need to be slightly bigger than a 13/16" spark plug socket, and drilled about 2" above the little shelves in the sides of the compartment.

Even better, cut a larger rectangular blow out pannel to access plugs, and mixture screws, as oval55 described. That would be easier to return to original condition if needed. Mabye 2" above the shelves, 6" foreward from the rear apron seam, and a rectangle about 4" tall, and 8" long. (you WILL need to measure for yourself, as your Bug is much earlier than mine and the engine compartment dimensions are different)





Yetibone

[factman]

i cut holes in my fender well for changing plugs and getting to the idle jets and carbs. they are about 4-5" wide and 7-8" tall. i used a saw zal or however you pronounce that. its the freehand jigsaw one. drill a hole about how low you want the hole to start and then look inside the engine compartment and see if its low enough. just line up the angle of the spark plugs and draw an imaginary line to the wheel well. or dimple it with a punch to get a good outline of where you want to cut then do so. then get a scrap peice of metal to make the flap. some people make doors, i just used four sheet metal screws to hold it on. very nice to have i must say. hope that helps. if you really need photos i can take some but my engine is out right now so you cant gauge it in reationship to the carbs and plugs.

[jrinlv]

factman, really that big, do you get any water and dirt in there with that type of cover?, Thanks for the replies everyone. Thanks JR

I was thinking off three 2in holes

Let me know what you think

[factman]

you can do multiple holes if you want. i have pretty big hands and dual 2bbl carbs so i need the room to work. i just cut out a peice of metal about 3/4" bigger than the opening and then tap the sheet to about the curvature of the body then you can run a thick bead of silicone around the edge to seal out water and dirt. mine is a daily driver in utah but hasn't gone through a winter yet with the modification but i think it will be fine.

[Ron Roberts]

Go to Shoptalk Forums and do a search by typing in Rubber wrenches in the speed and Dragracing forum. You will find a picture on that thread.

Ron