Mounting the fenders at the front involved adding small panels to replace the vertical ones on either side of the grille that were attached to the steel fenders. You can just see the original panel mounts for the fenders. The easiest way to attach the fiberglass fenders is to source some old steel fenders, cut off the small panel that attaches the fender to the car and attach these to the fiberglass ones.
Then sculpt the fiberglass around the grille opening to the proper shape. Having a grille to use makes this step much easier.
The last step before the final bodywork, primer and paint is to reinforce the wheel arch lip of the fenders. As shown above here and also three photos up where the inner brace was shown the arch lip is literally a sharp edge. Some may elect to leave it like this, but adding strength here will prevent someone from leaning on the fender and cracking it. My body-man came up with some foam strips that he attached to the lip, built it up with resin and then fibre-glassed under the arch to give the lip a "horizontal" edge.
To give further strength to the fender and to prevent rocks and debris off the tires damaging the underside of each fender , we chose to apply spray-on truck bed-liner material under each fender. This product was used on the rear fenders as well. Now that the car is done, it's hard to tell that the fenders are actually fiberglass.
Looking back on this project, the only thing I'd do differently is to not use the complete fiberglass front fenders. Installing the fiberglass front fenders certainly isn't as simple as just bolting them on as you may have gathered. If you have or can procure a reasonably staight set of steel fenders, I'd recommend bonding the flared sections of the fiberglass fenders to them much like the fiberglass rear quarters are attached. Installing complete fiberglass fenders seems appropriate for repairing a car with extensive collision or rust damage, but if available I think it'd save considerable work and avoid hassles to use steel fenders as a foundation.
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Disclaimer: This page was researched and written by Simon Austin. Views expressed are those of the author, and are provided without warrantee or guarantee. Apply at your own risk. Step 4: Set fiberglass fender in its place and mark the holes that need to be drilled.
Note: most fenders have markings to where you are to drill the holes, but some do not. Step 6: Reinstall fiberglass fender and begin to bolt it down-- but do not tighten all the bolts until you have the right gap.
We recommend using a mixing stick to get the same gap at the door and hood area. Once you have the gaps spaced, tighten down the bolts. Do not over tighten! The fiberglass fender will make sounds like it is cracking—this is common as it is fiberglass, so do not worry. You will need to be patient to get a good fit. You may need to sand some of the fender down so it does not stick out too far from the rest of the body.
This is because fiberglass fenders are thicker than steel. If the hood sits too low or too high, you can adjust it by turning up or down the rubber height adjuster at the front of the hood located in the core support, or hood. Step 4: Set fiberglass fender in its place and mark the holes that need to be drilled.
Note: Most fenders have markings where to drill, but some do not. To get a consistent hood and door gap, use a mixing stick between door and fender. Step 6: Reinstall fiberglass fender and begin to bolt it down-- but do not tighten all the bolts until you have the right gap. We recommend using a mixing stick to get the same gap at the door and hood area.
Once you have the gaps spaced, tighten down the bolts. Do not over tighten! The fiberglass fender will make sounds like it is cracking—this is common as it is fiberglass, so do not worry.
You will need to be patient to get a good fit. You may need to sand some of the fender down so it does not stick out too far from the rest of the body. This is because fiberglass fenders are thicker than steel. If the hood sits too low or too high, you can adjust it by turning up or down the rubber height adjuster at the front of the hood located in the core support, or hood.
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