Twin_Turbo

I hate spending 600 bucks (plus insane shipping and tax) on flares without having tried to make them myself first. So:

here's my plaster mold, still drying when I type this post, gonna sand it down when dry and layeth the fiberglass on



Marck

Love My 72 and 77

You are a crazy **** I wish I put that much time in my cars!

1979toy

Kewl.

Just like the hamburger joint ad; You can have it your way. I'm sure that you will be happier having done it yourself than if you bought someone else's design.

UKPaul

A cheap b@stard? Now there's a man after my own heart! Looking good, good luck with it
One thing I'd have trouble with is getting the radius of the arc even where it joins the body. Every time I did something like that, whether it was in wood, metal, clay, glass, etc, I always got a fairly smooth & even curve, but there'd always be one or 2 areas where it was a bit flat or had a slight hump. Hard to see by eye but you could feel it if you ran your finger around it. And I knew it was there! Got any ideas on how to do it? A length of flexible pipe as a former???

Aussi chev4fun

You are one wild guy with all the best skills . wish I had the time to burn have fun .

StingrayDK

Looks very nice

Hey you forgot the tax we pay on the shipping itself

Twin_Turbo

I know about the bumps and holes, I'm going to sand them out as good as I can. If the end resutls sucks I can always toss the thing in the bin, then I'll have to spend the big bucks for the ACI flares.

I got an idea on how to get a uniform arc joining the body, just roll some randpaper around a steel pipe of the desired radius, fill voids with glass as much as possible and finish off with filler.


[Modified by Twin_Turbo, 4:35 AM 6/29/2004]


[Modified by Twin_Turbo, 5:27 AM 6/29/2004]

jetech

Hey twin_turbo

I would recommend a primer followed by a gloss paint over the mold. Then several coats of yellow wax or Johnson's floor wax prior to the layup.

My Dad and I made the cowling for an airplane using this method with West system epoxy except we didn't use any primer or paint and even with the wax we still had some areas that stuck to the mold.

For stiffness you could add Graphite cloth to the first layer or two.

Twin_Turbo

Thanks for the tips, that's what I'm gonna do.

UKPaul

I used to use wooden dowelling which works quite well as it has a bit of "give" in it. Best thing I ever used was a piece of round section rubber. It was just the right radius + it could be bent into a slight curve to help get a better finish. I was helping build a yacht & remember seeing a lot of formers & useful tools for sale at a ships chandlers (one of the larger ones that supply to manufacturers). I did see something for sale in Amsterdam that would have been brilliant for finishing off curves, it was tubular, flexible & even had a handle at one end. It looked perfect for finishing off curves, but I didn't think that UK Customs or my wife would believe me - "Er, it's for rubbing down curves in bodywork. And in woodwork, and for polishing metal and...".
For importing stuff from the US it could be worth chatting to this guy: steve@moving-parts.com
He's a C3 owner & works in the shipping industry. He got so fed up getting ripped off on the cost of shipping parts over that he set up his own company, Moving Parts, & by all accounts the service is excellent & the price is very competative. You just ask whoever you buy from to send the parts to his address in NY & he'll do the rest (so you immediately avoid the International shipping rates that some suppliers hit us with).

SmokedTires

TT, you mean you couldn't find some flares on ebay for cheap Looks like you're making some good progress with your homemade flares

Rolling Thunder

That's what I like to see! You are probably just crazy enough to make it work. Keep us posted on your progress, we'll all learn from your project.

Dave

Budman68

Looks like it will work to me. Just keep it under 150 mph or add some vents in the front.

Nevermind I see it in the picture now. That's the cardboard mold sticking out. Sorry.


[Modified by Budman78, 7:34 AM 6/29/2004]

Frank75

Are you going to lay them up in place or off the car? If the latter, you can use West System or other epoxy to attach them - very strong. You just can't go back and use polyester on top of the epoxy.

Twin_Turbo

EXACTLY. I couldn't find any and I thought what the hell, I can try this. If it fails it's only a few bucks down the drain.

The board you see is hardboard, not cardboard. Cardboard isn't strong enough. The hardboard is clamped into the wheelwell so it forms exactly to the wheel well. Then I used plaster to fill it up to a shape I want the flares to look like. Still have to trim off the hardboard to the line I scribed on it before putting the plaster on. The shape is curved nicely and that way I can trim it down and get a sharp edge on the fender. Then, when I do the other side I can just make a mirror image on the board. I also scribed the outline of the original wheel well on it, all it takes is scribing a centerline and then mirror both lines by measuring. Swap the board to the other side and position it so it runs with the wheel wel line visible, then add plaster to the same width and height as on the other side.

I'm going to mold the glass on the car. I will tape off the rear quarter so it doesn't stick to it. I have West systems epoxy but I hardly ever use it. I've got far superior stuff from a local boat building material shop that I used on the front clip and for bonding the rear bumper as well. It's rock solid.

Fevre

Good luck....[behindthebackvoice]cheap bastard. [/behindthebackvoice]

LOTAHP

My friend just sold 2 complete flared quarter panel with 12" ralley rims.

How are you going to make the other side EXACTLY the same?

TT, I do not think it's being cheap. You just have "LOTA" *****. (in a good sense)!!!!!

Twin_Turbo

getting it exactly the same, that's the problem LOL. I won't bond them on untill I'm absolutely positive they are the same. The shape of the lip won't be the problem because I scribed that on the board and can make a mirror line. The height of the compound curves is the problem, I may make some cardboard profile templates at specified intervals and use them on the other side, then when those fit just profile the curve so it runs smooth.

stingraymaniac

looks like a good start.
keep the pics coming!!!!!!!

Twin_Turbo

Started trimming the mold to the desired shape and did some rough sanding to get the shape correct, still need to trim the lower sections some more to get them a bit closer to the stock lines. Don't want mud flaps or at least as small as possible





Heading out to do some more tinkering