[Galsia]

As there are no proper rear arch replacements to be found for reasonable money, Does anyone know of a panel off another car that comes close so I can at least get it bodged?

 

[goldtooth]

Hi, I recently spent some time investigating this and from two different sources I heard Mercedes Sprinter ...

I went to a bodyshop who said they would do it with sprinter arches (maybe needing more than one to get the shape right).

The other mention was on this forum ...

https://www.skylineowners.com/forum/13-general/228737-rusty-rear-arch-repair-needed.html

I didn't know which year model of sprinter but I assumed it meant rear arches. In the end I found a metal fabricator in Bristol who made up the arch radius with new metal and welded it in for me. Then I went back to the original bodyshop who did a great job of the finishing and spraying.

For weeks I was obsessed looking at every car and van I passed to see if the arch looked similar :-D

 

[Galsia]

Have you got any pics of how it turned out? and how much did it set you back?

 

[goldtooth]

Before (drivers side arch) and after both sides. Plus one of the new arch still covered with some nasty primer to protect it while I took it to the bodyshop. These are just the pics I happen to have on my phone at the mo.

Fabricator did the arch plus some new rear bumper brackets for £250 I think it was. Then body shop fixed a couple of dents and sprayed both sides front to back, front bumper and mirrors. They did it for about £600 plus VAT but actually did a bit more than we agreed but honoured the quote.

 

[Galsia]

Looks spot on that does. Baffles me that theres no repair panels made for a car thats so popular tbh.

 

[goldtooth]

Thanks. Yeah, it would be great if someone made them. Found this company who would make them if anyone had some panels as a pattern.
Contact classic car body panel manufacturers - Expressed Steel Panels

 

[Galsia]

Might be worth starting a thread in group buy to see if anyone else is up for it/ willing to donate a panel.

 

[nopenope]

I actually ran into this just this morning. I went to a anti-rust center and he mentioned that my rear arches had been widened, or at least worked on so the metal was weakened thus he told me to fix it the panel had to be taken off to properly fix it.

To me this sounded really weird, why take off the complete panel? I'm rather inexperienced in this field though...

So I was also thinking of a replacement panel and ran into this http://www.knightracer.com/UAT/kr4/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=1967, it's a full panel but they also have half ones.

 

[goldtooth]

This Knightracer one is a fibreglass panel and is different than a GTST. It's styled on the wider GTR panels which is fine if that's the look you want but if you've got a standard GTST then to make it look right you'd need all the other GTR replica panels for the rest of the car. Even then you'd still have the original (rusty?) panel underneath this as it just attaches on to the standard panel.

 

[nopenope]

This Knightracer one is a fibreglass panel and is different than a GTST. It's styled on the wider GTR panels which is fine if that's the look you want but if you've got a standard GTST then to make it look right you'd need all the other GTR replica panels for the rest of the car. Even then you'd still have the original (rusty?) panel underneath this as it just attaches on to the standard panel.

Yes, I'm aware. The thing is that, since I can't do the cutting and welding myself I suspect it's going to be COSTLY (yes, caps). That's why my idea was to get the rust cut away but the welding doesn't have to be perfect and then have the fiberglass panel to cover it up (which I would be fine with). Although, I'm still waiting for a quote on the panel job.

I know that it might sound cheap, but I feel like I'm between a rock and a hard place:

:whip:
My wallet & Me