Alright guys, here we go with the fix for the broken tab on the backside of the quarter panel extension.
It’s pretty simple really, it just consists of making a steel bracket/tab assembly and panel bonding it to the backside of the extension. I initially considered welding a tab to the existing bracket and bonding it on that way, but I like the alternative that I came up with better.
By making a separate tab and bonding it to the backside, it allows me to rivet the bracket on like stock, and still allows for a small amount of adjustment as you can swivel the bracket a bit at the rivet point.
Here’s how I went about it.
First of all, I made a small template out of cardboard for the flat section that will sit on the inside of the extension.
Next I made a second template for the part of the tab that gets attached to the bracket.
I then laid the templates out on a piece of sheetmetal according to how they need to be arranged.
After tracing around the edges:
The line in the center will be my bend line, this will be one piece when it’s
done.
Next I cut out the piece and gave it the bend in the center. This is roughly where it’s going to sit.
The upper part of the newly made tab was a bit too wide to sit inside the bracket like it’s supposed to, so it got trimmed down and the hole for the rivet was drilled.
It’s a bit difficult to describe where the bracket attaches in relation to the tab, but this should give you an idea:
Happy with the shape and alignment of the tab to the bracket, I started preparing the backside of the extension for bonding. It’s crucial that I get the tab positioned in exactly the right spot, get it wrong and things aren’t going to line up. I’ve only got one shot at this or I’ll have to grind it all off and start again.
With this in mind, I laid out some alignment marks with a sharpie of where it’s gotta sit. They’re much longer than they need to be because I need them as reference marks once I sand the surface (and the marks off) to prepare it for the bonding adhesive.
After the alignment marks were made, I carefully ground down the remainder of the broken tab and thoroughly sanded and cleaned the area. Once that was done, I used the alignment marks and transferred them back onto the prepped area. This now lets me know exactly where the tab has to sit.
With that done, the backside of the steel tab was prepped next with a Clean n Strip wheel according to the preparation instructions on the P sheet for the bonding adhesive. Time to get it attached.
A small amount of the adhesive was spread on each surface, and the tab was positioned in place. Once I was absolutely sure it was in exactly the right spot, I clamped it firmly in place with a set of needle nosed vise grips.
And that’s pretty much it. It needs 24 hours to fully cure, and then I can go about cleaning up the excess and test fitting it to the car. Just gotta be patient now and let it sit.
If I feel that the bonding adhesive isn’t going to be strong enough once it’s cured to hold (even though I know it will), I can always do a bit more prep and cover over the topside of the tab with some structural mesh and kitty hair, similar to doing a fibreglass repair. But I really don’t think that’ll be necessary, and probably way overkill.
That’s it for now guys, thanks for checking back in again.
D.
