Another GT Look-a-Likey Project thread, Made a gas strut lifted air dam to clear my driveway Options

[john77]

Started the process of GT flaring my car this week.

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The plan is to weld all four flares on first, then widen the rears to fit 9s, and in the process strip the car panel by panel for a repaint.

The rear arches had been pulled at some point in the 90s to fit 7s, and I knew they'd gone to town with bondo to smooth the driver's side out because there was a crack. The picture below is a cross section cut through the arch once I removed it... that's 0.5 inches of bondo right there (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/live.staticflickr.com-17027-1601589886.1.jpg)

After making the initial rough cuts it dawned on me I'm probably going to need to remove the rear quarter oil tank to give me enough clearance to tig weld the flare on the front and back.

I can only see one bolt, inside the engine bay - is that the only thing holding the tank in place?

Also, dumb question, can I remove the tank without having to drain my engine oil first? I didn't think this far ahead and only changed my oil last month (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif)

[john77]

I was inspired by another member (can't remember who, sorry) to make some adjustable brackets for the FG bumpers.

The fit of the original brackets was not good, plus once I clamped the ones flat to the back of the front bumper the angle was completely wrong and made it impossible to screw them through the original mounting holes in the front of the car.

So I made two pieces - one out of the FG bracket with a channel so it could be slid forwards and backwards, and a second piece out of aluminum L that mounted to the car.

Fixing the FG part to the back of the bumper in the right place still took some work, but here's how I did it:

I mounted the brackets to the car and then offered the bumpers up to them so they mated flat to the back of the bumper and were in the correct position..

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/live.staticflickr.com-17027-1622754678.1.jpg)

Then I put tape inside the bumper where the brackets would mount and sprayed a thin layer of insulating foam...

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I then waited a few minutes for the foam to start to set and then lifted the bumper up to the brackets and held it in place for a few minutes.

I didn't get a picture of the result, but basically the foams sets with an imprint in it of exactly where the bracket needs to be mounted.

You can then cut away the rest of the tape/foam, use a sharpie to mark around the tape that's left (i.e. where the bracket will go) and then chuck the last bit of tape away. This leaves you with a clean surface to fiberglass the bracket too.

Here's the brackets mounted to the front bumper (I used a hydraulic press to widen the angle of the aluminum L on the front bumper brackets so the mated up to the FG pieces properly):

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/live.staticflickr.com-17027-1622754950.1.jpg)

And the front bumper on the car. They need a little fine tuning, but overall I'm pretty happy with the fit.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/live.staticflickr.com-17027-1622754951.2.jpg)