welding flares, longhood RSR, alignment questions.

[Zeke]

You own the HIE!

[rennch]

I've got one flare tacked on...woo hoo!

[rennch]

These numbers are *nails* too. Perfect.

[Jeff Alton]

Keith,

Good on you, most shops would not offer up the "trade secrets"!

Nicely done, shows the class of the operation you guys run. That is fantastic info to post. Thanks.

Now, are you cutting the old flair away as you tack your way along the new one? Did I read that right?

Cheers

[rennch]

Guys. She has hips. Pics in a minute.

Keith,

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

And, if I haven't said it enough, Thank you!

[rennch]

Ok.

So, here's the deal. Those numbers were GREAT. I was really concerned about how I was going to fit these things. Once you take the first measurement from the taillight to the rear edge of the flare, you kinda look at it and wonder if it's going to be right. Then you do that second measurement and all of a sudden, the flare wraps gracefully around the wheel. It's awesome.

Another thing. *Definitely* a two person job. I can't imagine doing it solo, and at the very least having another set of eyeballs on the car.

I got the flares tacked on. Questions in a moment, pics now.

The tacked passenger side. How's the fit look?



Rear 3/4 angle:




Full car view:



Left side fitted. Grinding the edge for a clean welding surface with help of superman Zach Detra. You should see this guy's paint on his guards red 79. Like glass.



The procedure starts on the other side. Small cut with cutting wheel, just enough so there's room for a body saw, which is very thin. Cut 6-10" to the right and left, and start tacking from the middle outward. We found it really helpful to have one person eyeballing the sheet metal to guide the other guy as to where he should weld. I'd then push the metal together so it was flush and Zach would tack it. Then I'd grab the body saw and saw a few more inches on each side, and the process would repeat itself. I also had a body hammer handy to hammer on hot welds, thus saving some grinding time in the near future.



Here's a close up of how we would do it. I'd cut the overlapped flare just a sliver so we had a perfectly flush mount. The small chunk of metal would just peel away at the top. In this case, I'm cutting to the right and spotting as there was enough room. Every 4-5 inches or so.





It got dark, but I have a couple of pics of the final product. I actually have a teeny bit more to weld tomorrow morning on the driver's side, but we ran out of light.

[rennch]

Here are a couple of pics from the dark:

Her hips, at night:

And a front 3/4 view in the dark.

Thanks again Keith, and all.



And, in case you're reading this for the first time, this was the FIRST time I'd ever done anything like this. In fact, this whole car build is completely off the cuff, and I have no idea what the h3ll I'm doing here. So, guys like Keith and Milt and all the other folks that have chimed in have been a huge, instrumental help. Thanks so much. Beer's on me.

[rennch]

Ok, next questions:

1. What's my next move? My thought was to continue to tack weld in between the current tacks, and alternate front/top/rear to keep it cool'ish.

At what point do I start stitch welding it?

2. Ok, so now I have a welded seam on each flare, and I've done some grinding to smooth it out. How do I finish it, especially on the inside? I was going to use some POR-15 or something, or some kind of seam sealer. What do you guys do?

3. Now it's ground and the inside is finished...do I immediately start doing the bodywork and get it in primer, or is it ok to sit for a while while I do the front flares and my rockers?

Thanks.

[cool5]

Hey Michael, It sure looks like we were doing the same thing at about the same time... First time for me with the flares too, and without the help of this board I'd be in full on trial and error mode. I read a couple of threads on installing flares, looked at a few pics of the procedure, and then jumped in. The only thing I would do differently is to do as you did and have another set of hands to help hold things while tacking. Keep up the good work, with periodic updates and I'll try to do the same. Oh and thumbs up on the black wheels.

Cheers,
Matt

[eimkeith]

Originally posted by Jeff Alton
Keith,

Now, are you cutting the old flair away as you tack your way along the new one? Did I read that right?

Cheers

Jeff, that's correct.

BTW, I have some wheel dimension/offset info to start feeding you...

[wesayso]

Brilliant info in this thread! Printed to pdf for storage... and I don't even plan to get me some 930 fender flares.

I am really curious how the transition from 930 to RSR will work out. Great work and great info! Keep those pictures comming! That will be a beautiful ride I'm sure.

P.S. emptyo, great work on those flares too! Not bad fitting work for a first time. It helps a lot to have those numbers I guess. I have read many threads about fitting but right here is where you start to learn

[rennch]

Yes, those numbers were really key. I'm still a total rookie welder though. Anyone care to chime in about the tacking/stitch welding question a couple of posts up? I'm about to get started again...

[eimkeith]

oh, sorry - don't stitch more than 1/2" at a time, I quench with a wet rag while working the next stitch about 6-8" away. Don't let anything get too hot.

You will end up with a completely welded seam. The underside should be fine - your welds will penetrate all the way through. You can dress the underside, but it usually isn't necessary.

[rennch]

Awesome.

Almost done with each side now. I've got the driver's side done. I'm basically hammering and dollying until each surface is even, tacking away until I get about 1/2" of space, then doing a seam weld from tack to tack.

My next question: What grinder/grinding method do you all use to take the welds down? I have one of those flapper discs (Looks like a bunch of pieces of sandpaper overlapping each other) on my 4.5" grinder. Is that the move, or should I get something else?

My welds are kinda pigeon poop, but I can probably touch up anything I messed up.

[eimkeith]

the flapper disc generates a lot of heat - be careful with that. I use it to take down the largest welds, then smooth with a thin green abrasive disc. The old-school grinding discs work ok also, with less heat. You CAN warp with the flapper (ask me how I know).

[rennch]

Sorry...I'm a total neophyte. What are "old school grinding discs"?

[Jim_Amsterdam]

[rennch]

Whew! That took a while. I have a bit of warpage, but I assumed I would. Overall the lines look really straight. My welds pretty much suck, but they appear to have penetrated pretty well. The flare feels very, very, solid to the body now.

I'm still a little confused as to what I should use to grind it down at this point though, and how to finish the backside.

Here are some pics:










My awesome welds. Jealous?

[SoCal70RSR]

Originally posted by emptyo
I'm still a little confused as to what I should use to grind it down at this point though, and how to finish the backside.

Here is what mine looked like after the grind-down process. I wasn't around to see what was used but was happy to see that very little body filler would be needed.

[rennch]

Fernando...that was metal, or fiberglass?