108 replies to this topic

[Ruts]

What are you using to do the cuts Ruts?

This

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[rodomo]

O.K.......................continue.............................

[rodomo]

I call mine Excalibur!

[Ruts]

Ok back on this again, I did a bit over the last few days. First picture is of the two flares the old and the new. I wanted to post this pic when I started but I forgot to download it. You can the difference between the two. The new flares are 20mm wider than the old.

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Early in the piece I said that these hatch flares were the best fitting flares that I had ever seen. If you are wondering why I had to cut the bottom of them to fit it was to cover the old flares holes in the 1/4 panels so that I did not have to paint the 1/4's. When I was trying trying to fit them when I cut the end of the flare I found that the passenger (near side) fitted very well but when I got to the driver's side (off side) I found that I had to modify the end of the sill panel to get the flare to fit and line up. Where I am pointing is the where I had to cut to get the small end to fit.

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Once the end of the sill panel was cut the little piece went on fairly well but there was still a bit to do.

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To finish getting the end piece to fit on the driver's side I had to grind a bit out of the end piece. If you have a look at the two bits you can see the difference between the two. I had to grind a bit out to the gap between the wheel and flare near the same size on both sides. Here are some pics of the two sides and I am pointing to the area that needs grinding away to match the two up.

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The blue line is where I have to grind away the flare end piece to match the two up.

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This is what it looked like after I ground the end bit down.

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Once the end was ground down it went on but I had to put a screw in the end to hold it in place until I glassed it.

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Once the end of the flare was on both sides and I was happy with fit I put the car on the ground to see how it all looked. I was very happy with how both sides lined up and there was only a few millimetres difference either side.

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When I was happy with the way it all looked I put the car back on the hoist. Now I learned something from our mate Dirtbag. He taught me to tape over whatever I wanted to glass then put body filler over the tap to hold it all in place so that I can take it off and glass the inside, thanks Tim yo taught me a valuable lesson.

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[hanra]

Huh..... I havnt taken notice of anything you have written because Ive been to focused on this rear end......FARK YEAH

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[Ruts]

Once the outside was done I took the flares off and glassed the insides, very happy

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While the flares were off, glassed and drying I took to the 1/4's with my trusty 9 inch grinder and trimmed the arches to give us plenty of room for big wheels.

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That's it for now. Hopefully I'll have the 1/4's all welded up tomorrow. More pics soon.

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[Tyre biter]

Ruts, just fantastic.
I have to be honest, I thought the flares are just what they are, fit how they fit, and one can only work around them.
Never even considered they could be made to fit so well.
Love watching this thread despite it teaching me what I should have done.
Cheers, TB

[Ruts]

well thats just awesome.cant wait to drive it.it looks the goods with those 285's.i take back everything i thought about you

Thanks but don't worry, I STILL think the same about you.

[Ruts]

Ready for more updates. Once the flares were off I ground the body filler off and then removed the blue tape and was left with a pretty good surface to work with on the outside.

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As you can see in the above photo I ground back a bit of the outside so that the fibremat filler has something to stick too. The fibremat filler is a body filler that has fibreglass mixed into it. It dries hard and can be used to fill large areas if need be but I try to use it over surfaces. If I have to fill large areas like I did on the bottom of the flares I use the fibreglass repair kit. Here is the fibremat.

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This is what it looks like once applied the top of the flares.

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Here is the fibremat once it has been sanded back.

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Once the fibremat was sanded I applied a top coat of body filler.

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Here is the finished product once the top coat was sanded.

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When the flares were finished (or as I thought) I put them back on the car to see if they held in place. With the flares refitted I found two areas on the passenger's side that sat a bit too far away from body. This creates a problem when you put the flare piping between the flare and the body. If the gap between the flare and body is too large then the piping will fall in between the flare.

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To fix the gap I put a few strips of tape on the body where it needed to filled. I then used the fibremat to fill the gap while the flare was still on the car.

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I ground down part of the flare before applying the filler so that it had something to bite too.

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Once all the filler was rubbed back I took the tape off the body and did a refit to see it all looked. The flare piping will be a snug fit now. I'm very happy with the fit so the flares are off to the painters.

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[Ruts]

Now the flares done it's time to concentrate again on the body. This is where we left it last time. Both inner and outer guards were evenly trimmed so when we put the filler piece in it will site flat.

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To fill the gap I used some 1.6 sheet steel. I went to a mates workshop who let me take a couple of strips.

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The good thing about this is that I can easily bend it over my knee to get required shape of the wheel arch.

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I then bent the strip into shape against the arch until I got it fairly close.

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when I got it close I trimmed it to the correct length.

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Once it was all trimmed it virtually sat in there by itself.

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Now once I was happy with the fit it was time to start tacking the strip into place. You have to be careful when welding onto a body shell especially when it has the interior and other items still inside. In side the 1/4 panels can have body filler, sound deadener or anything else that can catch fire. To help prevent fires I bought a fire blanket from Bunnings.

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What I did was stuff the fire blanket in the 1/4 panel which will help stop sparks from flying through the car. You can also use these to throw over windows to stop sparks from marking the glass.

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When the blanket was in place and I was happy with the fit I tacked the strip in place with the INSIDE edge matching up directly with the inside edge of the wheel arch. This leaves most of the strip sticking out past the outer edge of the 1/4 panel. This makes it easier later on to trim the outer edge of the strip. Just think of the strip as a very small wheel tub if that makes sense. All the welding will be finished tomorrow.

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I thought I would play around and see if my new 335/35/17's would fit under the guards while the car was on the hoist. You can see that they stick out a bit but the exhaust was stopping them from going in far enough. They will fit with a bit of work.

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[Ruts]

Thanks mate, back at ya.

[Ruts]

Ok all this the last instalment so here we go.

The flares were sent to mate of mine in Bargo who has a panel shop who specialises in custom work. The name of the shop is Pro Image and my mates name is Carl. So if you are looking for any sort of panel and paint work done in the Bargo and surrounding areas give him a call on 0412125860 and tell him Dennis sent you. He also hires out his spray booth if you want to tackle the your own paint job. Here are the flares, I'm very happy with the finish.

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Before fitting the flares I covered the welds and filled the gaps in the welds with Sikaflex.

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I also took the chance to paint the bolts and washers black. They were chrome when it arrived so I thought black would look much better. Who cares what the owner wants......lol. When I paint flare bolts I stick them through the bottom of a box and I tape the washers to a flat surface. I double the masking tape over on itself so that it sticks to the table and then washers stick to the tape.

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Once the bolts and washers were dry I put the flares on the car but only started the nuts finger tight. What this does it allows me to slide the flare piping between the flare and the body.

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When installing the flare piping I start from the rear and work towards the front. When I reach a bolt I mark the spot where the bolt is with a pen and then I slice enough out to fit around the bolt.

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Takes a bit of time and fiddling but I was very happy with the fit.

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[Ruts]

When the rears were done I took the opportunity to install the 4mm piping and paint the front bolts and washers. Here it is with the large piping and chrome bolts.

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Here are fronts with the small piping and painted bolts and washers, much better.

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Front and rears all done. Rear 15x10 hotwires now fitted to stay on before car is taken off the hoist.

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Once the car was back on the ground it was moved out of the shed and given a good wash. It was then taken out the front where I took these photo's with hopefully one very happy owner standing nearby. I think it looks pretty good. What do you guys think.

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As the car drove away I took a few happy snaps with one very happy owner driving. When Rob got home he called me and told me that the guards did not rub even with a car full of kids. I'm happy, he's happy and I hope you guys are happy with this thread.

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THE END

Edited by Ruts, 04 July 2019 - 09:04 PM.

[Statler]

[TerrA LX]

Thanx Dennis... I must resist flaring the hatch...

[308 Sunbird]

Great job, now I have to change my piping to the smaller one. Yeah & get Rob to straighten that rear #plate-it looks a little pissed.

[Ruts]

Great job, now I have to change my piping to the smaller one. Yeah & get Rob to straighten that rear #plate-it looks a little pissed.

Yep, just like the owner.

[MRLXSS]

SHIT HOT!!!!

[tsn007]

well done Dennis

Now its time to do yours lol !!

[a9x868]

top job ruts
whats next?