GTPVETTE

A Few more.......

Here are the final shots after paint. Thanks again to all for your comments and suggestions!!!! Fred

Thanks guys,, as we didn't put any primer on the filler so it's hard to tell how stright everything is,,,,,, but I think we are close. As for the wheels,, yes he's running those but there will be slightly taller tires in the rear hence the swap to the YZ setup. The car doesn't have the motor, trans, fuel cell or anything else in it at the moment so it's sitting high. The rear well arch was enlarged a bit on the front but as far as I know I don't think he touched the front. It's going off to paint today,,,, I'll post pictures of the after shots when it comes back. Thanks to everyone for your suggestions,,, now back to my car!!! Fred

As Promised.......

Terry,,,, Not to worry,,, although I don't see us going back and redoing it! LOL! We did rough up the aluminun with a 36 grit disk then cleaned it right before installing it. We also used an SEM two part (mixed in the tube) adhesive,,,, I can't remember which one exactly. but ended up using 3 tubes so there was quite a bit. We did the filler one on one side Friday,,, the other side tomorrow. If I don;t forget my camera (AGAIN!!) i'll post some pics. Thanks!

I wanted to post a quick update on the install. We ended up using a 1 1/4" alu. "L" bent to fit along the upper fender as a flange to bond the YZ flares to. We pop rivited it as well as used epoxy to attach it. From there used the epoxy to bond the new rear fenders on. Aftrer drying I was amazed,,, they are really stuck. After that a little fiberglass to mould the upper corner of the YZ flare into the spolier. This weekend is grinding and filler . Then on to primer. So,,, the thought is scuff the car to 180,,, then a 2k Urethane primer,,, block sand to 400,,,, then BC/CC. Does this sound OK????? As a follow on,,, I believe the current paint is an acrlyic enamel,,,, should I expect any issue with this under the 2k Urethane and BC/CC???? Pictures this weekend..... Thanks! Fred

Hey Guys,,, Thanks for your thoughts,,, looks like 1000 tacks may be the way to go. The project is to put a flange on the top of the rear fender to attach flares to,,,, not to mention a couple of doglegs. As it isn;t my car I'd hate to warp the rear quarter too bad. The origional thought with the water was to help move things along as I know the cool down can take a while. Between the four area I guess we have enough to move between. Thanks again,,,, I'll post some pics in a couple of weeks,,,, as I'm goin on vacation!!!!!

Hey Guys,,, We'll be doing a bit of mig welding on a buddies Z. I know doing a bunch of small welds,,, stiches, will help keep the panel from distorting but I have a question. Can we cool the panel with water or a wet rag to help speed the cool off process,,, or will it just make it worse??? Many Thanks! Fred

Racerx,,, Thanks for the link,,, i skimmed it but I'll need to reread it in the morning when I'm fresh. It's tough gettin old! As for the flares,,, I'm afraid they were trashed in the removal process and were just a pile of pieces when I left. As I said they were really nice and fit the lines of the car really well,,, just not enough room with the new taller rear tires. We'll start the fitting process tomorrow,,, I'll keep you posted and of course keep an eye out for the upcomming questions. Regards, Fred

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts on how to make this happen. Speaking of which,,,, the old flares came off today. These were done about 15 years ago and have really held up well,,, in fact the only reason the owner wants to change them is due to tire size. We started with the passenger side,,, turns out the edges were glued down with epoxy and bondo to fill the seam,,,, who would of thunk. The passenger side had a lot of adhesive and was stuck pretty good but surprisingly the drivers didn't. It looks as if mabe an inch of adhesive held the flare inplace all of this time. Once I got an edge lifted with a screwdriver the rest came pretty easy. In test fitting the new flare the fit looks OK,, but it does seem a tad short. If we line up the top of the flare on the top of the quarter panel,, it doesn't really fit the bottom quite right so some work will need to be done there. We've also come to the conclusion that some type on flange needs to be attached to the top of the quarter panel so we can bond it on. The fronts and rears look like they'll attach OK with enough epoxy. The bottoms will need some work. One question if I might,,,, how much of a bonding area should we be looking for? I'm thinking an inch to an inch and a half,,, but would like to here from you guys. Thanks again! Fred

Thanks Rick,, First you car looks fantastic,,, although I’m confused about your rear flares. The picture in your signature doesn’t look like the YZ’s,, yet a saw another post of yours where the tilt front end and YZ’s were just installed. Also,, how did you finish off the outside of those rear flares? Was it fiberglass then filler?? Olie05 – Are you thinking Duramix???? Thanks!

Well I saw the rear YZ flares this evening,,, nice parts. Here is the plan,,,, attach flares with structural adhesive then blend in. The problem,,,, there is no real edge or flange anywhere on the top of the flare to allow bonding,,, it’s just thin fiberglass almost perpendicular to the rear quarter panel. We came up with two possibilities tonight,,, the first glass a flange onto the flare where needed to bond with (BlueOval had a good write up on this process with hood scoops) or weld a flange on the rear quarter to bond to. Anyone have thoughts on our ideas or experience with these flares???? Many Thanks! Fred

Thanks guys,,,,, I guess I need to fess up a bit,,, the GTM in the photo is a factory car,,,,, mine is in pieces at the moment but I'm hopefull. I've reviewed more posts this AM,,,, but still looking. I will post some pictures after I see the flares and a few progress posts as we move forward. RacerX sent you a PM,,, thanks for your offer! Thanks again!!! Fred

Hey Guys,,, I just found this forum yesterday and spent the better part of last night reading,,,, it’s a really great site and lots of good info!!! Now I’m not currently a Z car owner,,, but I did have a 300ZX for 90K miles and truly loved it,,, my current project is a GTM kit and it should be a real hot rod when done. OK,,, for my questions. I’m going to give a buddy a hand installing some new rear flares on his Z race car (MSA YZ I believe) as he has been a real help on my GTM. So,,, I wanted to get your input on the latest and greatest tips on installing. It seems the consensus is using a structural adhesive (Duramix??) with permanent fasteners (if possible) to hang the flares. The questions seem to come in how exactly to blend and finish the join lines. Do we use mat to smooth the join lines and then fill as necessary? I also read RacerX’s post regarding a two part epoxy resin with microspheres instead of the regular type filler. Any thoughts on how to smooth this join line and keep it from cracking???? Also,,, for you guys that have installed these flares,,, I’d like to know how you did them,, tips,, issues and anything else you might pass along. Many Thanks!! Fred