When they were out of Canada Fairlane's stuff was pretty good, but they changed ownership and moved to the states their stuff became very spotty. Even the hood they donated for the magazine build of the 56 with all new parts didn't fit worth a flying fish. The magazine bent over backwards to be diplomatic and not offend when they said it "required some work" to fit it, which didn't match up with the picture captions.

 

A close high school friend's family owned a FG boat manufacturing business. They also made semi truck fenders and old style sports car bodies for VW chassis under contract. I got to watch and learn a lot about FG work from hanging around the shop.
FG parts are only as good as the original part the mold was made from and the condition of the mold itself, along with the care and skill of the workers doing the layup.
The molds are also made from FG and lead a hard life in use. They go thru many heat cycles as the resin used generates a significant amount of heat each time a part is made depending on how much hardener is used, They are often roughly handled and beat on with mallets and wedges when removing a part. There is a finite amount of times a mold should be used before it is replaced, but they typically are used until they completely disintegrate, after being patched back together a number of times. The parts are often pulled "green" since they are more flexible then, but are easily distorted and not checked for distortion before achieving full cure. Molds are seldom replaced since the manufacturer often borrows or rents the original plug (part) and doesn't have access to it again later.
A top company will pull the parts, then put them back in the mold to finish curing, but that ties up the mold which costs money. Full cure can take up to a week or more. The parts then need to be carefully stored and kept cool until shipped. Some parts use wood bracing to help hold the shape and that needs to be cut and installed accurately. Sometimes the bracing is installed after the part has been pulled from the mold and not rechecked. That appears to be the problem with Fairlane's hoods and one piece front ends, the bracing often needs to be cut out and redone to get the parts to fit anywhere near right.
The company that contracted with my friend's dad to have the car bodies made supplied the molds, but they were flimsy and easily distorted or broken, resulting in a lot of reject parts. They had a pile of them out back of the shop. My brother may still have a full set of parts in his attic that we culled with the least amount of defects, if he hasn't thrown them away.

 

You have to wonder where they got the pieces they make the molds off, for these old trucks. They clearly do not have access to cherry NOS parts for every flavor of Bonus Built/mid-50's Ford, and Chevy, and whatever. So 30 yrs ago, someone cast a mold off a "good" piece, and sold pieces. Someone else buys one of their fenders, makes a mold off that, and starts selling their own. Pretty soon, just like a document that's been xeroxed 20 times, you lose details, size changes creep in, etc.

 

Exactly. They often will borrow a part that may not be perfect and have it repaired before using it as payment for it's use, or find someone who is doing a restoration and borrow the fender or whatever while it's in primer. Sometimes they will make a fillet at a corner or undercut with modeling clay to make it easier to get the part out of the mold. Of course you run into the same problems with the steel repro stuff too, even if stamped with original dies, those dies have seen a lot of parts made from them and they wear and break as well. Mid Fifty's driver side cowl repair panel has two holes stamped in the middle of them because the OEM panel they gave the company to make the dies from had been mounted with an older style radio antenna on the side of the cowl, and they forgot to tell them not to put those mounting holes in.

 

ill try this again...
i have so much trouble pasting pics...wish it was easier to just drop them in here..... anyways.. i spent a few hours lastnight making some backing plates to go inside the fender and inside the upper grill panel..just something to spread out the load while trying to pull these seams together... and they really have made a huge differance....i think ill have alot less filling work then i originally thought...
my only second question/thought is..i dont think i have a prayer of doing what i hoped w/ the finally assembly of this truck.. i was hoping to paint everything in pieces..entire cab/underside...inner fenders..radiator support ect..everything.. and then putting it together.. after trying so hard to get this grill in place..and wrestling things together..i cant imagine ill have any paint left on these parts by the time i get them together...
i wish i could experiance putting one together thats all steel..i wonder how much easier it is..maybe someone who has can chime in...maybe this is just how they fit? anyways.. here's a few pics of my most recent fit .....i think at this stage im very comfortable w/ using the kitty hair to "square" up these seams,,, or maybe even just filler? i still need to attack the back gaps..but am thinking the welting is going to hide alot..
Alb.. do u have glass running boards too? any pictures of the seam between ur fenders and boards? thanks...

 

Try first posting your pix into your gallery. Once they are in the gallery just click on the option available there to link them into a post. Just a couple clicks and there you are.
If the pix are hosted somewhere off site where they can be linked to (you can pull the picture up with your browser it is not just stored on your computer), pull up the pic, highlight the entire address displayed in your browser, copy it (control C)
Then use the "advanced" option when making a post. Click on the "insert image" icon (looks like a yellow postcard with mountains) paste the link (control V) and click on the insert image icon a second time to close the link HTML.
Finish your post and check it with the preview post button. If the picture is visible, you're all set, hit the submit message button.

 

I would still use the kitty hair along an edge.

 

Hi Ax,
i used the kitty hair on the front seam of the fenders, i layed in the plastic around the grill panel, keeping it tight w/ tape..then got the nose bolted up very loose..( using longer bolts) then mixed up a fair amount of the KH and troweled it in..( i ofcourse ground away the paint and gelcoat? so that i was into raw glass) i quickly tightened everything up..and let the KH squeeze out then took the spreader and layed the KH back and smooth..
i was impressed it really seemed to seep? into the rawglass..turning it almost clear.. ( i used a brand new can and stired it real well) let it set upand sanded down the overlap.. took it apart and was amazed how well it squeezed into all the cavities..forming itself perfectly to the contour of the grill panel... now all i hafta do is figure out how carried away to get w/ this seam.. because now that i have the 2 seams together..it shows how poor of a "line" the grill panel itself has...
so!! my next question is.. how thick of a seam do u think i dare fill in w/ this KH? my next step is the back of these fenders to the cowl... i was thinking i can "pad" out the cowl to leave room for the welting, but thats still going to leave me w/ an inch+ in areas...i can rough up the area ofcourse to raw glass..should i drill a series of small holes in the flange of the fender? something for the KH to almost squeeze into?? adding more bite? also..i can't imagine ill be able to mix up enough of this product and be able to work it all in one shot...
i liked the "squeeze" method i used in the front..it made this stuff really push into the glass...i wont be able to do the same in the back... ur thoughts?
im sure the proper way would be to use the matt and resin..i dont think i could do that as easily unless i made a templet of the cowl contour..that i could then bolt to the fender..take the entire fender off..flipp it over and use the templet as a mold...to lay the glass into...
am i over thinking this? i just dont want a crack in this seam down the road... thanks again....Rob

 

The kitty hair will build pretty thick with no problem as long as it isn't too thin a section(I wouldn't extend the back edge of a FG hood a couple inches with it alone for example) It IS chopped fiberglass strand and resin, with some additional filler for smoothness, it's just premixed into the resin for you. If you think of it that way I think you will be more confident in it. If properly applied to a clean and roughed up surface it becomes part of the whole, there is no longer a seam to crack. I think you keep equating it with body putty applied to metal where you will always have a junction between two dissimilar materials relying on the strength of the adhesion to keep it from cracking (i.e. wanting to drill holes to key the material into, increasing the mechanical adhesion) You need to change your mindset to the fact you are just expanding the FG part with the same materials it was originally made from, there is no junction to crack. Understand?
Resin and fiber applied separately or premixed together is structurely nearly the same, just a lot less messy and easier to work with.
Withot seeing the cowl area I can only make an educated guess as to a method to leave space for the filler strip, but here's one thought I had: Go to an art or craft supply store such as Michael's or Hobby Lobby and buy a sheet of 1/8" thick foamcore board and some white glue. Cut the board into 1 1/2" or 2" wide strips (might need to experiment here a bit to see what works may need to be wider or cut in a curve if the rear of the fender has a significant curve) Lay a strip against the cowl gently curving it with your fingers until it lays flat. Do the same with additional strips of foamboard until you have enough strips to equal the thickness of the filler strip. Now coat each strip with white glue and stack onto the side of the cowl, holding the assembly tightly together and to the side of the cowl until the glue dries (overnight). You now have a laminated strip that is the shape of the cowl for a spacer. Tape it back to the side of the cowl, cover the cowl and strip with plastic as with the other seam, bolt the fender into place and fill as you did before. Here's a hint on how to keep the KH from setting too quickly: first use a minimum of hardner (most novices use way too much hardener, if it is kicking in less than 5 minutes aftewr mixing you're guilty), if you mix it completely it will harden just slower. Second mix it on a sheet of aluminum or stainless steel and spread it out thin after mixing. The metal surface and spreading it out will help keep it cool which will slow the hardening time giving more time to work with it. If it is hot in your shop, you can even lay the metal palette on an ice pack after mixing. The mix will be a little stiffer to work with at first, but will thin as it warms up again. This trick works with body putty as well.

 

i like ur ideas..and thanks for giving me more confidence.... just really have had no experiance w/ fiberglass..other then bolting them on incorrectly 19 yrs ago...
ill keep u posted.... differant "brandnames" of KH better then others?
if u look back in this post u can see the pics of the rear gaps...kinda hard to see as well as real life.. but u can get an idea of what im up against..
thanks again...r

 

I like Evercoat products personally, but any brand sold in a body supply shop rather than Wally world or discount auto parts should work as well.

 

thanks u AX.... havent had all the time ive wanted to work on these fenders..but i used ur ideas about the kitty hair and plastic on the cowl ect...and im very happy w/ the results... worked out well...need some finish work but the general shape is now there... thanks again..
before and after pics..

 

Good work! Looks great. FG isn't really very hard to work with, easier than metal in most cases, just have to change your mindset away from metal.