fender flares

[chickenwafer]

I am going to be repainting my 260z and i thought that this would make it the best time to install the MSA rear fender flares I had my eye on. I was thinking I could screw them into the fender wells with self taping screws o bolt them if i felt like doing more work. Or I could use a high qualitly 3m double sided tape or epoxy compound. If anyone has installed the MSA "mild street" fender flares please respond- how easy way it? Was Bondo required to blend them? What did you use to adhere them to the body? Thanks in advance.

Dave

[SmoknR6]

i just ordered the MSA street flares. I was going to use self taping screws and bondo to mold them.

[2-4-T-Z-MAN]

If the flares are glass and you want to bond them, MSA sells a great epoxy for that purpose.

The method I used to bond the rear quarters to my car has held without cracking for 12 years.

1) Trace the flare shape on your rear quarters.

2) Grind the paint above the line you just made about 3 inches.

3) Go below that line an amount equal to the lip on the top of the flare. Use 40 grit

paper.

4) Retrace your line.

5) Take a small ballpeen hammer and go over the area above the line to recess it a

small amount.

6) Use the epoxy from MSA to adhere the flares. Use a couple selftapping screws to

hold them in place. Do one side at a time to avoid rushing yourself. Remove the screws once the glue has dried.

7) Feather grind about 1 inch of the edge of the flares to meet the hammered area of

the quarters.

8) Apply a thin coat of bondo on the quarter up to the edge of the flare. Sand smooth

with 40 grit paper.

9) Then cut 3 inch wide strips of fiberglass cloth. Apply two to three layers over the

feathered flare edge, overlapping onto the bondo. One inch on the flare and two

inches on the quarters. Any seams should be overlapped with the next layer of

cloth.

10)Sand down any rough areas of glass with 40 grit paper. Skim with bondo to smooth.

11)Do the finish sanding, prime and paint.

A little more involved, but it wont crack. And there's nothing worse than to spend time and money to have a job last only a short while.

Good luck !

Barrie

[inline6]

Here are some photos of the flaring process on my car. May take a while to load:

http://members.tripod.com/trueweb/Zcar

I wouldn't recommend the E6000 epoxy that Motorsport Auto recommends for bonding the flares to the body unless using lots of mechanical fasteners as well (bolts, rivets, etc.). I think the different expansion rates of steel and fiberglass with regard to temperature changes caused problems on my car. The fiberglass flares separated after I had the car painted (they stayed attached, but the seam became visible about 4 months later during the first warm days of spring). I used aluminum rivets and the epoxy, but when I did the blending, I ground the rivet heads off (was told the epoxy would be strong enough by itself) during the start of the blending process, and then used bondo to finish. I did this because of less bondo and a better looking transition from the body to the flare.

In retrospect, I recommend using lots of rivets (maybe 1 every inch) and leaving the rivet heads on when you blend.

[2-4-T-Z-MAN]

Inline6,

Yours is the reason I suggested that bondo was placed on the metal up to the edge of the flare. Then glass the flare to the bondo. Fiberglass will not stick to metal, but bondo will and fiberglass will stick to bondo. As I said my fiberglass rear quarters have been on for 12 years without cracking. With no metal fasteners.

[inline6]

I guess I'm just not convinced. On the rear flares, I used fiberglass bondo and covered the flare mounting flange (where you blend) and about 4 inches onto the quarter panel. The rears did much better, but you can still see where the rivet holes were in the right light at the right angle as slight convex recesses (but no visible seams). There was obviously some movement in the materials after sanding and painting.

I did not use fiberglass cloth like Barrie, and I think that is clearly a good way to go. I think creating a lot more surface area over the seam helps secure the flare and hide the seam's edge if there is a bit of movement later.

I'm not an expert, so take the advice or ignore it if you wish. Here in VA we see temperature extremes of about 5F to 99F. Using rivets can't hurt in my opinion, and I'd hate to see someone spend upwards of $1000 on paint only to suffer the same problem I had.

G

[Curtis240Z]

I assume you are planning on putting on some big rubber because I only had to flare the rear fenders about 1" when I went up to 255/40-17 tires. This is with coil-overs and substantial camber. The fronts fit under the stock fenders.