FG Bumper Filler help

[Mark E.]

I bet you may be right. I never checked it with stock fillers either. I have known several people who only notice anything wrong with fender alignment after it comes back from a bodyshop. Even if it is better than it was stock.

If that bothers you, DO NOT stand in front of your car and compare the angle and positioning of your front seat headrests. :biggrin:

Mark E. (Just adding my $.02, no ball busting at all)

Thanks for the PM reply, Mike. I will get these things on and looking right.

Like you said. These things are a good starting point for making decent looking fillers.



I wondered if this was the case with many of the folks that had "no problems" installing theirs.

 

[slaphappyjacko]

I bet you may be right. I never checked it with stock fillers either. I have known several people who only notice anything wrong with fender alignment after it comes back from a bodyshop. Even if it is better than it was stock.

If that bothers you, DO NOT stand in front of your car and compare the angle and positioning of your front seat headrests. :biggrin:

Mark E. (Just adding my $.02, no ball busting at all)

You couldn't be more right about the whole don't stare thing.

I do a lot of vinyl work (signs and crap) at my job. I learned quick how crooked everything is. Sometimes putting something straight in a crooked world is the surest way to offend the eye. You use a level, and you know it is straight, but in old buildings (and old cars) your reference lines (ceiling, floor doorway) are all off and so it looks wrong.

What is most offensive in my pics is the finish. If I sanded them and painted them and put them on as is (even with the overlap on the seam), 9 out of ten people would say it looked good. I get thumbs up with no fillers.

...I would notice though, because I do stare at my car. I can't help it. I don't have a girlfriend.:biggrin:

Since I don't have a GF, I have time to take on the task of at least trimming and fixing the rear filler and, depending on how ambitious I feel after I get them lined up, consider making them seamless.

For the record, I held a pair of plastic (abs?) rear fillers before I ordered the fiberglass ones. I don't know where they came from, but they were super thin.

I would rather have the ones I got. It won't be a big deal to fix. I will take pictures.

 

[bigbrother715]

You couldn't be more right about the whole don't stare thing.

I do a lot of vinyl work (signs and crap) at my job. I learned quick how crooked everything is. Sometimes putting something straight in a crooked world is the surest way to offend the eye. You use a level, and you know it is straight, but in old buildings (and old cars) your reference lines (ceiling, floor doorway) are all off and so it looks wrong.

What is most offensive in my pics is the finish. If I sanded them and painted them and put them on as is (even with the overlap on the seam), 9 out of ten people would say it looked good. I get thumbs up with no fillers.

...I would notice though, because I do stare at my car. I can't help it. I don't have a girlfriend.:biggrin:

Since I don't have a GF, I have time to take on the task of at least trimming and fixing the rear filler and, depending on how ambitious I feel after I get them lined up, consider making them seamless.

For the record, I held a pair of plastic (abs?) rear fillers before I ordered the fiberglass ones. I don't know where they came from, but they were super thin.

I would rather have the ones I got. It won't be a big deal to fix. I will take pictures.

that brings up my next question, what to do with the seam??? do you just overlap it or cut it even and use some sort of backing to hold them tight.
sorry to be such a pain but as i said i have not had much experience with body work and i want it to look as good as it can. seems there is lots of experience here for me to tap into
thanks steve

 

[slaphappyjacko]

that brings up my next question, what to do with the seam??? do you just overlap it or cut it even and use some sort of backing to hold them tight.
sorry to be such a pain but as i said i have not had much experience with body work and i want it to look as good as it can. seems there is lots of experience here for me to tap into
thanks steve

I think there was a gap from the factory, so just cutting them with clean edges with no overlap would be acceptable (they are like this on a VERY nice local turbo T)

Some folks use a T shaped piece of weather stripping in the gap to make it look more tidy. I have never seen photos, but I would imagine that looks better.

I am on the fence about making a seamless rear filler. It is definitely the way to go for looks (if properly pulled off). That is better than stock.

Even if it didn't look as flawless as Mike's (see the thread he linked to above) it would surely look better than a gap.

I have no first hand experience with body work. I have messed around with a lot of crap through my job that I can draw from and I swept floors for a serious automotive fabricator for a bit. Other than that, this will all be new to me.

Perhaps it is naivety, but I am not too intimidated by this project. I just have to take my time and be careful. The filler won't be returnable once the cutting has started (assuming that was even a consideration/option).

I plan to have the rear, driver side filler trimmed and repaired by the end of the weekend. It looks like I will actually be trimming off most of the chipped part. After that, I will decide what to do with the center.

Then on to the fronts

 

[slaphappyjacko]

I removed the flange that connects the filler to the fender, cut away excess material and then reattached the flange with fiberglass using polyester resin. (Thanks, whitehot84 for that tip!)

It went smoothly. After it cured, the reattached flange was rock solid, and because of the location there is no visible seam.

I managed to get the flange back almost perfectly. I will have to do a little bit more fitting and some sanding. I was conservative with my material removal and so it is still a little tight.

I took a few pictures of the process. I will be finishing up tomorrow and I will post them up. It was easy enough that I am thinking about making it one piece. First things first though.

Before

After

 

[turbocarlab]

Danko Fillers

Given the info on this thread where else can I buy the danko rear fillers?

 

[DailyDrifter]

Given the info on this thread where else can I buy the danko rear fillers?

You might want to try and google Danko Reproductions

 

[slaphappyjacko]

Given the info on this thread where else can I buy the danko rear fillers?

I don't know that it makes a difference where you buy them from. I have talked with a few people who have used the Danko fillers. None of them got them from gbodyparts, and they all had similar issues.

You may find that they have fewer scratches in the gel-coat, but they will all need to be sanded and painted to look right. The problem with mine originated in manufacturing. Granted, the vendor is likely aware of the issue, but I see the same "passable for average GN's" statement on another Danko dealer's site. They probably look the same.

The guy that put together the super clean Turbo T that I mentioned before came by my house while I was fitting these. He told me the FG rears he put on that car had the same problem on the driver side (not from gbodyparts), and that he just lived with it. I didn't notice on that car.

I should reiterate that I have no beef with gbodyparts. I will buy from them again. The air dam I ordered from Kirban on the same day came a week later and had a (minor) crack on it and some (minor) visible scuffs.

The problem is with Danko, but what other options are there? Even with the trouble that I have had with these I would still buy them. The plastic ones I have seen looked like crap, and repairing\modifying ABS is a lot harder than fiberglass. They were also significantly more expensive.

-sean

 

[slaphappyjacko]

Nevermind...

I would buy the set direct from Danko for $10 cheaper than I paid.

They would have to be in better shape.

 

[Yedi]

I also bought a set from G-Body parts.

I'm a body guy, and was impressed w/ the fit, I've seen a hell of alot worse, I mean real bad... on a olds toronado.

I actually "Molded mine" into the quarter panels using U-Pol Fiberall Long strand Fiberglass filler, this stuff is strong. I also smoothed out the seam for the two pieces below the license plate, I added some fiberglass to the bottom side to make this area Stronger. I'll post some pics one of these days, it's almost ready for primer.

I did alot of test fittings w/ the tail lights, and the bumper, the one issue I did see was that the filler has a "sag" where it meets up agains the bumper on the drivers rear, when everything is all done, and on the car, I'll probably just "shim" this area up w/ some kind of spacer, no biggie...

 

[03FatBoy]

I bought my fillers from G-Body. I noticed that G-Body and Danko used the EXACT same picture in their web and ebay pages. I mentioned this to G-Body, and the response was basically who do you want to support? A vendor or someone else? I don't say this in any negative way, the price difference was only $10, and I planned to buy them from G-body in the first place.
I also think that these were drop shipped from the manufacturer, in a single layer cardboard box with little to no packing materials... when I got the box i was expecting the worst, but they were ok. The way packages are tossed, thrown, dropped and crammed into trucks it is a miracle more iare not damged. as in all fiberglass parts, they require some fitting and adjusting. My car has the original paint (about a 10-15 footer), so I did not spend a great deal of time prepping them, but overal, they came out decent, obviously WAY better than the milky ones they replaced. I figure when I paint the car, I will correct and issues, but overall, I am satisfied.

Bottom line is I always will give the nod to our supporting vendors, unless there is some huge issue that cannot be worked out... and with fiberglass parts, they will almost always require a certain degree of fitting and finishing. Quality packaging certainly would be a step in the right direction.

 

[Bweavy]

I bought my fillers from G-Body. I noticed that G-Body and Danko used the EXACT same picture in their web and ebay pages. I mentioned this to G-Body, and the response was basically who do you want to support? A vendor or someone else? I don't say this in any negative way, the price difference was only $10, and I planned to buy them from G-body in the first place.
I also think that these were drop shipped from the manufacturer, in a single layer cardboard box with little to no packing materials... when I got the box i was expecting the worst, but they were ok. The way packages are tossed, thrown, dropped and crammed into trucks it is a miracle more iare not damged. as in all fiberglass parts, they require some fitting and adjusting. My car has the original paint (about a 10-15 footer), so I did not spend a great deal of time prepping them, but overal, they came out decent, obviously WAY better than the milky ones they replaced. I figure when I paint the car, I will correct and issues, but overall, I am satisfied.

Bottom line is I always will give the nod to our supporting vendors, unless there is some huge issue that cannot be worked out... and with fiberglass parts, they will almost always require a certain degree of fitting and finishing. Quality packaging certainly would be a step in the right direction.

When the fillers are drop shipped from Danko it is because we have paid for them & been promised for weeks upon delivery. It was so bad last week I contacted another manufacturer to build these for us & was ready to walk away from a 12 year business relationship.
Now as far as the price difference. We have to pay shipping to get them here. We have to constantly e-mail & call where are our parts at. We have the customers calling wondering where their parts are. So we have a little effort into getting parts in. All fairness almost all of our suppliers are recovering from the economic slow down.

Price wise we are cheaper on some items like the front fillers. We know what we are charged for shipping & what we are charged for the parts. We also do have customer support when you run into a question or problem.

We have stated danko is our supplier for years. I have given alot of you their phone # when the parts don't arrive when promised. I have had customers cancel orders with us & order thru danko to get their response "it will be faster to get them thru Gbodyparts."

 

[gn4u2c]

I have used these several times on several cars all were decent,Be sure to drill the holes out correctly, be patient, turn the bolts all to just before snug adjust part, maybe even get help to hold / lined were they need to be then snug then recheck/ adjust then tighten slow.They should look pretty good. IMO better than Out of box GM units anymore as they seem to have dips and bends that wont come out from being stuck in a box 25 yrs. You can walk around any turbo regal and pick it apart quick on fit and finish. Just pull up the GNX photos you have or at BG look close... ahh yep built like a Buick not a BMW but who cares they are way cool !!! i will say I am super glad guys like Brian are here !! major help with part knowledge/ combos/ interchange and willing to go to bat for you. when a part producer gets a complaint from a guy who ordered 1 set of xyz they shrug it off.. When I guy orders 1,000 sets they step back and listen all good reasons to support or vendors. Without them this hobby/ racecar/lifestyle/daily driver would be over.

 

[Yedi]

Here's some pics of what I did w/ Fiberglass fillers

Here's some pics, check out my photobucket page of my latest work...

I used G-Body Fiberglass rear fillers, and "molded" them into the 1/4 panels...I wont even mention the amount of work and time it took to get this far..I think it's gonna look great.

P10101312.jpg picture by Yedi_01 - Photobucket

Alot more detailed pics here....

HTH Guys!!

 

[DailyDrifter]

That looks good Jason. What kind of filler are you using? I pray you dont get tapped in the rear

 

[Yedi]

That looks good Jason. What kind of filler are you using? I pray you dont get tapped in the rear

If I get hit, the other person better be able to run real fast, cuz it won't be good..either way it would suck, especially w/ the tri coat white thats planned.

I'm Using U-Pol Products. We use them @ work, and I never heard of them before that. It's a European Prduct w/ a budget price, w/ alot of quality.

I first used the Fiberall Long Starnd Fiberglass filler, then the Flywight Gold Body filler, this stuff looks like peanutbutter, and spreads real smoothe, sands great. And the Final skim is w/ Liquid Gold glazing Putty, best stuff I've ever used, hands down.

I'm not trying to sound like a salesman, but I've used 3M products, Evercoat, and USC..this U-Pol stuff is just better in every way..I'm always open to trying new things.

 

[bigbrother715]

When the fillers are drop shipped from Danko it is because we have paid for them & been promised for weeks upon delivery. It was so bad last week I contacted another manufacturer to build these for us & was ready to walk away from a 12 year business relationship.
Now as far as the price difference. We have to pay shipping to get them here. We have to constantly e-mail & call where are our parts at. We have the customers calling wondering where their parts are. So we have a little effort into getting parts in. All fairness almost all of our suppliers are recovering from the economic slow down.

Price wise we are cheaper on some items like the front fillers. We know what we are charged for shipping & what we are charged for the parts. We also do have customer support when you run into a question or problem.

We have stated danko is our supplier for years. I have given alot of you their phone # when the parts don't arrive when promised. I have had customers cancel orders with us & order thru danko to get their response "it will be faster to get them thru Gbodyparts."

guess that why i have been waiting a month for mine

 

[howdies86]

Wasn't someone making these as a "one piece" unit? I need rears and was curious. Thanks, Howard.