okay guys. i didn't get enough pics, but i think i can tell a story here...
rear fender was pretty trashy looking, but still solid. i wanted to get more mileage out of it and use it's ridiculous length to cover some of the engine. the fender was hitting the rear downtube and rubbing the tire a bit. that just wouldn't do, so i decided to cut a channel into it.
here's the intial problem.
and here is a picture of the short channel that came factory
i basically just followed those lines and went back about 5 ot 6 inches. i think the width was 1 9/16"
i also cleaned up and rounded out the end of the channel, deburred the edges, and shot a quick bit of primer on it.
here is the inital test fit after the cut
looking good. the orange line is where i cut to get rid of the trashed bits of fender. between a lifetime of abuse and the reflector mount holes which were an abomination to all things on wheels it was better off without the tip.
one more tring to line up bolt holes properly.
i was able to reuse the rear bolt hole after "massaging" it out a bit. then i used a paint pen to mark where the new rear hole would be.
this is where "maximum effort" mode kicked in and i forgot to take any more pictures. basically i drilled the rear hole on each side after measuring carefully. then i took the grinder to the orange line in the previous picture. i wasn't happy with the 90 degree edges so i used the bottom of the can of spray primer to draw a slight radius on the end of the fender. it worked beautifully! deburred all new corners and edges, sanded most of the rough rusty spots, got a little carried away with the primer (i plan on stripping, sanding, re priming and painting. i just wanted to keep the rust off).
here is the finished product
and a picture of the whole bike (plus extra bikes)
i went to lowes and got some 1/4-20 3/4" bolts and locking nuts, used some washers i had laying around, and got the fender snugged up. i was planning on getting some 2 hole coduit straps (1.5") at lowes but got distracted by a new lawn mower and forgot them. right now the chain is rubbing the fender on the left side, but hopefully the conduit straps will hold them in far enough. if not, i'll be removing and chopping more.
will update after i get everything functional again.