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Blending Arches

Started by skaterava , Mar 05 2010 06:08 PM

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9 replies to this topic

#1 skaterava

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Posted 05 March 2010 - 06:08 PM

I've got Group 2 wides on my Mini at the moment, and some time later this year, it should be going in to be completely resprayed :lol:

but, just to make it look a more professional job, i'd love to have my arches blended in to the bodywork.

I know of the horrors of using filler, so that's obviously out of the question, but how else can i smooth the arches into the bodywork, ready to be resprayed?

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#2 asmith88

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Posted 05 March 2010 - 06:12 PM

i think my last mini had filler smoothing the arches, i never had a problem with it but it had been well done. One of my friends minis had filler to smooth out the wing-scuttle seal, it had a big crack all the way down it.... not well done, you get what you pay for!

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#3 phelan89

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Posted 05 March 2010 - 06:26 PM

i wanted to have my miglia arches blended into the bodywork on mine. i was going to use glass fibre to blend mine, but went off the idea when people told me that eventually it will crack or weaken. i just went for rubber seal and it looks mint. plus sometimes arches lift off and expand off the bodywork due to heat so u may have a problem there too.

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#4 skaterava

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Posted 05 March 2010 - 06:41 PM

But you can't paint the rubber seal, right? the paint would just crack :lol:

There are to be a way of doing this instead of using glass fibre or filler. There was a matte black Mini at the Ace late last year which had its arches blended in brilliantly.

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#5 crazycoleman118

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Posted 05 March 2010 - 06:54 PM

i think there is some sorta expanding filler you can use that is especially for joints and arches, but to be fair most filler seems to crack and go all funny at some point on things like arches because you end up catching them

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#6 phelan89

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Posted 05 March 2010 - 06:54 PM

no lol i dint paint the rubber. i used double glazin rubber so thers just a really small black line between the arch and the body.

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#7 skaterava

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Posted 05 March 2010 - 07:04 PM

no lol i dint paint the rubber. i used double glazin rubber so thers just a really small black line between the arch and the body.

lol but are the arches absolutely flush with the bodywork? I'm looking for a method that will make the arches appear to be part of the body.

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#8 1984mini25

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Posted 05 March 2010 - 07:27 PM

If you mean like i have done to the arches (group 2 narrow) on the 89 Mayfair I’m playing with in the link at the bottom of my sig.

Basically what i did with those is ruffed up the gel coat to remove the shine to the on the arches and the same to the body on the car with an old saw blade to give something for the fiberglass pate to bond to.

Then I stuck them to the mini with p40 fiberglass paste and clamped them in place while it set, as I have chopped mine about a bit so had lost the screw holes.

Then i use more fiberglass paste to blend in the underside of the arches, before using normal fibreglass resin and matting cut into strips to the blend the arches in to the body and then lastly filler to smooth it all out.

So far they seam pretty solid, and I've been picking the front (removable) up buy the arches and they haven't seam to have started to crack.

Edited by 1984mini25, 05 March 2010 - 09:10 PM.

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#9 skaterava

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Posted 05 March 2010 - 07:37 PM

That looks like a good job. I'm just worried i'll do a rubbish job and the fibreglass with crack AFTER i get the car sprayed :lol:

Is this the only method then, apart from machining custom metal arches and welding them on? :lol:

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#10 danie garry

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Posted 06 March 2010 - 11:18 AM

some moulded in arches look good but if u dont like them in the end and want to change them or take 1 off for any reason it will make a mess of everything
i would have said the isopon fibreglass paste stuff would be ideal, it's not massively rough and is easy to use, if u get a goon enough key on the body and arch then there shouldnt be any cracking