fixing an old set of fender flares

so i bought a used set of bushwacker cut out flares and didnt realize at the time that they were in pretty rough shape. a lot of the mounting holes were cracked or pulled through and there was another spot that had a crack probably 3-4" long. here's how i decided to fix them.

the first thing i had to do was figure out what glue i could use on these flares. turns out they are made from ABS which is a plastic thats pretty easy to solvent weld. you can buy solvent made for abs in a can at your local hardware store. its similar to pvc cement or sometimes made to do both jobs. the next challenge was what material would i use to reinforce what's there. a 1/4" washer fit in each of the "pockets" just right, but they only way i could find abs washers they were about a buck a piece. 10 holes per flare puts me at 40 per set and i wanted to do 3 sets. a buck a piece was not an option. i decided i had to make my own and luckily i had some abs sheet laying around. i tired a 7/8 hole saw which left me a plug about 3/4 od and 1/4 id, but they were too tough to dig out of the hole saw and the edges were rough. making 100+ this way would be tough. my dad came up with the idea of modifying a spade bit and ground one himself to do what i needed it too. this worked out great. i started out running these on the drill press but having to start and stop every time to pull the plug out was a real PITA. ended up deciding to use a cordless drill so it was easier to start/stop


after running about 130 pieces (like i said i wanted enough for 3 full sets) i threaded them all on a 1/4" bolt, chucked up the bolt in my drill and spun them on a belt sander. it didnt take much to knock the little burs off of the outside.





to be continued...

after i had the plugs made, the rest was pretty simple. i used a can of abs solvent with the brush on the lid (same thing as the pvc cement im sure you're all familiar with) and the little round brush fit the pockets just right. put a little solvent on the flare, a little on the patch and push them together. easy as pie! after just a few seconds they had bonded well enough to let go. most of the mounting holes on my flares were in good enough shape to do them this way.





some of the mounting holes were broken bad enough that i had to rebuild a little more of the area. luckily the scraps from making the plugs worked just perfect for this. add more cement and voila.



with material added on the back/inside of the flare, i could put one of the regular patches on the front just like all the other spots. after the cememt had cured a while, i used a file and cleaned things up a little. keep in mind that the majority of the repair was on the inside so it's hidden, and from the outside it looks just like all the other holes.





the only other real problem i had was that there was a rather large crack near the end of one flare. i already had the stuff to fix it, so i fixed it! a simple patch here glued to the inside worked just fine. i had to bend it to fit the contour of the inside of the flair, piece of cake though.

Amazing what a little ingenuity and time will get you! Saved a few bills, and have your flares.

84bluebronco2 said:

Amazing what a little ingenuity and time will get you! Saved a few bills, and have your flares.

Click to expand...

i hope somebody can get something useful out of it. if i didnt have experience with plastics, i probably wouldnt have even tried.

All I can say: F!ck yeah, Kunar!

Thats pretty sweet! Magazine maybe?