Blending in grp bodykit

[The cape]

Hi Guys,

Can anyone advise the best way of blending in a fibreglass bodykit to the body.??

I'm fitting an extensive fibreglass bodykit and want to blend in the edges to the original car panels. For example, flared arches moulded into the wing and rear bumper seamlessly into the 3/4 panel.

What's the best long lasting way to do this?? I've heard a lot about bondo/filler cracking and also heard of fibreglassing it in? I don't want it falling apart after a few months!

What's the best quality/strongest method which will have the best finish & longevity?? (& how is it done?!)

Charlie.

(Sorry if this has already been covered)

[andygtt]

the reason people are not falling over each other to reply is that its extremely hard to succesfully and permanently blend glass fibre panels to steel ones.... they almost always cause a crack somewhere between the joints. worse if the panel is subject to vibration or a structural part of the car that may twist in corners (such as the tub).

Many many many years ago when I had a GF vent put in a steel bonnet we glued the part in with sicoflex, this is slightly flexible, then the paint had a flex additive in.... this remained crack free for a few years until I rolled the car at croft and some hairlines appeared... but in truth its not what id recommend.

IMO you need to make a feature of the join itself so they look like they are supposed to be separate panels, then paint the panels separately.

[jimbob82]

andygtt said:

IMO you need to make a feature of the join itself so they look like they are supposed to be separate panels, then paint the panels separately.

THIS ^^

Unless your prepared to do the blending again when it cracks the above is the best solution.

Or you could bond them onto the quarter but allow some of the bonder to squeeze out around the join then trim it off with a razor blade to make it "look" like an arch that is bolted from the inside. this way you don't have to rip all the filler out and redo it if it cracks. However trying to get the bonder off is like trying to pin a turd to a wall, it can be done but it takes a lot of patience.