S/s On The Rear Arches

[Guest T6 KFR]

I am completing the rebuild of my 2b and must be honest hate the rear arches with the s/s overlay and stone guards. I considered wrapping them however thought someone wise on the forum may help.

 

Is the overlay ontop of a full Grp arch or does removing it leave me with a gap?

 

Really hope someone has tried this already?

 

Cheers

[Guest Alan_builder]

The wheel arch is the SS. It has a GRP trim on the outside and the inner end is turned down and fixed to the rear panel and the side panel, trapping the piping between. Last the stone guard is fitted with piping.

 

The GRP trim is first fixed at both ends to the SS sheet so the outer edge of the GRP is about in the middle of the SS arch. Then you put structural adhesive on the GRP inner edge about 1" then you pushe the GRP, middle of the arch out so you have the same width showing. The method of construction is used to get a tight fit between the SS and GRP. To fit the mudguard you have to drill the turned down flaps through onto the bodywork as above. getting the wheel arch aligned is about a 20 hour job on the first side and a 30 hour job on the 2nd side so you have a matched pair.

 

So yes, you will have a bl**dy great hole.

 

My advice is to change your glasses, they are then beautiful. Some one spent many many hours making them and you won't change them easily especially with the fixing holes left behind with their removal.

[fry61]

Think you will find the s/steel IS the wheel arch, remove a wheel & have a look; may need to scrape away some underseal.

[agent_zed]

i have a cunning plan i also don't like them (mine as also mild steel so problems with rust etc) so my plan is to use the arch as a former to make a full grp set.

 

The way i see it is that if i lay glass fibre on the underside of the arch and bond it into the existing piece of grp then when i remove the steel piece i will be left with a full arch only 0.7mm smaller than the orginal (the thickness of the steel). I can drill the fixing holes through the steel so they are in the same exact place.

 

I am thinking i'll have to notch the edges of the original grp arch to get a good bond with the new grp and then do a bit of filling/smoothing of the joint between old and new once the steel is removed but it should be on the same level as the grp anyway as the steel sits above the orginal grp.

 

Anyone already done this? see any problems?

[sj-bradley]

I would not do it that way as any imperfections on the underside would show up afterwards.

 

I would make a negative mold on top of the arch first and then use that to cast a positive copy with. That way you can prepare the mold for a very glossy finish before casting the copy. That way they will be exactly the same size as the originals.

 

( I have seen the original videos how these are made and have produced DVD copies of these, so if anyone would like a DVD version, please let me know. )

 

Simon.

[Guest Alan_builder]

i have a cunning plan

 

I can drill the fixing holes through the steel so they are in the same exact place.

 

Anyone already done this? see any problems?

 

How are you going to get the fixing holes in the same place?

I used rivnuts, so drilled through both the wheel arch flap and the body work. Then I enlarged the holes on the body work for the rivnuts and the holes on the wheel arch for 4mm clearance on the bolts. When I went to mount the wheel arches lots of the holes were in the wrong place! Shape change.

 

You plan to drill through the fiberglass to a pattern in the body work? 1 I don't think you can access the holes from the rear. 2 when you pull the wheel arch up to the body work, things change shape and it will all go out of line!

 

Change your glasses to a rose tint.

[agent_zed]

negative moulds are of course the best way to do it but at least twice the cost and 10x's more effort as you will have to make the mould strong enough to hold its own shape when wheel arch is removed. you would then have to finish the inside which i would imagine is difficult on a concave surface. The final result would also have the edge line of the steel where is laps the grp. which i don't like and would have to fill/shape anyway.

 

i have orange safety glasses perhaps these are the problem. But i will be wearing them when i drill through the holes in the tags of the steel arch back through the new grp which is inside - the holes will now be exactly the same place as they were on the steel arch (well 0.7mm further in).

 

You could once it has dried a bit actually put the entire arch with new grp (still with the steel outer) back onto the car to hold it to shape while it cures.

 

It will then be in the same place with the same holes! Once dry remove the outer steel leaving the new grp and old outer edge joined. Fill and sand the surface to get a good shape and then paint.

 

Perhaps it won't work that well but we'll see. I already filled the gap between the steel and grp and smoothed it all and painted which looked spot on but it started to crack as the steel always wants to separate from the grp. This shouldn't be a problem with the new grp as it won't be under pressure in the same way.

 

Also iam looking at it this way i can have a go for £50 worth of grp and some paint or spend £160 on a set from GBS which are a different shape and would leave visible holes in the back panel and would also need painting to match my car.

 

certainly not saying its the best way but it seems to be an option.

[megadodo]

On mine, I could have left the stone guards off and it would have left no gap but I was very careful when building and aligning the side panels and arches and did them at the same time. I put the stone guards on as I like the look. You could of course wrap the arches, stone guards or both. You wont know how much of a gap the lack of stone guards leaves on your car without trying it I guess, then you would have to consider how to cover the holes used to fix the stone guards on in the first place. I considered wrapping just the guards in carbon (3M) wrap to match other parts on the car but went with the stainless.

[Guest T6 KFR]

On mine, I could have left the stone guards off and it would have left no gap but I was very careful when building and aligning the side panels and arches and did them at the same time. I put the stone guards on as I like the look. You could of course wrap the arches, stone guards or both. You wont know how much of a gap the lack of stone guards leaves on your car without trying it I guess, then you would have to consider how to cover the holes used to fix the stone guards on in the first place. I considered wrapping just the guards in carbon (3M) wrap to match other parts on the car but went with the stainless.

 

Thanks all for the feedback, never imagined others were thinking the same as myself. I did consider buying GRP arches from GBS or others but glad it was mentioned it would leave a gap with the different shape. My best option as i see it will be to remove the stoneguard and wrap the arch that way, however it will mean wrapping the front ones and nose cone also! I have used 3M carbon fibre quite a bit on my car and like how it moulds when you use it correctly. It would be suitable to cover holes left my sure It seems they have been rivet'd on, so will need to re-drill these out of the stone guard

[Foz]

How about just painting them ?

You could flat 'em and fill any holes before spraying them to match the nosecone.

Alternatively stop looking so close & drive - adjust your mirrors and you won't see them from the driver's seat !!

[Guest tom-zero]

please excuse my stupidity but what does GRP stand for ive been trying to work it out myself but decided i may as well ask lol

[agent_zed]

How about just painting them ?

You could flat 'em and fill any holes before spraying them to match the nosecone.

 

i did that and it looked good but eventually it starts to split, well mine did

 

"please excuse my stupidity but what does GRP stand for ive been trying to work it out myself but decided i may as well ask lol"

 

never stupid to ask a question, stands for Glass reinforced plastic (well i hope so or i'll look like an idiot) its another name for fibre-glass. quicker to write GRP as well

[flatout]

Glass-Reinforced Plastic

[Guest Alan_builder]

It seems they have been rivet'd on, so will need to re-drill these out of the stone guard

 

That may not be that easy. I bet the stone guards are fixed on with SS rivets. Now if you are unlucky the shaft broke off level with the head so you have to drill away the shaft then the head to get separation. The drill can scoot off and leave scratches on your stone guards. Not expensive but just another problem but don't forget the cost of good drills.

[sj-bradley]

And I thought GRP was Genuine Red Paint ...

 

If rivets have snapped off flush, try punching the broken part back into the rivet so that the drill won't scoot off scratching other parts. Also less to drill out.

 

Simon.