More on flares

[KB73]

Yesterday I took a sawzall to my quarter panels, which was rather exciting....

The process went pretty much as planned: Cut through both inner and outer skins at the same time. Next I will weld in a patch to tie them together again.

As for attaching the flares, I'm going to look into using countersunk rivets along with 3M Automix Panel Bonding Adhesive. The rivets will add strength and help hold things in place while the epoxy cures.

[rover1]

i think you should post some photos of the front fenders i'm curious to see what they fit like.

[KB73]

The fronts are going to be trickier. If I understand correctly, the Ireland instructions call for cutting the attachment flanges off the steel fender and bonding them to the glass fender.

As you can see in the picture, the glass fender goes beyond the nose panel seam. I don't like this approach both from a styling standpoint and because it means the fender is no longer removable without affecting the front end (I don't plan to blend the seam like from the factory).

My plan is to trim the glass fender and attach it over top of the steel fender, then blend to the stock fender/nose panel seam. This will maintain the stock position of the attachment flanges and make for a cleaner look in my opinion.

More on this later.

[jrkoupe]

..great stuff... keep us posted...

[rover1]

I think this is the kit that your dealing with right or this is pretty close to what it will look like when finished right?

[jrkoupe]

I think this is the kit that your dealing with right or this is pretty close to what it will look like when finished right?

rears are similiar..

.but the frts on the pic you posted are the OTHER popular shape and is more the style sold by Korman..........and those are usually bolt on...no grafting usually.

this is an ol skool pic of the style being used in this thread..

and here is a current day shot of the same IE style frt fender

 

[KB73]

Here's a shot with all the flares tacked on. As jrkoupe said, the Ireland flares differ slightly from the Korman kit in how they meet the nose.

At this point I'm almost wishing I had gone with the Korman fronts. It's going to take a bit of work to get a satisfactory shape.

[jrkoupe]

Looking good......

altho the lt rear looks a bit "off".....like the wheel is too far forward in the well....

[dscoff]

Hey Kristian,

I e-mailed you this, but here it is for the whole board to read!

I've been doing the same project and I'm working on the fronts currently. For the rears I'm going the same route with countersunk aluminum rivets and ProForm Panel Bonding Adhesive (mainly because their applicator gun was less than $100).

The fronts I have however are from Korman. I like the shape, and the flare is a little more exagerated once it's on the car! The build quality was, um... flimsy. These are apparently for a race car, so I can understand, but if you're planning on these for the street some extra work is necessary. I added another layer of glass to the inside to stiffen the whole thing and rebuilt a couple of spots like the cusp above the headlight.

Yesterday I did a dry fit of the left front and the fit is not bad, but will need some additional work. I think the front clip will need some trimming around the headlight as the original sheet metal fender is much thinner than the 'glass. The fender will also need a little sanding and love but that's totally expected. It's harder to judge the rear end of the fender without the front secured and tightly fit. It's close, but the door seems to stand 3/8" proud of the fender at the highest (most outward) point. I'm crossing my fingers that once the front and top of the fender are secured, adding the final screws to the door flange and lower part of the fender with flex it into place. If not I'm left with two options: fill the 3/8" depression with filler or cut it out and rebuild it to the correct profile with 'glass... guess which one is more work.

Anyway, not trying to 'jack Kristian's thread, but I'll write an entire post once they're done.

Jonathan

[boxy02]

Yesterday I took a sawzall to my quarter panels, which was rather exciting....

The process went pretty much as planned: Cut through both inner and outer skins at the same time. Next I will weld in a patch to tie them together again.

As for attaching the flares, I'm going to look into using countersunk rivets along with 3M Automix Panel Bonding Adhesive. The rivets will add strength and help hold things in place while the epoxy cures.

If you don't have the gun for the 3M Panel Bonding Adhesive Epoxy, I have one you can borrow. I also have some 3M Epoxy cartridges. This is the stuff I used on my flares...great stuff!

[KB73]

Yesterday I took a sawzall to my quarter panels, which was rather exciting....

The process went pretty much as planned: Cut through both inner and outer skins at the same time. Next I will weld in a patch to tie them together again.

As for attaching the flares, I'm going to look into using countersunk rivets along with 3M Automix Panel Bonding Adhesive. The rivets will add strength and help hold things in place while the epoxy cures.

If you don't have the gun for the 3M Panel Bonding Adhesive Epoxy, I have one you can borrow. I also have some 3M Epoxy cartridges. This is the stuff I used on my flares...great stuff!

Thanks Mike!

I sent you and email.

Did you attach your flares with adhesive alone?

And did you make those flares yourself, or is that a kit?

[KB73]

Hey Kristian,

I e-mailed you this, but here it is for the whole board to read!

I've been doing the same project and I'm working on the fronts currently. For the rears I'm going the same route with countersunk aluminum rivets and ProForm Panel Bonding Adhesive (mainly because their applicator gun was less than $100).

The fronts I have however are from Korman. I like the shape, and the flare is a little more exagerated once it's on the car! The build quality was, um... flimsy. These are apparently for a race car, so I can understand, but if you're planning on these for the street some extra work is necessary. I added another layer of glass to the inside to stiffen the whole thing and rebuilt a couple of spots like the cusp above the headlight.

Yesterday I did a dry fit of the left front and the fit is not bad, but will need some additional work. I think the front clip will need some trimming around the headlight as the original sheet metal fender is much thinner than the 'glass. The fender will also need a little sanding and love but that's totally expected. It's harder to judge the rear end of the fender without the front secured and tightly fit. It's close, but the door seems to stand 3/8" proud of the fender at the highest (most outward) point. I'm crossing my fingers that once the front and top of the fender are secured, adding the final screws to the door flange and lower part of the fender with flex it into place. If not I'm left with two options: fill the 3/8" depression with filler or cut it out and rebuild it to the correct profile with 'glass... guess which one is more work.

Anyway, not trying to 'jack Kristian's thread, but I'll write an entire post once they're done.

Jonathan

No worries about chiming in - more info is good!

My front flares are turning out to be quite the project too. In order to get a hybrid shape between the stock fender shape (at the nose) and the flared wheel opening, I decided to trim the edges off the glass fender and lay it over top of the steel fender. The other intended benefit is to maintain the original panel gaps and attachment positions. Jonathon - have you thought of doing this? It might help with your fitment issues (if you're willing to destroy your steel fenders, of course).

The tricky part is that "hybrid" shape at the front, which is not as simple as I originally thought. Beyond just trimming the glass I will need to fabricate a blend between the two shapes. If you look at Mike's (boxy02) car this was achieved with a crease.

One thing I might try is to pull the steel fender out to meet the glass, which will be made easier after cutting out the wheel opening.

Another thing I intend to remedy is the lack of an inner lip around the wheel opening. Perhaps Ireland Engineering was trying to stay true to the original Alpina design, but I think it makes the fender look flimsy and cheap. The orange car posted here has a lip and it looks much improved.

[alp]

hey Boxy where's some more pics of your project?

[boxy02]

Yesterday I took a sawzall to my quarter panels, which was rather exciting....

The process went pretty much as planned: Cut through both inner and outer skins at the same time. Next I will weld in a patch to tie them together again.

As for attaching the flares, I'm going to look into using countersunk rivets along with 3M Automix Panel Bonding Adhesive. The rivets will add strength and help hold things in place while the epoxy cures.

If you don't have the gun for the 3M Panel Bonding Adhesive Epoxy, I have one you can borrow. I also have some 3M Epoxy cartridges. This is the stuff I used on my flares...great stuff!

Thanks Mike!

I sent you and email.

Did you attach your flares with adhesive alone?

And did you make those flares yourself, or is that a kit?

I mounted the rears with Cleco temporary fasteners (highly recommended) to size them up and then drilled 1/8" holes for stainless pop rivets. I prepped the area with a sanding disk down to the bare metal, roughed up the fiberglass, applied the epoxy on the metal with the gun and pop-riveted the flares on until the epoxy dried. I haven't had time to get back to feathering them and finishing it all up yet. The fronts are bolt-on.

I didn't make the flares and airdam, I traded a set of seats to Brian (Ibjettin) for them. They do have these interesting vents in them that I've never seen before. I always wanted to build a box-flared 02 ever since I saw them racing at Laguna Seca in the late 70's.

[boxy02]

hey Boxy where's some more pics of your project?

I'll have to make a project blog again...