installing flare kits methods and products required.

[Bas NZ]

Sorry Able it took me so long to get back to you, ok there is two ways to glass flares on to your van.

1/  this is as Jeff has done here in his picture, grind the guard back to bare metal , lay glass onto the bare metal around 6oz of matting using polyester resin, screw / pot rivet the flare on, wait for glass to harden, then grind out side of flair and place another layer of glass over the top, around 3oz of matting, let it dry thensand up and fill with filler. Ok, for this to work you need to pay attention to your mixing of the resin and hardener, if the resin goes off to quick and heats up, this will draw the wax out of the resin and it will sit between the metal guard and flare thus making the bond very weak, and will crack over time. So in a nut shell this way works fine if you get it right......... and yes jeff this is the old way and is a good way, Garry (Sundowner) on Buga did this to his well known van Windsong and was told had no probs at all.
Part 2 to follow as not sure on nuber of words allowed per post...........

[Bas NZ]

2/ This way involves no glass matting at all, you get epoxy resin mix with the harder and then mix it with micro fibre (adhesive filler) there are different grades of this powder from maximum adhesive to fairing and sanding, of course you use the max-adhesive. You then spread this over the bare metal guard and then place the flare on top of it and screw or pot rivet it down, allow to harden then grind the outside of the flare up and apply another lay over the top, apply as much as possible to form the shape needed thus giving it more strength, sand and apply a filler over the top to finish off. In both cases it is best to pre fit the flare on the guard and drill the holes etc so it is easy to reline up, also it is a good idea to leave the screws or rivets in and just grind the top a little before you glass over the top or use the max-adhesive filler, do not use normal filler to cover the screws as they will only come though in time.
One other step that can be taken to help bond it to the metal guard is to drill the odd hole in the guard so the glass or adhesive filler can spread though the hole and make it even hold better, as most vans have a double skin you can't see this so there's no problems.

If you need the code names for the adhesive filler let me know as I'm sure Fibre Glass International has it in Aussie. This is only my point of view from the many years doing this and it is not to say this is the only way or the best way, but has proven itself  over time.
This flare was put on using the max-adhevise way, the van droped of the jack when I had the front end out and landed on the back edge of the flare as it hangs down below the body line, took the whole weight of the van and didn't even crack........

[hotrod]

is this  it
hope this works!

[able]

ok sounds the go.

just a bit unsure on this part

then grind the outside of the flare up and apply another lay over the top

could you explain this in another way so my inexperienced brain can grasp it 

[Bas NZ]

Hotrod, sorry that is not it, will explain again later, will give product numbers / codes used by Nuplex. Ok Able what this means it to sand / grind the top of the flear so that the second layer of adhesive can be applied, if this wasen't done the adhesive filler would not bond at full strength. Will post again tonight, this is very straight forward. Cheers, will check Nuplex site in NZ for details on this Product. Ben approched Fibreglass Internationl in regards to bonding fibreglass to metal and was told to use Epoxy resin, so he phoned me and got the run down on the above way.

[Sundownernz]

Hi all,

As Bas said epoxy is the way to go nowdays. You can almost guarantee a good bond to metal with epoxy but you have to get it just right with polyester.

As Baz said, I did the flares and spoilers etc on Windsong with polyester (the old way as when I did it (late 70's) it was the only way) and it worked fine so I guess I got it right. I ground the steel body around the guard first and roughed up the face on the flare that fits to the body. Then sandwiched a layer of resin soaked glass mat between the flare and the body and used pk screws (pre drilled) to screw it to the van. Cover the screw threads in resin before you screw them in. The flares I had screwed in from underneath and this mating face on the flare was the same shape as the reverse lip around the wheel arch of the guard. Don't know if they're still like this but assume they are. Leave the screws in and just paint over them when finished, or cover the whole underside of the wheel well with underseal as I did to cut down the road noise.

Once this glass has cured, grind off the outside and rough up the outside of the flare and lay several layers of resin soaked matt over the flare and body covering the join. Work it in with a brush or glass roller making sure all gaps between the flare and body are filled with resin and/or glass matt and no air bubbles exist. Once this has cured grind the surface up smooth and bog over with your favorite goo. Sand up and your done.

This method works well if done right and is plenty strong. It worked on Windsong and works on Jeffs van. The only difference between Jeffs and mine is that I added glass matt between the flare and body, not just resin. Don't just screw the flare to the guard without adding anything or you're asking for trouble.

Cheers,
Garry.

[able]

i went down to martini fiber glass (geelong) today as a few friends say they are the cheapest and most reliable...

they have two products they recommend... basically they are the same product but two different brands.

techniglue and epoxy adhesion kit.

its a two part product that comes out like a paste/cream once you mix it together... apparently you have to be very precise with the mixture.

A thixotropic pre-filled epoxy gel, Techniglue Construction Adhesive cures at room temperature to form high strength structural and waterproof bonds. Techniglue has a unique consistency perfect for filling any surface voids within the bonded joint and minimising run-out.

Techniglue has proven properties and is commonly engineered into civil construction for anchoring threaded rods, mechanical fastenings and laminated timber beams. Techniglue is also favoured by woodworkers, commercial joiners and construction crews for its reliability, ease of use and capability to produce high strength bonds on almost any surface. Techniglue is a 2:1 product and must be mixed accordingly.

they also recommended the matting and resin over the top once the glue has set.

this sounds like what mezzmos installer used???

anyone heard of or used this product?

[ben]

how much it cost able??

[able]

one brand is $69 and the other is $76.

that's for the 1.5 kilo tin.

[able]

glued screwed glassed and undercoated....

still up to glassing on the other three... wanted to complete the entire process on one first.

still need to do the final sand to get it perfect but i thought i would get the others to this stage and then get finicky..