now what if you keep going forward like a "J" bar staying close like you have it to the inner fender and weld to the side of the frame rail right before the bumper mounts?.
This is the sort of idea I have for my 69 Barracuda.
I want to cut the vertical part of the inner guards out(except for the shockie mounts)to get better access for plugs,pipes and anything else in there.
A 440 with a tagled mess of pipes don't leave much room .
I'm a skinny front tyre sort of bloke so tyre clearance isn't such a big issue for me.