Project TNX
Active Member
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2006
- Messages
- 1,809
Not really technical, but this is where the traffic is and I know some people were curious.
I could not in good conscious call these "direct bolt on" and no one should really expect any fiberglass part to be ready to bolt in. They could be buffed and bolted on, but not to any standard I would grace the TNX with. I was actually impressed with the quality as I got down and dirty with them.
The fiberglass is straight as an arrow, no warping, the lines match up, no air pockets, etc... So I wouldn't worry about a product being sent to you that has been used in a mold that is 50 pieces past due. The problem with why I would never consider them "direct bolt ons" is the outer edge, where they would attach to the welting material against the car. They are trimmed anywhere from 1/64th of an inch to 1/8th of an inch off of the line in which they should end, which is normal, but by the time you get the line trimmed down to where you wanted and get it sanded smooth you are through the black gelcoat and it would require paint to cover it.
What I did was grab an 80 grit piece of sand paper and placed it on a paint stirring stick and cut my line down close to where I needed it. Then I grabbed 220 and shaped the line down to it's final form and then grabbed a sponge to use as a sanding block and sanded the whole piece down with 220. On the worst piece I used a belt sander to take some fiberglass out, but I would only recommend someone really good with a belt sander to do that because it's alot easier and quicker to sand by hand then have to pull out the filler out and start building the piece back out. I did that on the right rear that had 1/8" of extra material and never got too close to the final line. Now obviously if you were'nt going to paint yours you would never go with either sandpaper grain I used as they are way too low for a polishing job.
It took me roughly 45 minutes per piece, and only one piece required some bondo on a very small thin spot that got sanded through. Overall I am very happy with it. They actually required less body work than I anticipated. I'm primering them Thursday, weather permitting with all my other bumper fillers and small items like mirror's, etc..
I could not in good conscious call these "direct bolt on" and no one should really expect any fiberglass part to be ready to bolt in. They could be buffed and bolted on, but not to any standard I would grace the TNX with. I was actually impressed with the quality as I got down and dirty with them.
The fiberglass is straight as an arrow, no warping, the lines match up, no air pockets, etc... So I wouldn't worry about a product being sent to you that has been used in a mold that is 50 pieces past due. The problem with why I would never consider them "direct bolt ons" is the outer edge, where they would attach to the welting material against the car. They are trimmed anywhere from 1/64th of an inch to 1/8th of an inch off of the line in which they should end, which is normal, but by the time you get the line trimmed down to where you wanted and get it sanded smooth you are through the black gelcoat and it would require paint to cover it.
What I did was grab an 80 grit piece of sand paper and placed it on a paint stirring stick and cut my line down close to where I needed it. Then I grabbed 220 and shaped the line down to it's final form and then grabbed a sponge to use as a sanding block and sanded the whole piece down with 220. On the worst piece I used a belt sander to take some fiberglass out, but I would only recommend someone really good with a belt sander to do that because it's alot easier and quicker to sand by hand then have to pull out the filler out and start building the piece back out. I did that on the right rear that had 1/8" of extra material and never got too close to the final line. Now obviously if you were'nt going to paint yours you would never go with either sandpaper grain I used as they are way too low for a polishing job.
It took me roughly 45 minutes per piece, and only one piece required some bondo on a very small thin spot that got sanded through. Overall I am very happy with it. They actually required less body work than I anticipated. I'm primering them Thursday, weather permitting with all my other bumper fillers and small items like mirror's, etc..
