help needed bubble archs how to fit them

[lee_capri]

the bubbles came today for mk1

whats the best way of fitting them do you cut the bubbles down or do you cut the car up to fit as i any-hints or the best way please

[RETRO_AL]

ask gary m8 they fibre or steel?

[lee_capri]

whos gary they are fibra

[Guest cortinamad-gonetoo]

counter sink pot rivets and loads of filler wouldnt personally cut the arches down

 

but others may tell you different

 

they look great though good luck fitting them

[lee_capri]

dave, but whos gary

[mossy]

gary is the legend from retro motorsports!

[antz]

gary is the retro motorsport guy.

 

if you ask in his room then he can tel you

[Copey]

they will look awesome!! love bubble mk1s!!

[lee_capri]

now i no who gary is nice one guys il do that now

[Dom]

No idea how to fit them but my mk1 will also be getting the bubble treatment

 

 

Besides how can you argue with that?

[lee_capri]

i no ware you live dom your pic looks sweat

[xpackken]

offer them up see if they fit ok first then this is how i would do it .

 

1 trial fit them using self tappers every inch or 2 .

b. then remove

 

2. key up anywere the fibre glass arch will touch metal with 80 grit paper .

 

3 . using sikaflex smeer alot of this stuff wer the arch touches then place onto wing . try not make to much mess .

 

4. put self tappers in tighten them down this will force exsess sikaflex out of the gaps .

 

 

5. wipe it all clean with panel wipe .

 

6, leave 24hours . important .

 

7. remove self tappers .

 

 

SOLID ........

 

THEN YOUR READY FOR A SKIM OF GLASS AND FILER ..

 

I wont go in to that just yet . tired . send us a pm if ya get stuck fella .

_________________

us economic recessions

[xpackken]

wer did you get those from anyways .

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Honda Odyssey

[Retromotorsport]

Kens hit on the most important part .. remove the fixings ... they will show up as cracks or bubbles later on ..

 

I used to bond with Fibreglass resin though, never tried Sikaflex ... as its flexable wont it move about and crack the filler ????

[mk3tina]

when i fitted bubbles onto my mk3 capri, i stuck the arches on with duck tape, riveted them on every 3 inches, used my orbital sander to go around the edges to somewhat smooth them into the bodywork if you get what i mean, then i whacked a load of fibreglass filler onto them, sanded that down and then bodyfiller, takes about 3 or 4 skins of filler and sanding to get it about right. im not 100% happy with how mine cam out as i should have put more time into sanding them smooth as you can see the filler and some uneven parts, but its a veeeeery long and tiresome process

[xpackken]

hi retro . then the next bit would be to key up with 80grit the arch and panel . give it a light skim of fibreglass . smooth with 80 . then start skiming with filler .

 

the good thing about the sikaflex is its flexable but not to flexible if you know what i mean .and its very very very styrong if used prperly .

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lost theories

[Rick]

offer them up see if they fit ok first then this is how i would do it .

 

1 trial fit them using self tappers every inch or 2 .

b. then remove

 

2. key up anywere the fibre glass arch will touch metal with 80 grit paper .

 

3 . using sikaflex smeer alot of this stuff wer the arch touches then place onto wing . try not make to much mess .

 

4. put self tappers in tighten them down this will force exsess sikaflex out of the gaps .

 

 

5. wipe it all clean with panel wipe .

 

6, leave 24hours . important .

 

7. remove self tappers .

 

 

SOLID ........

 

THEN YOUR READY FOR A SKIM OF GLASS AND FILER ..

 

I wont go in to that just yet . tired . send us a pm if ya get stuck fella .

 

 

erm....

 

sorry to point this out but i doubt that would last 5 mins. sikaflex alone will not hold them on, drill a lot of 1/8 holes around the edge, slightly countersunk and rivet them on, then go for your filler which will coincidently fill your countersunk rivets

[Retromotorsport]

Rick, if you leave the rivets in then they will react with the steel and push out as they swell ... also as the panel moves (heat and cold) the rivets will cause a stress point, and crack any filler over them.

 

My old bubbles took a hard knock that smashed the arch lip until the tyre took the crunch, and the outer edge (bonded to the shell with Resin) never cracked at all.

[Rick]

its a good discussion point really.

 

i suppose there are a few methods of doing it, and certain aspects to consider after fitting, obviously heat and cold are going to cause problems.

 

on my arches i used rivets every 10 mm or so to even out the stress put upon them as you just said.

 

resin sounds like a good idea though as filler is not quite solid enough

 

on the whole fibreglass arches arent going to be as good as steel and wont last half as long but im afraid thats all i could afford

[jpayne]

Gary,

depends on whick sikaflex you get, most are flexible to some degree. I would narrow the fiberglass arch down so the bonding surface is only 20-30 mm and remove all fixings. I ground the back face of the fibreglass a little to thin the edge down as well as privide a nice rough surface to bond the adhesive too.

Something like this!

screws were removed, Car has leant on others through corners and sikaflex and filler doing fine so far.

If you dont cut the edge of the arch your filling will expand too far into the metal panel?

 

 

Cheers,

JP

[xpackken]

ive held xpack kits on with sikaflex mate . it was used for putting motorhomes together . but then as i said use fibreglass over the top for just exstra strength . you cant just fill up a seem with filler thats just asking for trouble .

 

lkeaving the rivs in or not ios up to you but i wouldnt .

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recessions in the us

[spooner]

the way i've done it for the last 8 years

 

when fitting the arch's,offer up the wings and mark the shell where arch fits then baremetal the shell where the marks are about 4 inch's wide.stick the arch's on with glassfibre paste like p40 and fix with rivits every 3" when cured remove the rivets and lay some glassfidre tissue (not mat,to thick) on top.then leave the whole lot two weeks to cure(stops the glass sucking the life out the filler and makeing it sink).before filling.

 

if u fill over the rivets,the filler will 'dimple'where the rivits are after a while.

 

stikaflex is ok for add on panels (like the saxo boys) but not for x packs,bubbles.

[mk2 matt]

I put an xpack on my daughters escort some of you might remember it (Hixeys orange one)

It was done the way xpackken said except i used the bodyfilla that has fiberglass strands in it for the first coat to stop the join cracking then used normal filla after that

As everyone has said if you use rivets after a time thay will show through

The xpack was put on the car 7 years ago and has never showen signs of cracking

 

matts dad

[xpackken]

wrong mate sika flex is the doggs have you tried it to be so sure . or mate use tiger seal

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Honda RVF750 RC45

[Rick]

sikaflex is good stuff

 

i dont thinkn my rivets will dimple, theyve had 18 months to show through and still havent, if theres a slight indent the final prep will remove it