Rear arches

[kolynos]

Hi All: Has anybody had any problems with the rear square type arches being different sizes, one bigger than the other & getting the lower arch lined up with the main arch when the lid is closed, if that makes sense :confused:

[guy mayers]

Mine were fine. That doesn't mean to say that they fit easily! I'll be at the NEC over the weekend if you want to come look! The car will be on the SuperCars stand, not Gerrys, I'll be on the Lancia stand on Saturday morning and probably hanging around Gerrys on Saturday afternoon/Sunday.
Guy

[Sptwoman]

Dave, Doesn't make sense to me!!! I'm on the rear as well and have had no issues with size, so to speak :p I've cut the original square arch rear wing profiles down and thinned both surfaces and all fits ok, within reason. Do you have any pics to explain?

[kolynos]

Hi Allen: I have fitted them the same way as you, thats no problem. I wanted a reaction from somebody first before I revealed the problem, which is , that the left hand arch [looking from the rear] is about 1.5 inches wider at the rear than the other side, but how can that be if the same mould is used for all the arches. So it means "cutting & shutting" to get it right :confused: :confused:

[Sptwoman]

:eek: Lancia quality I assume !! Gerry's proud of his reproduction but yes I've checked AND :confused: you're correct, there's a bit of a diffrence. Are you going to ask Gerry or me??? :rolleyes:
Can anyone else comment on this issue??

[strat6v]

Round arches on mine so can't comment.

[John]

Most moulds for fibreglass products are oversize. Sometimes the laminator will fill up the whole mould leaving some to be trimmed off. Is there a trim line in the moulding? This usually shows up as a line of gel coat slightly above the normal surface and denotes the normal place to trim the item off to when it comes out of the mould.
Or it could just be as Allen says- Lancia quality (or should that be Bertone quality)

[Sptwoman]

John,
I think it's a cut and shut exercise to me?? The pic shows my arch rear section contrasting profiles :confused:

[Sptwoman]

Good old Lancia quality. Gerry advises. "The GP4 arches are slightly assymetrical, they were after all taken from an original !!"

[Sptwoman]

The arches lose their true at the rear in the last 2 thirds by up to 2 cms. Any ideas on plan of attack? :confused:
Leave it as it is.
Cut of the excess on the inside where it moulds into the rear panel.
Remove excess on the outside lip edge and rebond original lip.
I thought of bonding them to the rear panel and then removing the excess from the edge and rebonding the lip!!!

[chris.richard]

Good old Lancia quality. Gerry advises. "The GP4 arches are slightly assymetrical, they were after all taken from an original !!"

:D :D :D

[kolynos]

Allen: My arches were fitted before I saw the problem,I stood back to see how they looked & guess what I said :eek: [answers on a postcard please]but unless you look at both together you wont really notice so I wonder how many have not noticed.So I am going to cut out the unwanted glass fibre from the centre & bring the lip in to meet the rest of the arch, leaving a slight gap to bond & re-glass.
Dave..

[guy mayers]

Before you perfectionists do anything can I suggest that you see how they look once they are on the car? Another thing to consider in making one narrower than Gerry made it is if in doing this it results in the tyre protruding from the arch and an SVA failure? Please consider that the original "fault" may not be in the arch extensions but the symmetry (or otherwise) of the rear body panel that they are bonded to...

Also, once they are on the car, on opposite sides, the only place you might notice the difference is from well behind the car. I'm off to measure my arches! Well, maybe at the NEC if I can be bothered! :p

[kolynos]

I accept your point Guy but comparing one with the other, the wide one looks all twisted & out of square with the rear end & I also tried my rims on to make sure...

[Sptwoman]

Well the dirty deed's been done and I've butchered the mutant arch :D This is it before the butcher with a template of the other side over it.

[Sptwoman]

This is it after the butcher. It's now near true to the other sides dimensions and "straighter". I had to do it before fitting otherwise it would have bugged me till it was done. I've now fitted both sides and they look good. All that's left now is the glass and resin. Thanks for the advise Dave.

[Swamprat33]

Errrm, hate to point this out, but you seem to have put the wheel arch in the wrong place :D

[John]

Allen,
yes, it was quite a discrepancy. A picture is worth a thousand words, your problem was not what I thought at all.

[Sptwoman]

Tim , The arch on the boot looks a little out of place as well!!! I did drop my build manual and all the pages dropped out....there not numbered!!!
Dave, It's quite surprising this has not been identified before. Maybe we should have a poll to identify all mutant rear ends :confused: Well it is approaching winter and the "things to do" list must be filling up.... :D

[strat6v]

Mutant bodywork all round. Sand it, paint it but whatever you do don't start measuring etc or you'll be cutting and shutting forever :eek: :D :D