Do you have Front and/or Rear fiberglass widebody fenders?

[MeanGreenS13]

Okay... so I am not a fan of fiberglass, but it seems it will be the best way to do my car. So that being said I have a question forPEOPLE WHO HAVE HAD Fiberglass front fenders and MOLDED rear over fenders installed for an extended period of time.

FRONT: have you had any structure problems where it attaches to the upper frame rail, and do you have any problems with cracking where it attaches to the front bumper, or does that stay pretty sturdy?

REAR: (this only applies to those who have these molded in clean) Do you have any major flex in the wheel opening itself, and around the edges of the actual panel where it has been molded in, do you have any cracking in the paint/filler?

I plan to use 3M panel bonding adhesive in order to bond the fiberglass to the car properly, however I also plan to lay 3 thin layers of fiberglass resin on the inside of the panel, in order to further strengthen the piece.

Thanks Guys!

Phil

[chaosli]

i filled the gap with fome and seam selled the fome made it hard and even wider

[darens13]

made it hard and even wider

wat?

[MeanGreenS13]

made it hard and even wider

wat?

+1 What are you talking about bro... re read my OP

[darens13]

like spray foam in the can maybe? i dont think thats something i would put on my car.

[krash]

IB4 splintercell.

That spray foam stuff apparently does keep things a little less rattley.

[MeanGreenS13]

spray foam also holds water... water = rust eventually... but back to topic... maybe I wasn't clear in asking how I asked?

People with Front widefenders, do you have issues with the fiberglass cracking where it bolts to the car, and bolts to the front bumper

People with MOLDED Rear widefenders, do you have issues with cracking where it's been molded in?


I am not concerned with the flex too much in the center of the wheel well... I am going to be extending my wheel tub out and molding it to the quarter from the inside. I only care about the above two questions mostly.

[EnjoiNismo]

Front: No cracks and it is sturdy as long as you don't hit something.
Rear: molded in, eventually it shows slight cracks where it was molded mainly just in the paint.

[MeanGreenS13]

sounds good but keep the info coming guys, i want to hear real experiences before I buy these things.

[NismoRTuneS13]

from expirience, ive had a full Origin kit, and i never had a problem. If you install a kit properly, it will last longer. Ive seen kits installed with screws and the fiberglass will crack around the screws thus causing chips and eventually pieces of the kit will break off. You are always going to develop stress cracks no matter what, your car is constantly flexing due to body roll. Molded rear over fenders will begin to show stress cracks where bondo or fiberglass resin is used. IMO the best way to install a kit is to use rivets and to use the least amount of fiberglass resin as possible.

[MeanGreenS13]

I am not a fan of the riveted look. I don't know how most people on here have bonded theirs on, but as I said, I plan to use 3m panel bonding adhesive. When I worked in the body shop, we actually use to use it to GLUE panels on cars without welding... It's strong stuff and once it's hard, its near impossible to crack. I was planning to use it not only to mold the panel to the car, but also do a rough fill around the edges of the panel on the rears. I am also going to go ahead and extend my wheel tubs out, meet them up to the quarter panel inside and trace a line, then fabricate a lip that i can rivet and bond the quarter panel to the wheel tub from inside the wheel well with so that there will be minimal flex and reduce the chance of cracking overall.

[martins_240sx]

I have had mine molded on 3 diferent times. every time they have cracked. when I install my origin ones Im going to just rivet them on.

[MeanGreenS13]

See, 3 times but how did you bond it to the car? was the wheel arch braced? were the panels re enforced. All things I am trying to factor in.

[martins_240sx]

First time it was just rivets and bondo= cracked 6 weeks later. 2nd time it was still riveted and i used kitty hair (bondo and fiberglass) and i injected foam in between the stock and overfender= cracked a few days later. 3rd time i took it to get proffesionally done. they removed and installed= came back from deployment and was cracked(7months)

[MeanGreenS13]

no matter how tight it seems like it's on with rivets, that entire panel still will move. Was it braced from underneath at all? as you are going down the road, hitting bumps, that whole thing is flexing and moving around, even more so with the rivets. Bondo and Fiberglass is also the wrong way. Fiberglass isnt going to bond to metal and bondo is just a filler that if not applied on a proper surface, it will crack or bubble.

Not sure how the "professionals" installed it so I can not speak to you about that one.

Has anyone had experoience with them actually being bonded with 3M Panel Bond or Vette Panel Adhesive?

[martins_240sx]

they installed it with rivets and panel bond. also for the bracing the entire pocket was filled with expanding foam..it does not flex at all sounds solid when you knock on it. and just as you said my inner stock fender was pulled to match the overfender. they told me the same thing you said...the chassis is going to flex and nomatter how you look at it eventually it is going to crack since fiberglass does not adhere well to metal and bondo doesnt have the structural rigidity needed...

allthough on a side note the marine corps uses this glue that is an epoxy with glass beads mixed into it. We use it mostly for our weapons systems when they are cracked or damaged. anyways my buddy is an armorer and he got his hands on enough to glue his fenders on...they have not cracked and his car is a truck slut been 3 years now. you can buy this at marine stores (boat store not usmc) it is very expensive 20 bucks for a few onces. he actually used it as a glue and as a filler to mold them to the chassis...easily hundreds of dollars worth of this stuff per side. When i went to look into this stuff the boat store didnt even have enough in stock for half of 1 fender.

[MeanGreenS13]

do you know what it's called? I will use it if it works that well. I dont care about it's cost at all.. will be worth it.

[martins_240sx]

not sure..just find a marine boat store i believe its in a black package...glass beads in it. if i find myself next to the store ill run in a get the name

[MeanGreenS13]

let me know for sure if you do! I have the 13 put away because its been snowy and I dont want salt on the car since its rust free, so I am temporarily carless.