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Phase 6 -- Fitting the Tires OK, at this point I now have the rear wheels with tires and I have installed them and determined the proper ride height. They actually wouldn't fit in the wheel openings so I cut them out. I'll discuss this later on in this phase. I now positioned the rear shock crossmember and welded it in place. I have checked the rearend for proper position and welded the ladder bar mounts into place as well. I need to install the helmet bar on the driver's side so I fabricated it and welded it in place. Last thing I need to do is add the gussets to the four corners of the rollcage as the rules require. The frame and rollcage are now done except for adding on things such as the fuel cell mounts, battery boxes, fuel pump mount, seat belt mounts and seat framework. All this will be done as I get these items. As I said earlier when I installed the tires, they would not fit inside the wheel openings so I had to cut them. I determined they needed to be stretched and made longer in the front by 4 inches for these large tires to fit. I marked the panel and cut the lip off with a sabre saw. I cut the rocker panel box off by 5 inches with an abrasive cut-off wheel. I used a metal flange bender and indented the panel on the car after I trimmed the cut off lip to fit. Then I just added a piece of sheet metal into the gap and bent it to match the contour of the lip. See the photos. Weld all these in place and the rough work is done and the wheels and tires fit. We'll do the body work later when the car is all together and we are getting ready to paint it. 
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