DIY - Fender flare repair

[steveo27]

Broken, cracked, destroyed flares? Dont throw them away. Fix them! Thats what i started on today...





TOOLS -

- Soldering iron or plastic welder
- knife or other cutting utensile
- filler of your choice
- texture paint of your choice



Step 1. start with this -






ugh. dont mind the rust, this is what happens when you have buddy do you a favor and paint something for ya

anways, so instead of replacing the flare. i decided to fix it. heres how ya do it!

step 2. find donor flare. i have a buncha early (pre '87) flares sitting around that im NEVER gonna use, so i chopped up one of em.



step 3. made a filler piece -



step 4. test fit filler piece -


i prefer doing this while its still on the car to get a better feel for the over all shape and contour.

step 5. traced the filler piece onto the busted flare -





step 6. cut it out bad section with the utility knife -





step 7. test fit the filler piece and trim accordingly -



step 8. tacked it in using soldering iron or plastic welder -



step 9. finish weld it -



step 10. cut filler pieces from donor flare -



step 11. fill it in using donor pieces -




step 12. sanded it down into shape -



step 13. slapped some filler of choice on it -



step 14. let it dry

(no pics)

step 15 - sand



step 16. sand some more -



step 17. more sanding -



once you get it roughed in, you can pull it off and finish sanding it and paint it.

step 18. add another layer of filler & sand -





step 19. prime -












Step 20. paint -







I used this -



step 21. let dry -







step 22. install and enjoy -

[ridindeuces]

Know anybody with 16V/G60 flares?

[ridindeuces]

oh and so far so good, whats your paint of choice btw?

[steveo27]

i usually use bed liner on all my plastics, but i think i may switch it up and try some SEM texture paint on all the plastics for this year.

[under the radar]

how did that flare get damaged on top like that in the first place?

[shwak23]

This is rad. Should be stickied in the DIY.

[steveo27]

how did that flare get damaged on top like that in the first place?

going down the highway, the flare folded under and rubbed against the wheel/tire.


UPDATE -

worked some more on them today.

heres where i left off yesterday -


fix & finish this using the same technique as above (again, while on the car so it fits 100%)








pulled off and finished plastic welding the rest of the damage -

[PDXGTI8V 2.0]

awesome work!

[steveo27]

thanks gramps.


its all done and mounted up. ill post the rest of the DIY later on tonight and condense it all into the first post

[LO-vw]

i helped!

[steveo27]

you stood there ya noob!

after you left, i polished one of the beebs. took 3 hours

[LO-vw]

hey now, i held the flair while you were plastic welding a tiny piece on.
Don't belittle my experience

3 hours.... ya almost rather pull the trans again

[88Jetta350]

Great write up..

Hey...wait a minute, I could use those pre-'87 flares....

[a2lowvw]

this place sucks bro

[steveo27]

you suck


DIY FINISHED AND UPDATED

[Greg_J]

looks like ****

[thtninjather]

To the DIY, To ruining another fender flare

[bcarlo]

Hey, man, awesome writeup. I been thinking about extending my sideskirts, running g60 front arches on the rears. This inspired me

[Phreshnphunky]

This DIY is truly inspiring.

now I need to stock up on junkyard fender flares.

[steveo27]

[PDXGTI8V 2.0]

Someone poke the Hamster, this needs to be a sticky

[A2jettafreak]

Someone poke the Hamster, this needs to be a sticky

damn steve might be best thread you ever posted on here... someone can actually benifit. technically you can make your own g60 flares this way!!

[LO-vw]

he has already made one that is about as wide or wider then a g60.
but his rims are too tiny to use them

[Brodubb]

I have to repair some g60's I picked up for cheap, just wondering what filler you used? Ive been looking for some stuff that will have good adhesion to plastic but I cant locate anything. Thanks!

[steveo27]

I used some off name body filler.

If I were to do it again and want it to be 100%, I'd use Rage Polyflex

[Brodubb]

Alright thanks! Did the filler you used ever crack or anything over time?

[Nash_TDI]

Great write up!

[steveo27]

Alright thanks! Did the filler you used ever crack or anything over time?

I had no issues with it. As long as you use the right filler and apply it properly, you should be fine

[Project_2501]

Great write up..

Hey...wait a minute, I could use those pre-'87 flares....

Haha, that's what I'm saying.

Ah well, worst case Raderwerks had a brand new set for $150 a while back. Don't know if they're still available though.

[Vee-DubbVR6]

Nice writeup!

[ca180]

Hey Steveo, sorry to bump this... but I got a question.

Any good advice plastic welding a lip? There are two cracks in the Votex lip that skywalker38 set me up with and everytime I move the damn thing the cracks open back up. I'm not sure that I'm getting good penetration because it's so thick, but I've been going at it for a while. .. ... .... .....

Not sure how I can reinforce it at this point, but I'd love some tips on making this stuff stick!

[prasina2]

Hey Steveo, sorry to bump this... but I got a question.

Any good advice plastic welding a lip? There are two cracks in the Votex lip that skywalker38 set me up with and everytime I move the damn thing the cracks open back up. I'm not sure that I'm getting good penetration because it's so thick, but I've been going at it for a while. .. ... .... .....

Not sure how I can reinforce it at this point, but I'd love some tips on making this stuff stick!

get some fine stainless or aluminum mesh and melt it into your repair with some extra filler material

[steveo27]

i give that a try, or even back it with some kind of panel bond from behind

[Op-Ivy]

Nice writeup! I was just going to say this is only possible if you have smoothed flares. Good touch with the rustoleum!

[allklrnoflr]

thanks, great fix