Planning on making seamless fender vents. Also planning on cutting a hole in the car for the vents. What would be the best tool for cutting the hole? What adhesives would work for attaching the plastic fender vent to the metal. Any other special tips or tricks?

 

Hello, are you talking about the 3rd gen firebird lower fender vents? If so, I installed aset set on my old 84 Z28 (91-92 Z28 clone). I actually rivetted them in...so they couldn't move....then just did the body work. I used a cutoff wheel to cut the portion of metal out.

Here is a picture (body work process)

 

They are not the 3rd gen firebird fender vents but they are plastic. I'd have to use adhesive and sand it down instead of bondo, right? I haven't done too much body work, just shaved antenna so far...

 

I'd have to see them....using any kind of glue...to hold a body part on...then using body filler to smooth...doesn't sound like such a good idea. The body filler would eventually crack since the piece wouldn't be permanent...like welding or something like that...

 

How did you do the rivets?

 

sorry for the late reply... I was not able to get on TGO for a while...

I have alot on my site, but the pics are down... let me take a look and see if i can get them back up tonight!

is just my computer, or is my icon all messed up

 

Here is the link to my site

Read over the page and see if you have any questions...

Most of my pics are down on my sites due to Car domain reformating their site. The pics are there, just the codes I entered are now wrong. So I have to go back page by page.

Here are a few pics...

 

Huh, how long have they been that way? I’ve done a few things similarly and have always eventually (after a few years) ended up with cracks around them (even one that was fiberglassed over the joints afterwards), but I’ve wondered if it was related to the way it was done or other causes (one got exposed to water while it was still in primer, another, well the car was in an accident and I was wondering if the impact to the pannel, even though it was on the other side of it could have cracked it).

If you’re _really **** retentive_ can you see the body work around them or does it look like one piece? (I’ve had something similar that looked perfect in bright light and dim light, but right at sunset it always looked a little wonky, I always suspected that it was the temperature change and the different materials expanding/contracting at different rates)

A friend of mine has the fender vents on his 2nd gen molded in with just some fiberglass/resin and they’ve been like that for over a year and still look really good.

 

I have had them like this for a year. I was ok till I disconected one side of the sway bar for weight transfer at the drag strip. Well the fender flexed and I got cracking on the disconected side. the other looks perfect.

until that happened it looked seemless... no waves at all!

 

Redraif, the fender vents look amazing! and that's a great step-by-step you have on your cardomain page. Way to go! Do you have a pic of what the one that separated a little looks like? I want to do this, but I also will go to the track several times a year.

 

Thanks!
No pics currently, but I will get a pic in the next day or 2. Been working on relocating the battery and cleaning up the sound system!Thanks!

 

Yeah, it really sucked because it looked great on both sides until that day at the dragstrip. We'll redo it soon, but I want to try Fusor next time. I guess it shows how much flex is really in the front ends of these cars, even with a Wonderbar and a strut tower brace. FWIW, I think the 3M stuff would have been fine otherwise, and I wouldn't hesistate to use it in a non-stressed area.

 

thanks for the advice. I've decided there is too much risk, kind of like the seamless bumper idea. Anyway, either going to keep it stock, weld in a custom-made metal vent and be seamless that way, or make a custom one out of fiberglass and keep the seam.