Fiberglass Crack, Oh no! Options

[celicaboy04]

Howdy boys (and girls, specialy the one with the red~celi *panting*)

Anywho, I am a poor college student up in Santa Rosa, CA and someone hit the front end of my Celi last week turning right into my lane from an adjacent street (I had the right of way thank you).

Anyways, my front fender got destroyed so I bought a pair of the z3 fenders off of cyber best buy. The fenders are great all except for one crack in one of them. I could send this back of course, but I think its a simple fix, and its not in a visible area either. It is at an unvisible location from the exterior, but it is close enough to the mounting points that it risks breaking off from the vibrations.

I have NEVER done fiberglass work and I am curious as to what I should do to fix the crack.

For those of you pimpstas here at 6gc that do all your body work, please enlighten me on the manner of which I should pursue fixing this crack (and please be specific with amounts of material - as much as can be anyways).

Thanks guys!

Will

This post has been edited by celicaboy04: Nov 17, 2004 - 8:18 PM

[Supersprynt]

Drill small holes on either end of the crack and fill in with fiberglass & resin.

[Digndoug]

I would say simple, go to a boat-yard if possible, if not home-depot.. get some resign, a small container will do. it explains how to mix it on it. then coat a a layer over where it cracked.. and that should do. its a simple fix, you could do more, but there no real reason, and thats simple enough you could do.

[Supersprynt]

you MUST drill holes to stop the crack from getting bigger, this isnt an option this is the right way to do it.

[Digndoug]

Ok, so your saying the tip's of the crack, or the point? iv only worked on crack's on boats, but thats a lot more work. I would still have sent it back on there dime.. cause theres not reason for you to spend your time, and money.. unless you really need them to drive your car.

[Supersprynt]

Yeah just drill the ends - if its a tear then drill the one end, its just so that the crack cant go any further. Even with it covered it can still get bigger.

The fender is fiberglass or metal?

[celicaboy04]

The fender is fiberglass

And I WOULD send it back on their dime but CyberBestBuy's policy is that its the Shipping Company's fault and UPS says there is no damage to the box - which there is not - so there is no proof of their fault. Personally, I think CyberBestBuy sent me a ishy part and knew it would be a battle to get my money back...So, rather than mess with them, I just want to get it fixed and done.

Maybe if I explain where the crack is that might inform you more of what I should do.

Those of you who have purchased the Z3 Fiberglass fender, on the driver side fender at one of the rear mounting points (the side that you can see when you open your door), there is a crack at the base of the bracket and the fender. It is RIGHT where the two meet so it is a crucial location. The crack is not deep, only hairline, and there is a slight chip, however, the hairline fracture extends nearly all the way across (approx 3 inches or so). The bracket does not appear to be weakened but I know if it is not reinforced it will snap completely. I so wish I had a digital camera to help the situation...

[Digndoug]

If ya cant do what super said. buy the smallist amount of fiberglass cloth. Then make a strip, sand down where its cracked.. then lay over the cloth, then coat in resign.

[Supersprynt]

What do u mean if u cant do what i said, all im saying is do what ur saying except drill a small hole first, takes 2 seconds.

Personally I'd be scared to drive around with fiberglass fenders, oof thats one bad rock away from disaster.

[celicaboy04]

I thought about that but so many people here at 6gc have them and seem very happy with their quality and Ive not seen any issues spoken of so far...

Once I get home this evening I will drill two small holes, one on each end, do a light coat of resin around the base, place the fiberlgass-mesh and do another thicker coat of resin on top. I think that should suffice.

This post has been edited by celicaboy04: Nov 19, 2004 - 12:56 PM

[Supersprynt]

Yeah remember that u have to sand it down too, but it should be a very good bond.

[celicaboy04]

PS

I love your car Sprynt - Very nice ... I hope mine will come along nicely after the repairs when I get the kit

[Supersprynt]

Thank you - its under the knife right now.

[Verde97]

Ok back from the dead...

I have this problem as well...so the things that sprynt and digndoug said will suffice? I have no experience with fiberglass and this crack in my front lip is driving me crazy. Comments on fixing fiberglass? Please help.

[playr158]

erik, there really isn't any safty issue with fiberglass fenders VS stock metal fenders (the fiberglass is actually harder then the metal ones, aka the metal will bend in and so forth waaay before the fiberglass ones break)

but when fixing the fiberglass cracks just make sure you sand down the surface and mix the appropriate amounts of resin vs hardener,

use fiberglass CLOTH (it looks like a basket weave) and this lays much easier and cleaner...

cheapo paint brush and just "paint" the resin onto the cloth(which is on the cracked surface) just enough to penatrate the cloth (it will go from white to translucent) then let completely harden your pretty much set

but if you need it on the outside of a piece...then you'll want to sand and apply a small amount of bondo and resand smooth primer and paint

[boosted6g]

Ok back from the dead...

I have this problem as well...so the things that sprynt and digndoug said will suffice? I have no experience with fiberglass and this crack in my front lip is driving me crazy. Comments on fixing fiberglass? Please help.

Make sure you lay a sheet of FG behind the crack then apply resin/bondo.

[Verde97]

Lol thanks. I feel bad because I just bought it from you a few months ago and I already have a crack in it. You rock Clear.

Mike