Return To Fenderland

Today we mounted the fenders! Up until now they have just been hanging on the frame of the car. First we located all the hardware for the fenders.

Then we pushed KITT back and pulled the front of the car over to the center of the garage.

With the hardware located, I needed to find the V-shaped brackets that secure the lower front portion of the fenders. They were in the POR-15ed parts tub.

I found the V-shaped brackets in the tub.

I wire wheeled all the fender bolts, the bolt clips, and the V-shaped bracket bolts and clips. This took quite a while.

This is a before and after picture of wire wheeling the hardware.

While I was wire wheeling the hardware, Sara experimented with some foaming glass cleaner on the RAAMmat BXT II. One of the next projects we want to tackle is applying the Ensolite foam in the cabin. There is paint overspray (and dust and dirt) on the RAAMmat BXT II, and I am worried about the Ensolite not adhering correctly. As of tonight, Sara is planning to vacuum the cabin interior and then clean the RAAMmat BXT II with foaming glass cleaner.

Sara also wiped down the fenders and the support frames for the fenders.

Here is all the hardware for the fenders, wire wheeled and bathed in WD-40.

I installed the five frame clips on the driver side fender frame support and then installed the bolts.

I installed the bolt for the lower fender tab on the driver side.

I installed the five frame clips and bolts on the passenger side fender.

Then I installed the bolt for the lower fender tab on the passenger side.

Next I installed the V-shaped bracket on the driver side.

I went to install the second V-shaped bracket on the passenger side, but I really had to tweak the fender to get it to line up. It put a lot of pressure on the fender. Sara asked, "Are you sure the brackets were the exact same? Maybe they have to go on a certain side." 

So I removed the V-shaped bracket from the passenger side, and compared it to the installed driver side bracket. The only difference I could see was a dimple at the base of the arms on this bracket. We looked at blog pictures from when we removed the brackets in September of 2012, and sure enough, the dimpled bracket was on the driver side.

So I needed to switch the V-shaped brackets. I removed the bracket I installed on the driver side, and installed the dimpled bracket in its place. I noticed this pushed the fender out a little bit more than the other bracket had.

Then I installed the other bracket on the passenger side, and it fit easily.

Here is the correctly installed passenger V-shaped fender bracket.

Here is the correctly installed driver V-shaped fender bracket.

With both fenders installed, I just needed to push KITT back to his side of the garage. 

We had a good KITT weekend - we installed both the front and rear bumpers, and also both fenders. We are planning to test fit KITT's nose this week.