sladey wrote:Not sure how I missed this thread - fantastic work.
I've got lokaris - they do a pretty good job, but I'm thinking of changing the fittings to rivnuts - it's hit or miss to get self- tapping screws in there consistently and I've had to drill a few extra holes over the years - so probably a good idea to get in place better fixings before you start
Thanks Mark - you're not so bad at this restoration lark yourself - though i do have one word of advice 'Burgundy'
I thought quite a bit about your rivnut idea and decided against it in the short-term for two reasons
1. I don't have any
2. After some trial fitting I agree with your comment that there's quite a bit of latitude in placement so until I am sure I have them located where I'm certain they don't foul the wheels, or rub on anything, I went for self-tappers. Once I'm confident on location a change to rivets will be the next step.
Anyway, so how easy are they to fit?……. I'm going to show lots of photos and labour the installation a bit in the hope they will help any others speed things up a bit.
Well the instructions are 'generic' at best so a lot of trial and error, on and off, trim and tuck is required. First observation is it's not obvious which are the front and which are the rear! Anyway the rear have a slot for the bumper wing joint and the fronts don't. Not sure why as the first job is to cut one, but I assume it has something to do with the range of bumper options, all with slightly different profiles (but they all still have the joint I think???) Anyway mark and cut a slot like so. Then cut it about twice as wide and 10mm deeper!
Then I found smearing the top edge of the rubber seals on either side with oil was a great help in forcing the liners into position. At the front there is enough access to mount the right-angle bracket on the outside of the liner so mark drill and mount after a lot of test fitting.
Then push the liner in place, drill and fit two M5 screws/nuts
Then push the liner up and in at the rear. Here I couldn't see any sensible location for a mounting bracket, and indeed that a couple of self-tappers directly through the liner and into the inner wing would hold it very rigidly in place.
Interestingly I found the liner only fits really well at the front and back if it is pushed up in the middle so far that the inner edge goes up so far as to reveal a section of the wing joining edge to the inner wing. I would look much 'cleaner', if a little nearer the wheel, if it stopped inside the main arch, but then the profile of the liner would need to be a lot different. It still seals pretty well as it is, so I decided that was how it must be intended to fit. The other side required exactly the same fitment.
LHS looking up
RHS looking up
Only other job on the RHS was to use some automotive body panel sealer to fit a panel over the vent in the new inner wing. This vent would go into the large smugglers box on a LHD car, but on a RHD it goes straight into the footwell providing an opportunity for spray and other crap (and cold air) to get into the cockpit. It was factory sealed in a similar manner on the original inner wing. I will hand-paint it orange when I am going around touching up a few underside bits I missed/scratched/dinged.
And so to the rear. Just a reminder of how big the cavities are here, and how many places there are for mud, water, salt and grot to accumulate and sit and rot away the metalwork
To the front
And the rear
Lots of mental debate about how the liner is supposed to interact with the spring plates, but in the end I opted for quite a bit of trimming, guided by the pre-cut slot for the rear bumper/wing join and a tight fit in the wheel arch
Here I couldn't see a place to mount the support brackets behind the liner, so I mounted them 'in view' as you can see.
LHS to the front
and to the rear
As I said above I will consider a stronger/rivnut fixing if/when I confirm they don't rub etc.
Now on the RHS things are complicated on a 72MY by the oil tank location.
and the oil lines/console
So it was a much more fiddly job, with the need to cut and edge-protect some holes for the lines and the oil sender wiring. That said not as bad as I thought, and it fits in as far as the LHS. The rear edge of the liners on both sides are tight up against the 'J' tube wing supports so they are only reducing clearance by 10mm or less. Hopefully that will be OK!
RH to the rear
RH looking forward
and looking up
No celebrations yet until it has been road-tested, then I need to seal the edges of the rubber to the aluminium with sealant (as recommended by Lokari), and then coat them with stone-chip (again as recommended by Lokari). I am pleased with the fitment and they can only do a LOT of good keeping crap from all those nooks and crannies. We'll see……