The Danko Fiberglass rear filler project on the 86

[phillyturbosix]

Well the rear fillers on the 86 have been slowly turning into dust on me so it was time to make a move. I didn't want to go the Danko way as I've seen and heard horror stories but, I ordered them from Danko and figured I have the best body shop in the world so no matter how bad it should be cake for him! The fitment is "ok" at best after playing around with them on the car for a little while. Like everyone says oblong the holes for room to play. I'm not happy with the gap under the taillights on the sides as they could have easily fixed that in the molds, but it is what it is. The overall lines are pretty much where they need to be so that was a good thing. There is no way these things are plug and play. They need to be cleaned up, skim coated, and painted to look half way presentable.

The holes to mount them to the back of the car were a little scary. Not much meat there once you drill the holes and ream them out. The thing I don't understand about this is it's all hidden behind the tail lights so I don't know why they didn't leave more meat back there for the mounting studs. I'm having my guy seam them together for a cleaner look so they will be one piece when done. These should hold me over till Richard Clark comes out with his reproductions of the originals. At least I'll be able to show the car again and not worry about pieces of bumper filler coming off as I drive down the road!

So there is my rear bumper filler update for the Danko fiberglass rear fillers.

 

[dsa87gn]

I just had my car painted and bought a set of these so I could go for the "one piece" look also. The set that arrived was totally beat up and I nearly returned them when opened the box. there was actually a copy of an email in the box from another buyer who had indeed returned them. i shot him an email and he confirmed it.

Anyway, i took them to my body shop and he said he could work with them and they came out pretty nice. One piece, no real gaps and he smoothed out real nice where they meet the bottom of the left taillight. Mine had the saem gap your did in the 4th pic. Ill snap some pics of mine.

 

[WHITE T]

Mine fit ok on the passenger side, the drivers side was way worse (like yours). It did not fit under the taillight correct. I have not messed with them in awhile, I still need to work on a game plan to get them to fit correctly

 

[phillyturbosix]

yea these things are a mess for the money that's for sure. I was going to have my body guy work on those corners some more but I almost feel like I'm putting lipstick on a pig with these things! If someone can come out with a good replacement like the factory ones they will be rich that's for sure. I figure for now these will be good enough. The way my luck runs next month someone will bump into me and crack the damn things! I just sent the rear bumper out for power coating while it's apart. Might as well make that look like new as well

 

[87GNSteve]

I just installed ABS rears on my 86 and the ABS ones are pure trash. My 87 are needing a set and Im going to have to get the fiberglass ones.
Thing is I did two sets of front fiberglass Dankos and one looked like Michelangelo sculpted them, and the most recent set looked like a drunk homeless guy made them.

 

[DailyDrifter]

When I worked for Brian (gbody) we sold a shyt ton of fillers, most of the the only big problems was with the ABS fillers. The problem that I saw with the fiberglass fillers is that they were de-molded too fast and would become warped or started to sag, also the gel coat was poorly applied in the mold before the glass was laid. That being said I would gladly work with a set of fiberglass ones because they can be manipulated easier then the ABS ones. Also Brian's suppliers of the fillers were always behind schedule because they simply couldnt keep up with the volume that we would sell them at, that leads to them rushing the fillers and ending up with some bad ones in the end. Also some don't realize that no 2 regals/gns have the same exact body, so what works for one persons car, may not work for the next persons car. Just remember this is the aftermarket and its not the same as the flexible fillers that GM produced.

 

[phillyturbosix]

OK finally done! Picked them up today. Came out nice but these things are a project that's for sure. One side the taillight was a fight to get it to seat but the other fit fine. Both of them on the bottom was hitting the bumper making so I could not adjust the bumper much around the fillers. I had to shim the bumper away from the car more on the one side. In a nut shell each side had it's drama in different ways. The body shop cut some of the filler off on the bottom and had to notch it as well but you really need a body shop to fit these things right. Was nice to have the car out on a cool winter day that's for sure! The seam in the center came out really nice. Little tight when trying to open the license plate all the way though. The main issue is there isn't a lot of adjustment with these things even after opening up those holes as much as possible. I mean after all they are fiberglass and not rubber! As soon as Richard Clark makes those replacements these are coming off. But for not it will work. The overall finished product came out nice that's for sure. Here are some pics!