Inner flares & Fenders ERA

Tongue Pirate · #1 (**permalink**) 04-02-2003, 08:17 AM

I am a little premature here as I don't even have my car yet but I was wondering if there is a standard on how the fiberglass portion of the inner flares & fender wells are painted/finished? Any pictures would also be helpfull if there are any proud owners of painted & finished inner fender wells out there!

mr0077 · #2 (**permalink**) 04-02-2003, 01:33 PM

TP, I painted the inside of my wheelwells with a rubberized undercoating, and left the engine-bay side as delivered...I was told the original 427 S/Cs were very similar to the way the ERAs come from the factory...not sure about the FIAs, though

Tongue Pirate · #3 (**permalink**) 04-02-2003, 03:10 PM

More specifically I am wondering how you guys have them finished so that they appear more like aluminum than fiberglass at first glance. Say for instance your car is sitting in a parking lot with the front wheels turned in one direction or another & you can see the inside of the front flares. Is this being a little too anal? Probably!!! But still curious about my options...

Bob Putnam · #4 (**permalink**) 04-02-2003, 04:20 PM

T.Pirate,

The 289 already has aluminum in the front and rear wheel wells. If you leave 'em alone, they will look original.

The underside of the of the original cars' fenders were painted black, I think. The street cars may have been undercoated to prevent "starring" from stones.

We usually undercoat the wheel side of the aluminum too, to quiet it down a bit. Driving over a sandy road sounds like a small cement mixer without it.

Tongue Pirate · #5 (**permalink**) 04-02-2003, 07:53 PM

I suppose I should get out & look at the few cars that frequent events in the area! It is something that I have never really paid much attention to & at that, maybe I shouldn't. Just can't stop trying to plan everthing out

Bob Putnam · #6 (**permalink**) 04-03-2003, 05:40 AM

Pirate,

This is a typical case of obsessive-compulsive syndrome colliding with a long wait.

We see that a lot.

Chaplin · #7 (**permalink**) 04-03-2003, 07:46 AM

Bob-
I for one am shocked and outraged that TP would act in such a manner. It is positively unacceptable! What kind of person behaves that way?

Tongue Pirate · #8 (**permalink**) 04-03-2003, 07:50 AM

I've been exposed!!!

cobrajeff · #9 (**permalink**) 04-16-2003, 03:43 PM

.....I had the bottom sides of my fender flares sanded smooth, and a slight roll added added at the edge to simulate an aluminum fender. Did this front and rear, and also glued some black closed cell foam to the undersides of the fenders to protect them from getting "stars" from stones hitting the underside.

The foam is about 3/16" thick, and was adhered with 3M spray adhesive. If you check my gallery, you can see the edge of it in the shot of the rear fender, and also in the shot looking up into the front wheel-well.

My FIA car has "thru-body" exhaust like a big-block. I added some aluminum plates to close off the gap between the footbox and the frame. I also added some pieces, backed up with styrofoam insulation, under the footboxes, too.

regards,

Jeff Burgy

Tongue Pirate · #10 (**permalink**) 04-16-2003, 04:12 PM

Jeff,
Your thoroughness is quite amazing. That is exactly what I was looking for. Did you do the body work(inner flares)?

Thanks!

cobrajeff · #11 (**permalink**) 04-16-2003, 05:38 PM

No -

I thought this part was within the scope of my bodywork capabilities, but as it worked out, my body & paint guy seemed to prefer that I leave him alone. I described what I wanted, and they did it pretty much did it just like I wanted it.

I did procure and apply the foam rubber to the undersides, and added the aluminum close-out panels in front of and beneath the footboxes.

The painter wouldn't let me near the car until it was time for striping - then he called me in, so I could lay out the nose stripes with "fine-line" tape EXACTLY as I wanted them.

regards,

Jeff