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914World.com _ 914World Garage _ Attaching glass fiber gt flares

Posted by: corpselaurel May 26 2004, 12:48 PM

I did a search but did not find anything on the forum.

How do you guys attach the glass fiber gt flares? Is there a site that has some tips etc. I am a big DIYer so I will be doing it myself.

I have heard some rivit them - thoughts?

Posted by: SirAndy May 26 2004, 12:56 PM

you can just rivet them on, if you like the look (hey randal, time to show your car again ) ...

otherwise, they get glued on. you rivet or screw them on while the gluew dries, then take out the rivets or screws and lay some FG over the seam then bodo until smooth. (if you don't remove the rivets, the bondo will crack).

same on the inside, lay some FG over the seem from underneath to.

oh, and don't forget to cut off any excess fender sheet metal, otherwise you'll slice your tires on that first bump you hit.

Andy

Posted by: corpselaurel May 26 2004, 01:05 PM

Thanks. I just found http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/914_fiber_flares/914_fiberglass_flares2.htm article at pelican parts too.

Anyone with pics?

Posted by: Eric_Shea May 26 2004, 02:42 PM

I called AIR (the vendor I bought them from) and they were very helpful.

My advice can be long and drawn out but here goes:

1. Body Clamps. I bought two sets at Harbor. Cheap. Leave the outer rockers on for ref. and clamp the raw flares in place on the body. Take a sharpy and mark the edge of the flare and an area roughly 2" out from the edge of the flare.

2. Remove the flare and mark another line roughly 1" in from where the flare edge was marked. This will be your "cut" line. I recommend leaving the very bottom of each wheel well in tact. This is hard to describe but leave the last 1" of original metal that includes where the support comes over (front and rear). You will galss these into the bottom of the flare.

3. Cut.

4. Grind out to the outer mark with a 36 grit pad. While you have the metal off... grind the "inside" of the fender about 3" in from the edge of the cut.

5. Remount your flares and remark the edge for ref.

6. Remove the flares once again and spread the bonding agent. I don't remember the name but it's something like Vette Bond. Check with AIR. It's specially formulated to bond fiberglass to metal.

7. Mount the flares. use the rockers again as a guide and run a screwdriver through various areas of the bonding agent to find your guide. Clamp them down using the body clamps.

8. In step 4 we ground the inside of the fender. You now need to use fiberglass "cloth" (not mat) and bond the backside of the flare to the fender. You may want to take a body hammer and work the fender out toward the flare but not too much... you can crack the bonding agent. If you do not do this your flares will crack.

9. Use the same 36 grit and start working the lip of the flare and the bonding agent. Once you have it down then use MarGlass (indestructable) to fill the groove.

10. You should now have a decent looking shape with very little filler needed. At this point switch over to regular body filler for the minor work.

Note: MarGlass should be worked with a filler file when it is just getting firm. If you wait until it's hard you'll need to get the grinder out.

Others have used rivets and/or screws in lew of the body clamps but I found them too cheap and convenient not to buy them for this job alone.

I can get some pics if you need them.

Posted by: corpselaurel May 26 2004, 02:54 PM

Thanks, I will get some clamps - seems like a better option to me.

If you can post pics that would be great.

Posted by: Eric_Shea May 26 2004, 04:02 PM

Front flare with bonding agent. You should be able to see the glass/bond/metal layers.

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Posted by: Eric_Shea May 26 2004, 04:03 PM

Here's the other front with a little MarGlass on it.

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Posted by: Eric_Shea May 26 2004, 04:03 PM

Here's an Andy shot of the inside of the front fender...

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Posted by: Eric_Shea May 26 2004, 04:05 PM

I didn't glass the backside of the rears and I started working at the base with a GT rocker. The GT rocker caught the flare and you can see what will happen if you fail to glass the backsides.

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Posted by: Eric_Shea May 26 2004, 04:06 PM

Here's a rear blended in fairly well with MarGlass

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Posted by: Randal May 26 2004, 04:45 PM

Fiber glass with rivets:

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Posted by: ein 6er May 26 2004, 05:15 PM

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?threadid=93883 is a thread on pelican of a DIY flare install with pics.

Posted by: lmcchesney May 26 2004, 06:59 PM

We put the FG flares on last winter. Pretty much as above, except, if you remove the paint to bare metal, be aware that the fiberglass resin may not adhere to the metal. Ours would lift off after completely setting. Upon advise of the body work guys, we coated the bare metal with epoxy first and let that set for a day, then attached the flares with fiberglass resin (Duraglass or other brand). We used the sheet metal screws for holding the flare on until dried. I left three rivets on each flare to ease my peace of mind. They have been through a lot of twisting and have not shown cracks or lifting. After the fiberglass resin is used to adhere and fill in the holes, use a soft body filler such as Spot Lite to get the even flow from the body to the flares. Takes a long time and lots of sand paper, but it works.

Posted by: lmcchesney May 26 2004, 07:11 PM

The sawsall.

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Posted by: lmcchesney May 26 2004, 07:13 PM

the hole

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Posted by: lmcchesney May 26 2004, 07:14 PM

front flare

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Posted by: lmcchesney May 26 2004, 07:15 PM

rear flare. Don't forget to fill in the inner wheel well between the fiberglass flare and the steel fender. Use fiberglass resin or bondo depending on desired weight.

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Posted by: lmcchesney May 26 2004, 07:16 PM

Might consider adding a cold air scoup in the rocker panels like my Andrew has done.

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Posted by: lmcchesney May 26 2004, 07:18 PM

Scoup in place. We tested it prior to placement. It really does capture significant air. The air is directed to an oil cooler on one side and hosed into the engine compartment on the other side.

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Posted by: bburke914 May 26 2004, 07:20 PM

The method described at Pelican Parts worked great for me. I bought fiberglass flares off of ebay and the front flare appeared to be off of a 911. I ended up using it . The key is to make sure that the metal is within at least a 1/16" of the flare iteselft. I had to cut and bend and beat the fender to get this clearance. But once I did the flare worked great.
Ben

Posted by: bburke914 May 26 2004, 07:22 PM

Cheers. That was my first post!!! I tried to post photos of my car earlier and it wouldn't work. So this was really a test. If I can figure it out I will post photos and someone can tell me what the front flares really came form. I think they are for a 911.
Ben

Posted by: madd_dogg_914 May 26 2004, 08:00 PM

You cannot post a picture until you have 10 posts. So keep chatting (only 7 more to go) then you can add pictures!

-Chris

Posted by: corpselaurel May 27 2004, 01:03 PM

Thanks for all the help, I feel confident about it now.

Any advice on wheel sizes? I plan on doing a five lug conversion. I think I want 17" but I am not sure about the width.

Posted by: ein 6er May 27 2004, 01:16 PM

hey ben!!

welcome, i'm originally from new bern. get those posts up so we can see your car!!

Posted by: serge914 May 27 2004, 07:58 PM

He Randal your car look great. I love that color combination. Any more pictures of it ?