[968Syncro]

Folks,



Here is what I decide to do/try to repair the polyurethane side skirts, mainly the long one: attach a sheet of galvanized stock in the recessed area using pop rivets. During the accident the panels came a little loose, and we taped them up during the tow so they are out of the way. Dropped off the car that way, but when I came back a couple days later some idiot apparently had ripped them all the way off.



Here is one of them before:

   



Here it is with the paint "sanded" off using the speed sander. Also shows the little piece of galvanized sheet metal with both having the holes drilled. I used 1/8" rivets with a 1/4" depth which seemed like good size and has worked well for all of it so far. This was my first time ever using pop rivets, so it took a little experimenting. I bought stainless steel rivets, since I figured this was an exposed area and I wanted it to last - mistake, way overkill. Really hard to cut off using the tool. If you try this, use aluminum rivets. I drilled the polyurethane with a 1/8" drill, and the metal with one size up; the rivet wouldn't go through the metal with 1/8", and this made a nice snug fit on the plastic.

   



Here is one of the holes done (my photography today wasn't so hot). I used JB Weld in addition to the rivets, you can see some squeezing out the sides. I figured it would help spread the load, and also keep things together; probably way overkill, there isn't much load on these attachment points and I wouldn't do that again. You can see I inserted the rivets from the underside (inside) of the panel, the reason is that one end of a completed pop rivet sticks out more than the other, and I definitely want the flatter end to be flush with the mounting tab on the car. The end that sticks out more in the result won't be visible, it is no taller than the mounting bolt head and both are within the recessed area.

   



The one above left the metal just a bit thin on the outside edge after I drilled it, gave me some concern so the next one I did with the metal sicking out more, which wont' matter because it is out of sight, and you can trim it how you like after is it mounted and drilled. The mounting hole isn't drilled yet, I do these after the metal is attached to the panel so I can get it exact. On all the metal drilling, don't forget to center punch the hole location before drilling.

   



Course I haven't mounted the panel yet, I expect it to work well, but will report back if there is any problem. I think these are definitely worth repairing, if I remember correctly they are around $500 each for the long one. I also bought some "flexible bumper repair" epoxy of some type from the local body shop supplier. There is a small crack in one of the panels, and he said that would work very well and sands the same as the polyurethane itself after it is dry. As usual I am interested in feedback if people have other ideas or improvements to this approach.



Bonus question: What is in this picture?



   







As I was trimming a small slice of steel using some shears, it flew off and lodged into the plywood behind my work area.. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/blink.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> Oh... and I thought jack stands were starting to scare me too much! Didn't know this one would be dangerous.



Roland

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[xrad]

nice work. I will be doing rocker panel repair soon, too.

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[Ryan]

Speaking of rocker repair, I bought the rubber and clips for a re-do and started with the small front section. It was when I was sticking the section back on that I noticed that the new clips I got are different than the old. The old clip had a ribbed pin that went into the body grommet. The "new" clip has no ribs and has a tapered pin. It does not hold. Anybody else get new clips? I ordered mine from Sunset and used the PET part number. I wonder if I got the wrong part or they have changed.

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[968Syncro]

Ryan,



Oh no. My new ones from Sunset should be arriving any day now. This is not good news, the clip must have the broad are on the little pin, or expanded area, else I don't see how it can hold the intended pressure fit. I ordered PN 999 591 991 40.



But I may be confused on the language. Here is a picture of the ones I took off the car that I can reuse. Is this what they new ones look like? This may be what you mean by "tapered" area, these appear like they will work. Can you send a pic of what you received?



Roland



   

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[Ryan]

Roland, the clips I got look like yours, however thats not what I pulled off my car. Maybe they updated and I have early models. What do your body grommets or the female side of the clips look like?

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[968Syncro]

Ryan,



I don't have any out of the car, so can't really show it exactly. They are of the spreading type. Very similar to the hollow wall anchors that I sometimes use to hang a picture in the house. Like this:



   



Here is one of them inserted into the attachment hole. I ordered more of these as well, hope they are correct.



   



Imagine a little conical shaped red thing, with a solid ring almost flush with the body panel as in the above picture, with little arms in the conical portion inside the hollow area behind the body panel that spread as the tapered clip is inserted. Same as this, except this is for a house wall of course.



   



Roland

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[968Syncro]

Ryan,



The parts arrived today:

1. the clips are of the tapered variety like you mentioned and in the picture above.

2. here is a pic of the little red grommet or retainer that arrived today.



   

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[968Syncro]

Folks,



Here is more side skirt structural repair work (I hope the 968 purists aren't too horrified <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/mad.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> ).



1. The bottom rear corner of the long side skirt panel had the mounting hole ripped off of the panel. This is the place where it mounts to a bracket with a bolt directly in front of the rear wheel. You'll see I used a metal support on the back, with rivets, and glued the ripped off mounting hole onto the metal piece and the polyurethane panel. I pounded the metal support into shape to match the panel the best I could. See pics below of completed front and back. It still needs to be smoothed down and then filled with the 'flexible bumper filler'. I am not too worried, this area is barely visible and won't be noticed once painted. Of course the rivets are now smoother/shorter side out to the exposed side of the panel.



   



   



2. The short front panel had a couple of the mounting holes ripped apart. See pic. See all the black gunk around this area? yeah, I was confused also, but I am very sure that this area was previously repaired in some way, and that is the reason this one single clip mounting point broke instead of the clip. All the other places the clip broke, not this mounting area for the clip.



   



I decided to glue on a new support. I ground down the old mounting area a little bit, and made a new support from a piece of wire, actually a piece of a "Jumbo" paper clip. Here it is resting in the area ready to be glued on.



   



Here it is glued in place (again JB Weld). I hope it holds. Again there is very little load on this stuff, should be fine.



   



I know this is a lot of mini-detail and maybe boring for everybody, but I thought if I can contribute something I might as well. Perhaps in the future parts are going to be hard to get, or more expensive, and we'll want to repair our parts rather than new ones.



Roland

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[Ryan]

Roland, thanks for the photos. I will go back and try to push the clip into the grommet a little harded and see if it locks in. I swear the pin that broke off when I removed the section of sill was ribbed with no taper.

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[rxter]

Looks good Roland. I dig the jumbo clip idea. Maybe not from Chip Foose's fab shop, but you certainly have innovated a way to repair the piece. Is the JB weld stronger than typical epoxies?

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[968Syncro]

[quote name='rxter' post='56612' date='Jul 22 2008, 07:44 PM']Looks good Roland. I dig the jumbo clip idea. Maybe not from Chip Foose's fab shop, but you certainly have innovated a way to repair the piece. Is the JB weld stronger than typical epoxies?[/quote]



Yes, it is supposed to be. I had bad luck in the last 1/2 year with the ordinary epoxies, especially those packaged as 2 tubes together, where they are supposed to squeeze and mix correctly. Either some family member put the cap on wrong and contaminated one of the tubes, or in a couple of cases the proportions weren't correct and it just didn't harden. JB Weld comes in 2 separate tubes and is easier to control for me. I think there were one or more other thread here on the forum where people mentioned this was good stuff, so when I went to home depot and saw JB Weld I decided to try it.



Roland

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[bob blackwell]

Good job Roland! Good explanation as well. I too, have repaired my side moldings using the bumper epoxy repair kits from PEP Boys, Auto Zone, etc... After completing the repair I had the moldings covered with pick up truck bed liner - it is tough! (all four pieces were done for $60) So far the repair and the bed liner has held up for over two years. J.B. Weld is good stuff, very strong and easy to mix and use. Good luck, Bob Blackwell.

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[968Syncro]

[quote name='bob blackwell' post='56645' date='Jul 23 2008, 04:40 PM']Good job Roland! Good explanation as well. I too, have repaired my side moldings using the bumper epoxy repair kits from PEP Boys, Auto Zone, etc... After completing the repair I had the moldings covered with pick up truck bed liner - it is tough! (all four pieces were done for $60) So far the repair and the bed liner has held up for over two years. J.B. Weld is good stuff, very strong and easy to mix and use. Good luck, Bob Blackwell.[/quote]



Hey Bob, thanks. However the more I look at the design I chose for the repairs, it isn't elegant. I am sure that structurally it will be sound, and there will be no funkiness visible, I am still searching for a more "elegant" solution.



With your truck bed liner, the ones I've seen appear lumpy, is that what you found or do they have a smooth one? And, you didn't say, but I assume you then painted over the truck bed liner to match the car? Did it come out smooth and shiny, or is the resulting texture different from the rest of the panels on the car? I am sure I wont' go this route, but am interested to learn more about your experience with the truck bed liner and how it turned out.



Roland

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