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Flappy Fenders

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rlandrum

rlandrum

Jedi Trainee
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We managed to get the TR3A fiberglass rear fenders installed last weekend. We noticed that the passenger side lower edge hangs out about 3 inches further than we'd really like. The driver side seems fine.

We're aware that the original metal fenders were supported on the lower edge with a brace that connects to mounts on the frame. We have the frame side mounts, but there's nothing on the fiberglass fenders that we could use to attach a brace.

We've come up with several alternatives. We could drill a small 1/8th inch hole through the fiberglass fender and run a threaded rod through it to the bracket on the frame. We'd cap the rod with some sort of decorative nut and a large fender washer on both the front and back sides of the fender to prevent it from pulling through.

We might also clean off the undercoating from the back side of the fender and use some new fiberglass to 'glass-in' a nut, which would then connect to a rod that would mount to the frame bracket.

I'm in favor of the first solution, while my Father is in favor of the latter. I suspect the latter solution will be time-consuming and messy and may not be sufficiently strong to support the fender. The first solution is in-elegant, and may not be strong enough.

Are there any other alternatives? Suggestions welcome.
 
Weld or braze the nut to a 1 or 1.5 inch square piece of sheet metal. Properly clean and prepare the two surfaces then epoxy it onto the back side of the fender. Over that, apply fiberglass cloth and epoxy, and you are done. A lazy afternoon job at best.
 
As I recall, for mine we used JB Weld to bond a hardware store angle bracket to the inside of the fender, then put a layer of fiberglass cloth and JB Weld over it. Work only took a few minutes, but I let the JB Weld harden overnight before assembling. Ray's solution sounds stronger, though.

You don't want to leave that edge unsupported, even if it looks OK. It will flap in the wind and eventually break the 'glass.
 
Fiberglass is easy to work with. You can pickup a kit that contains cloth and resin pretty much anywhere that sells paint. You could even make a styrofoam block from packaging, push in a threaded insert and glass it to the inside of the fender. I'd use a couple of layers, set diagonally from each other, overlap the fender by a couple of inches on all sides. Let it dry, cover with paint or undercoat, done. My choice is #2.

edit : just thinking more - be sure to support the threaded insert with something in addition to the styrofoam. A little resin to bond it or something.
 
I'd use a small fiberglass patch kit to attach 90deg angle brackets to the backside of the fenders, then just bolt the support bar to the tab sticking out.
That would be very similar to the original steel fenders.
 
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