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Post by smyrnaguy on Jan 13, 2011 8:21:04 GMT -5
I made front wheel well liners this weekend for my car and noticed that the driver's side inner fender is a full inch wider than the passenger side when measured just forward of the heater duct openings. Has anyone else noticed different measurements from left to right?
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Post by big bob on Jan 13, 2011 12:54:39 GMT -5
can you post pics and a little how to on this?
this is something i've been wanting to do, but wasnt sure how to approach it.
i'm on a GTI..
thanks! big bob
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Post by smyrnaguy on Jan 13, 2011 15:14:15 GMT -5
I'll take some photos this evening.
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Eric A
Full Member
It's an obsession not an investment!
Posts: 223
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Post by Eric A on Jan 13, 2011 18:29:56 GMT -5
Bradleys are in no way shape or form the same on the left a they are on the right! I learned this when making my interior. From what I understand how much they are off varied mold to mold but mine is way off if you start measuring.
Eric A.
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doug
Junior Member
Posts: 90
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Post by doug on Jan 13, 2011 19:07:23 GMT -5
best advice: dont measure unless you HAVE to, it will drive you nuts
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Post by smyrnaguy on Jan 13, 2011 19:29:16 GMT -5
I wanted to protect my heat pipes from stones, mud and wind. I noticed when I disassembled the car that the flex hose used for the heater was full of holes, small stones and dirt dauber nests. Drawing on observations here I replaced this with 2" PVC pipe. Still the rigid pipe does not need the abuse and I like a more finished look. Where to find the material to cover the space? My first inclination was to use a 50 gallon nursery pot; black about the right size and shape...but expensive. Then I was struck with brilliance if a source of high grade heavy duty ABS plastic can be considered brilliant. Pickle barrels. 55 Gallon pickle barrels. I buy these things from the Mount Olive Pickle Company by the truckload. I've used them for heat ballast in my greenhouse, fish holding tanks, animal shelters, trashcans and rainbarrels.  Selling 2 of these will pay for 20 barrels. The first thing I did was make an L-shaped bracket with a mounting tab on each end out of 1" EMT conduit. I had it laying around. The bracket is bolted to the rear, outside edge of the fender well and on the inner fender well just ahead of the heater pipe. In my case it was 17" deep and 14" wide. You can just make it out here:  Next I cut a barrel just below the handholds and just above the bottom. Here you see a whole one and the remnants from my cutting.  I split the remaining loop and had a "sheet" that was about 28" wide with a slight taper towards the outsides. I measured the drivers side wheel well width at my bracket (14") and cut a strip that width (x76"). The passenger side was 13". Next I drilled 2 holes in the plastic across one end making certain that the curved side was inward and marked my bracket for those holes. After screwing the plastic up at the one end I was able to unroll and fit it to the well easily. I used a marker to trace the body curvature at the forward end, removed the plastic again and trimmed to fit with a jigsaw. A single stainless screw holds it at the front and 2 at the rear.   |
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Post by Jeff Troy on Jan 13, 2011 19:31:29 GMT -5
The inner shell and outer body of the GT were molded as separate parts, and rarely fitted together correctly.
You'll find -- if you haven't already -- that if you mount the GT body to align perfectly with the perimeter of the VW floor pan, the body almost always points slightly to the left, which is why the infamous crack above the front wheel well is always over the right tire and not the left.
Just another in a long line of GT quirks. You gotta love this car; it's like a "boardwalk ride with a license plate."
Warmest...
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Post by dawgdk on Jan 13, 2011 20:31:38 GMT -5
nice job!! It finished the wheelwell off nicely. Also just a thought if you heat the plastic with a heat gun it should retain it's shape.
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Post by centralvalleygter on Jan 14, 2011 15:39:34 GMT -5
I too became aware of the lack of symetry when I fabricated my wheel well liners. The driver's side was about an inch wider (I posted that project when I did it, but it must have been on the old board, cuz it did not turn up when I searched for it). If you look carefully, you can see from the rear that the body is off-set about an inch toward the driver's side, even though the mounting base of the body is perfectly aligned on the VW Chassie. Quality control was not a major positive on the orginal Bradleys, but they are still sure fun to drive.
Warmest Regards,
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