Fender Flares

[HomeRacingWorld]

After research I tried adding flares to the Buick.

I decided to add some flares to the rear.



I show these using the Evergreen Styrene. HOWEVER, if you don't have a hobby shop nearby, check your local Dollar store/Wal-Mart. Check out the FOR SALE/GARAGE sale signs. They are usually $1.00 and work perfectly.

I trimmed and tacked in the flare bases with superglue. Superglue sands easily so not to worry about a little excess.



The excess I will trim away with a cut off disc later when the resin dries.



That's right, RESIN. I will flow a very small batch of resin over the flare bases and allow it to flow over and drip off. I like using the Smooth On product for this as it just sands smoother to me.

I just mix with a toothpick and then take the toothpick and drip the resin on the seams.



After drying I sanded with 600 grit paper to start shaping. The first attempt seemed to come out pretty well.



This shows how I trimmed the excess away.

I sanded and shaped them with a Dremel sanding barrel. I literally ended up removing almost all the original flaring base. That's ok though. The resin created the shape I wanted and those strips were just a base for the resin anyway.



Not bad. Little more feathering with some sandpaper to do.



The amount of flare was set to almost sit flush with the 2 1/2 width. Close enough.



The Smooth On brand resin seems to work a little better when it comes to body filler. This is just my opinion of course.

Hope it helps.

[TsgtRet]

Excellent tutorial, Harry. I have done flares in a similar manner but I used superglue as "build up" agent.

[Xr4ti]

Thanks for the walk-thru, Harry. I've got a Ferrari Berlinetta that needs the same treatment.
Where'd you buy the resin? Is it a hobby store item or a hardware store product?
Can't wait to get started!

[HomeRacingWorld]

[Beast Lee]

Brilliant with the resin Harry...!!!

[waaytoomuchintothis]

As someone who is hopelessly incompetent with body putty, this looks good to me. One question... How long will the resin elements stay fresh and usable after opening? If it stays fresh a long time, this could be a very good thing to have on the shelf.

[Broman62]

Quality work Harry and another awesome forum :text-bravo: :text-bravo:

[dge467]

That came out great! Thanks for the how to!

[HomeRacingWorld]

Thanks guys.

Not sure on shelf life. I have had my 2 bottles for about 2 months now after opening.

[munter]

Looks good, Harry.
I have seen it done by adding vertical pieces added on outwards and then sanded and filled and sanded...never done it myself though.

[CrockettNZ]

I have used the same method harry used here but useputty
have also used the external layering method
a third method i sometimes use is the heating the plastic and shaping with a back of a teaspoon
I use this method when I only need to flare the guards a small amount and I have done that on my brass-am challenge car

[VTECFOUR]

Resin? Never thought of using this, so a good alternative to my go-to material, 5 minute two-part epoxy.



Rather than styrene, I just use masking tape to be the platform for the filler and periodically push the supporting tape to my desired wheel arch shape while the epoxy quickly cures. The tape is easily removed as it doesn't stick to the epoxy.

Think Harry`s method will reduce the amount of finish work compared to using epoxy. The resin will flow by gravity more so, producing a more finished shape.

Good new how-to section.

Dan

[dreinecke]

The resin drip trick was taught to me years ago when I first learned to cast and I use it for most major body work at some point. Ease of sanding as Harry pointed out is the reason. Bondo, etc works very well, but takes a bit longer to sand and I'm just lazy frankly - er, I'm almost always pouring resin, so I'll have some extra for this kind of work, I mean.

Another easy method and cheaper if you don't want to invest in resin is using paint. A thicker paint can flow easily down the gap between the flare and body and give you a nice transition. A few layers built up can do a great job on smaller jobs, whereas a big or thick flare needs something like resin or putty sometimes.

Another tip to getting the shape on on flares or when hogging out wheel wells is to make a template. I've used this one for 12 years now. It is simply a piece of styrene with paper glued to it and markings for the bottom of the body and the center of the wheel well.



You can then make a tool out of a large dowel or any cylindrical shape to glue sandpaper to that allows you to sand both sides' wheelwells at the same time in the hopes of maintaining symmetry. I use the Dremel barrel drum for rough shaping and my tool for the final work. I find it helps me do a better job by hand than at high RPM where I'm prone to screwing things up. Ask me how I know about that...

[Ky.Slot Racer]

Which method did you use for the flares on the chevelle dave..it really turned out great?

[dreinecke]

Bondo...lots of Bondo. Had to radically change the slab sides. I used the same basic flares Harry shows to do the arches.