I purchased a set of F1 fenders off Jason at A+ last year and never got to fitting them. As I set them up I noticed teh passenger side fit great, but the driver side was *short* meaning the top bolts along the hood area were about an inch or so away from their holes.
My question is what can I do to make them fit correctly. Please understand I am not a newb with bodywork, just never installed fiberglass fenders and do not know what would have to happen since they will have stresses applied.
I considered laying a strip of matting that went over the top and bottom of the current lip, then using a good amount of resin, but I was not sure if this would hold up as a permanent solution.
Thanks for any assistance
http://www.j-body.org/forums/read.php?f=7&i=322683&t=322643
Joey,
I am at work, i can get some probably tomorrow night.
I know you know your s$... when it comes to fiberglassing so any help would def be appreciated. like I said the dimensions of the rest of the fender are dead on, its just the lip needs to be extended in towards teh engine bay maybe an inch or even 3 then trimmed.
Also i noticed they feel fragile as heck, would it be safe to add another layer of matting on the inside to reinforce?
Without pics I can't tell you for sure how i would do the mounting extensions, but I can tell you that as long as you're using a decent quality resin that you should be able to easily add a layer to the insides for strength. Make sure and not add any to where the bottom bolts go or you'll throw the mounting all out of wack.
My Cardomain Page
CAVETTE wrote:Without pics I can't tell you for sure how i would do the mounting extensions, but I can tell you that as long as you're using a decent quality resin that you should be able to easily add a layer to the insides for strength. Make sure and not add any to where the bottom bolts go or you'll throw the mounting all out of wack.
what does quality resin have to do with it? and adding a layer of resin will do nothing. resin doesnt have strenght, the mat does.
anyway, Mike, adding a layer of glass to the back will help strengthen the whole panel. only issue is how you go about it. if you glass the panels off the car, there is potential for warping and mis-shaping since it wont be in the position it needs to be on the car. but it will be quite a task trying to glass them on the car. If I were to do it, i would lay up the resin and mat on the panel off the car, and then bolt it to the car while it cures, so you know you will have the true shape you need. This however is not easy either, lol.
as far as extending the top mounting points, that should be a bit easier, but i'd really like to see some pics of the alignment of the bad panel before I really comment.
I was referring to the lower quality (bondo) resins and their tendency to shrink and contort while drying. I've seen it w/ low quality resins quite a few times. I thought it was inferred that he would be adding mat as well as resin to strengthen the fenders. The mat used isn't nearly as critical as the resin in my opinion.
I do see your point on mounting the panel as it cures. Seems like a good way to ensure "decent" fitment.
My Cardomain Page
bondo resin can be just as good as any other resin out there if mixed and thinned correctly.
You're right. It just seems the higher quality resins are a little more forgiving.
My Cardomain Page
why not make a little plate out of sheet metal to make up the difference and rivet it to the fiberglass of the fender or bolt it whatever floats yer boat.and just drill the hole fdor it to bolt to the body where desired.like a metal exstension panel.know what i mean????seems like an easy fix to me
Trevor Mullins wrote:why not make a little plate out of sheet metal to make up the difference and rivet it to the fiberglass of the fender or bolt it whatever floats yer boat.and just drill the hole fdor it to bolt to the body where desired.like a metal exstension panel.know what i mean????seems like an easy fix to me
have you looked at the fender lips? they are not a flat panel. unless you bend that sheet metal to match the shapes, but thats prolly more work than glassing
kool i never seen the lips on fiberglass cavy fenders.oh well figured i might help out
