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

[mb911]

Thanks guys. I will build up a set for you..

[john77]

Got the first flare fitted after marking and trimming the arch to make a nice tight butt joint for when I tig weld, but then got sidetracked by the predictable "while you're in there".

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/live.staticflickr.com-17027-1602278750.1.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/live.staticflickr.com-17027-1602278630.1.jpg)

While I had easy access thanks to the the arch being cut out I decided to strip the wheel wells back to bare metal. Was pleased to find mostly clean sheet metal.

My plan is to treat the bare metal with SEM rust mort and then seam sealer where needed and a couple of coats of POR15. I know not everyone loves that stuff, but I've done it on a couple of cars and never had a problem.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/live.staticflickr.com-17027-1602278630.2.jpg)

As I was stripping the fender I also found a complete mess where someone had plugged the antenna hole. They basically but a patch of metal behind the hole, welded the two together from the topside and then coated the whole thing with a generous layer of bondo (which appears to be a running theme on this car).

The most impressive part was they didn't bother treating or painting the patch inside the fender, so it was a sheet of thick rust slowly rotting the fender metal above it (IMG:style_emoticons/default/chair.gif)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/live.staticflickr.com-17027-1602278631.3.jpg)

Attacked it with a hole saw...

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/live.staticflickr.com-17027-1602278631.4.jpg)

Here's what the back of the patch looked like.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/live.staticflickr.com-17027-1602278631.5.jpg)

I cut a new patch and tacked it in place.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/live.staticflickr.com-17027-1602278632.6.jpg)

And then once it was welded I metal finished the weld. It's not perfect, but it's a hell of a lot better than how it was.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/live.staticflickr.com-17027-1602278632.7.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/live.staticflickr.com-17027-1602278632.8.jpg)

[Cairo94507]

Nice save on the antenna hole. That rust would have consumed the entire fender. Flare placement looks good too. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[Tdskip]

Thanks for the updates, please keep the, coming.

[mb911]

Nice job.. I had to do the same thing on my car..

[john77]

Thanks guys

[john77]

Saturday's progress:

3 years ago I took a metal shaping class at Wray Schelin's ProShaper shop in Charlton, MA. That was the first time I ever did any kind of sheet metal work, and the first time I picked up a tig welder. I learned a ton of fundamentals in those 4 days, and Wray also taught us his method for getting a tight fit all the way along long butt joints, so...

All in it took me about 3 hours to get the butt joint tight.

First I rough cut the shape of the flare out of the fender, about an inch away from the final cut. Then I cover the fender where the flare will overlap with black sharpie - that's the black strip you can see in this pic.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/live.staticflickr.com-17027-1602441704.1.jpg)

Then I mount the flare in its final position on top of the fender using clamps and drilled holes with clecos where clamps won't reach.

Then I scribe a line with a really sharp point along the edge of the flare. This leaves a really fine line scribed into the black sharpie telling me exactly how much metal I need to cut.

Then I cut as close as I can to that line using my nibblers (unlike hand shears they don't bend the sheet metal).

Then I go all the way along the seam with a hand file and file away any remaining material tight to the scribed line.

It's ridiculously laborious, and if this was my job not a hobby it wouldn't be cost effective, but by the time I'm done I have a super tight fit all the way along the butt joint between the flare and fender.

Now, all of that said, my tig welding is a little hit and miss. No matter how tight my joint is I have an incredible ability to blow a hole in one out of every five of my tig tack welds. Which means I then have to go back and fix every fifth tack... which adds a load more time, and quite frankly drives me nuts.

So I decided to use the mig to tack the flare instead, every other inch, in sequence one after the other to make sure the seam stayed tight all the way along and I could correct any distortion if it occurred.

All in it took me 75 tack welds to get the flare in place.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/live.staticflickr.com-17027-1602441705.2.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/live.staticflickr.com-17027-1602442165.1.jpg)

Once the tacks were all done I knocked the top off each of them with my cheapo harbor freight hand held belt sander and then started to tig weld the inch long sections between the mig welds, jumping around from section to section so not to build up too much heat.

By starting the tig weld pool on the mig tack that let's me reduce the size of the mig tack further.

All in I managed to tig 2/3rds of the flare before I ran out of time. I'll finish up the rest of the weld and metal finish it this week.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/live.staticflickr.com-17027-1602441706.4.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/live.staticflickr.com-17027-1602442166.2.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/live.staticflickr.com-17027-1602441706.6.jpg)

The hole by the where the turn signal barnacle used to be was where I found more patch work from the antenna hole butcher and another rusty patch. I had to chop it out too, but the plan is to patch that hole once the flare's welded in place.

[john77]

Got home from the shop on Saturday night to find a delivery on my doorstep.

(IMG:https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50452360458_e8c2fa8453_z.jpg)

Once the flares are done I'm planning to take my entire car back to bare metal and do a complete color change.

I have experience spray painting, but my spray gun got stolen by a meth head (IMG:style_emoticons/default/chair.gif) and the compressor at the shop took a (IMG:style_emoticons/default/stromberg.gif), so I was trying to figure out the best way to get it done without leaving the metal exposed for too long. Which is when I stumbled on this roll on stuff from Eastwood.

An auto paint channel I follow on youtube did a review and he seemed pretty impressed so I figured I'd give it a shot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnNVQvTSE6I

The main appeal was that it will allow me to work panel by panel without having to mask the car or move it into a makeshift booth (that, plus I don't even have the equipment to spray right now). So once the first flare's done I'll strip the rest of the paint off the fender, paint the entire fender with the roll on epoxy, and then be good to move on to the next one.

Then, once all the flares are done, I'll strip the doors, hood, deck lid, frunk, trunk, one by one and epoxy them as I go until eventually the entire car's in epoxy.

With the car completely sealed up with epoxy I can then figure out what I want to do regarding color without having to think about that right now which will probably overwhelm me into doing nothing... and mean my car's off the road for months.

Right now I'm thinking I'll get Eastwood's roll on primer surfacer to go on top of the epoxy, and sand and prep the car straight myself so it's ready for basecoat/clear, at which point I may pay a shop to finish it.

Although that may change, depending on my circumstances - I may end up getting a new compressor and gun and do the base/clear myself as I have another project car that will eventually need paint too, so the reinvestment in the equipment may be worth it. Plus the meth head no longer works at the shop where I rent space to work on my cars so, you know, there's that.

I'll keep this thread updated on how the roll on epoxy turns out.

[ri914]

Got home from the shop on Saturday night to find a delivery on my doorstep.

(IMG:https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50452360458_e8c2fa8453_z.jpg)

Once the flares are done I'm planning to take my entire car back to bare metal and do a complete color change.

I have experience spray painting, but my spray gun got stolen by a meth head (IMG:style_emoticons/default/chair.gif) and the compressor at the shop took a (IMG:style_emoticons/default/stromberg.gif), so I was trying to figure out the best way to get it done without leaving the metal exposed for too long. Which is when I stumbled on this roll on stuff from Eastwood.

An auto paint channel I follow on youtube did a review and he seemed pretty impressed so I figured I'd give it a shot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnNVQvTSE6I

The main appeal was that it will allow me to work panel by panel without having to mask the car or move it into a makeshift booth (that, plus I don't even have the equipment to spray right now). So once the first flare's done I'll strip the rest of the paint off the fender, paint the entire fender with the roll on epoxy, and then be good to move on to the next one.

Then, once all the flares are done, I'll strip the doors, hood, deck lid, frunk, trunk, one by one and epoxy them as I go until eventually the entire car's in epoxy.

With the car completely sealed up with epoxy I can then figure out what I want to do regarding color without having to think about that right now which will probably overwhelm me into doing nothing... and mean my car's off the road for months.

Right now I'm thinking I'll get Eastwood's roll on primer surfacer to go on top of the epoxy, and sand and prep the car straight myself so it's ready for basecoat/clear, at which point I may pay a shop to finish it.

Although that may change, depending on my circumstances - I may end up getting a new compressor and gun and do the base/clear myself as I have another project car that will eventually need paint too, so the reinvestment in the equipment may be worth it. Plus the meth head no longer works at the shop where I rent space to work on my cars so, you know, there's that.

I'll keep this thread updated on how the roll on epoxy turns out.

Very nice work. Impressive!

[john77]

Thanks!

Your workshop looks amazing. Is it a home/hobby set up or work related?

Got home from the shop on Saturday night to find a delivery on my doorstep.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/live.staticflickr.com-17027-1602473399.1.jpg)

Once the flares are done I'm planning to take my entire car back to bare metal and do a complete color change.

I have experience spray painting, but my spray gun got stolen by a meth head (IMG:style_emoticons/default/chair.gif) and the compressor at the shop took a (IMG:style_emoticons/default/stromberg.gif), so I was trying to figure out the best way to get it done without leaving the metal exposed for too long. Which is when I stumbled on this roll on stuff from Eastwood.

An auto paint channel I follow on youtube did a review and he seemed pretty impressed so I figured I'd give it a shot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnNVQvTSE6I

The main appeal was that it will allow me to work panel by panel without having to mask the car or move it into a makeshift booth (that, plus I don't even have the equipment to spray right now). So once the first flare's done I'll strip the rest of the paint off the fender, paint the entire fender with the roll on epoxy, and then be good to move on to the next one.

Then, once all the flares are done, I'll strip the doors, hood, deck lid, frunk, trunk, one by one and epoxy them as I go until eventually the entire car's in epoxy.

With the car completely sealed up with epoxy I can then figure out what I want to do regarding color without having to think about that right now which will probably overwhelm me into doing nothing... and mean my car's off the road for months.

Right now I'm thinking I'll get Eastwood's roll on primer surfacer to go on top of the epoxy, and sand and prep the car straight myself so it's ready for basecoat/clear, at which point I may pay a shop to finish it.

Although that may change, depending on my circumstances - I may end up getting a new compressor and gun and do the base/clear myself as I have another project car that will eventually need paint too, so the reinvestment in the equipment may be worth it. Plus the meth head no longer works at the shop where I rent space to work on my cars so, you know, there's that.

I'll keep this thread updated on how the roll on epoxy turns out.

Very nice work. Impressive!

[Cairo94507]

Nice work and progress. I hate thieves- let's hope he gets arrested at some point so he can't victimize anyone else.

I vote for getting a new spray gun and compressor if you can swing it. It will make the job much easier. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[john77]

Thanks. I'd love to paint it myself if I can. The nice thing about the roll on epoxy is it gives me a bit of breathing room to seal up all the sheet metal before I have to make that decision.

Nice work and progress. I hate thieves- let's hope he gets arrested at some point so he can't victimize anyone else.

I vote for getting a new spray gun and compressor if you can swing it. It will make the job much easier. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[john77]

I'm going to be getting a new front valance to match the shape of the flares, but I have a problem...

The driveway up the side of my house to my garage in the back is pretty steep, and the valance I have on the car now scrapes across the sidewalk as I hit the bottom of the driveway.

I'm wondering if there's a way I can make the valance quick release, so I can take it off when I drive in and out of my house? But not so quick release that it flies off on the 405 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/bye1.gif) Dzus fasteners maybe?

Has anyone done this?

[Mayne]

Great work! I noticed in your first post that you plan to widen the rear flares for 9 inch wheels. I was under the impression that nines can work with the standard rear GT flares. Obviously tire size has a lot to do with it, but just wondering how you arrived at that decision. Cheers!

[Cairo94507]

Keep a 4x4 post near your driveway and drop it into the gutter area so it reduces the drop off gradually. Or there are a lot of gutter slope/driveway rubber devises available to change the slope so it is an easy rise.

[john77]

@Mayne I always loved the look of the privateer 914GTs running mismatched wheels with fuchs in the front and beefy minilites in the rear. But I decided to switch it up a little and run 8 inch fuchs in the front and 9 inch Group 4 campagnolos in the rear.

After speaking to 914Dave who runs the 8 inch group 4 wheels all round (see his car of the month) he told me because of the offset he had to trim the fender lip to 1/8th of an inch AND machine a tiny amount off the mounting pad on the wheel so they would fit.

So going with 9s, I figure I’ll need to widen the flare.

Great work! I noticed in your first post that you plan to widen the rear flares for 9 inch wheels. I was under the impression that nines can work with the standard rear GT flares. Obviously tire size has a lot to do with it, but just wondering how you arrived at that decision. Cheers!

[john77]

@Cairo94507

The problem isn't so much the gutter, more that the entire car is on an incline as it meets the sidewalk. So with the rear elevated, the nose just grinds into the abruptly level concrete.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/live.staticflickr.com-17027-1602605990.1.jpg)

That said, the ramp idea could be a smarter alternative. Thanks, I'll look into it.

Keep a 4x4 post near your driveway and drop it into the gutter area so it reduces the drop off gradually. Or there are a lot of gutter slope/driveway rubber devises available to change the slope so it is an easy rise.

[PanelBilly]

EST to fold the lip back. That will give you a bit more room and a nice finished look. Best to do this before you have the car all primed and ready to paint, unlike what I did....

[john77]

Ha, I feel your pain. It never even occurred to me to wait until I bought the valance before I fitted up the front flares so I could make sure they matched up perfectly - for some reason all I was focused on was the rockers (IMG:style_emoticons/default/chair.gif) So that should be fun once I get the valance...

Anyway, maybe I'm having a brain fart, but can you elaborate on what EST is? Maybe a picture would help.

EST to fold the lip back. That will give you a bit more room and a nice finished look. Best to do this before you have the car all primed and ready to paint, unlike what I did....

[sixnotfour]

15x9 245/50 lips folded up,,,my other 914, are widen 1.5