Day 9: Fender Bender

Day 9

Luke Kirchner

Fender Bender

Don't worry.... we actually didn't bang up a fender... but we did put them on! We woke up bright and early this morning, excited to work on starting and finishing all four doors. Almost immediately we noticed that our felt ordered from a catalog was not enough and that the glass would rub on the sides. After a couple of frantic phone calls to get those parts ordered, we decided to just put the doors on hold and work on the front of the car.  

Looking like a hot rod!

First, however, we had to start with the hood. The tough part about putting on the hood was not the weight, but the sheer size. Luckily, there were alignment holes that we could use so we knew the correct position for the hood. With the help of my mom, my dad and I bolted down the hood. We noticed that it looked slightly off-center, but we were going to wait to see how the gaps were when the fenders were put on. Now we can finally keep the engine bay clean from all the pollen!

Splash guards in position

In order to put on the fenders, we first had to install these splash guards on the side. It was a little challenging figuring out which guards went on which side, but once we sorted that out they bolted right on. There were many holes in the sides panels, so we had to get the appropriate bolts laid out so we wouldn't be fumbling around trying to find nuts and bolts when there was a huge fender dangling over the car! Next up was the big moment.... the fender installation. These suckers were big, heavy, and did not want to go on. It took around an hour to get the first fender on, as we had to thread certain panels in front of others, prevent the splash guard from ripping, and try to avoid chipping any paint. Let's just say some paint was chipped. 

Fortunately, it turned out absolutely beautiful! And the hood was perfectly aligned, much to our surprise. It's really starting to look like a car now. With the fenders bolted on using a few screws on the top, we went under the car to put in the retainment brackets to keep the fenders stable when driving. Although some were tight and we had to bend some metal, eventually the fenders were fully installed. 

Maybe not having the felt for the doors was a blessing today... we saw real physical progress with the fenders! Tomorrow we will focus on adding the grill, headlights, and the final trim for the outside of the car. Getting close to adding all our parts!