GUIDE to re-studing xr/rs arches

[jayRS]

done this guide ages ago on fiestaturbo.com but never put it up here, but here it is tools and parts needed. TOOLS stanley knife drimmel cut off disc for drimmel circle cutter for drimmel pliers drill drill bit (i used 4.5mm) rachet with small sockets, 7+8mm WD40 PARTS 12 1p coins(maybe) rubber, can be old bike inner tube or whatever really. studs, i used 4mm stainless x 30 long, cut down to about 20mm nuts, i used 4mm stainless glue plasticine (maybe) right, some time ago now i had to remove my drivers rear arch, now for anyone thats had to do the same, you will know that the studs will snap, or spin in the plastic, or even still the nut is so rusty it crumbles away. anyhow i re-studed that arch as i didn't want to have to glue it on. now im not dissing anyone that has glued theres on, but its a bit of a f*cker if you want to take it off again aint it... right anyhow, i started a rebuild post on my FRST ( http://www.fiestaturbo.com/forums/fi...3-11-vt121164/) at the beginning of the year and such removed all the other arches from my car, and the passenger rear had to have the nuts ground off with a drimmel. now this is where we'll start, removing them. if your lucky, the front ones will undo, always worth giving a spray with WD40 but dont expect too much. for those that won't undo, if they don't sheer off, you gunna have to cut them off. you could if you want attack them with a angle grinder, but i found it better to use a drimmel with a cut off disc, well in fact i went through a few, but i cut the nut in half and prized them bits off to leave the stud with a slot in it. its easy to do it like that rather than trying to cut the stud off, trust me. anyhow, once that's done and the arch is off you can set to work. now for this i used a glue i er, borrowed from a place i used to work at :bonkers: as its f*cking strong and has a little flex, and if things can be stuck to wind turbin blades that have a rotating tip speed of 200mph, then its gunna work just fine for my arches you on the other hand won't get this stuff i'm using, so another good adhesive is going to be needed, but it has to be strong, not just sticky, and you'll see why when you read on. araldite although will go off hard, is too brittle, i've not used it for this, but on other things in plastic, it don't like it, so i would say keep away from that. maybe a grip fill or something, but your have to decide what is best for your needs, but whatever glue you use, remember, they don't need to be done super tight to the car, its just a wheel arch first off, you need to get your new stud. in my case i used 4mm stainless screws and modded the head a little, i put 2 small slots in the sides, this is so when i put it in, the glue goes through these slots, and into the flat slot ment for the screw driver, and this is what, along with the adhesive power of the glue, will stop the screw turning in the skirt, so i recommend you do the same, you could even cut a little "V" out which might be better for those not able to used the sort of stuff i am. i have left my studs a little long for a reason, but if you wish for yours to be a little shorter then do it now, clamp the part of the thread your not going to use in a vice and cut to the length you want. file round the top so you have no sharp bits, and if you have a die (for cutting a thread on a bit of bar) run that down to clear the thread, if you don't have a die, use a nut and make sure it goes on and comes off ok. once this is done with all the screws/studs your ready to remove the old stud i used a stanley knife and a drimmel to do mine, i also used the circle cutter to rough up the inside of where the stud goes to make the glue stick well. i also dug the cutter in , in 4 corners so the glue goes into the skirt a little rather than just sitting on the top, not saying you need to do that, but i did. now i removed all the studs at once, then prepped them all at once, if you want to do 1 at a time thats up to you, but the glue im using can start to go off in 2 mins (if hot enough) and be fully gone off within 5 mins if weather is really hot, hence why i done all 4 at the same time. however i waited till it was cooler in the evening and done it then, but i still only had tops of 5-10min before it started going off, and thats in the tube too , so thats why there isnt any picture of me putting the studs in as i didnt have time to do it. (but i still have a arch to do so will try and get pic's then and add them) once its all prepped and ready for glue, i started, i made sure the glue went into the holes i dug, then i put a layer on the bottom of each hole. i then stuck the studs in 1 by 1 making sure the glue came up through the slots i had cut in the sides, and i positioned the new stud in the center of the hole, which is more or less where it should be, and making sure its sitting flat on its face the stud will stay straight. now for me this was easy cos the glue was strong and even when wet it held the new stud in place, so i just filled the rest of the holes with more glue and smooth it in with a stick. if one had moved, i had to move it now, or not at all now if the glue you use wont hold the stud it might be worth you doing 1 at a time and holding the stud by hand, or even a bit of tape. or better still, if you have plasticine, make a mould of the raised bit with a hole in the middle to allow for the stud, and once your glues in, slip this on so it hold it in place. i was going to use this idea but didn't need to in the end. whatever way you use to hold the stud, make sure it can't move, because in my case, if the stud was wrong when this glue went off, i was a bit f*cked it is important to make sure the glue does not go higher than the surronding plastic, if it does, smooth it back as this will become a problem when fitting it back to car if left ok let now say you have your studs glued in, if you find there too long, trim them, best bet is with a drimmel and cutting wheel, but don't let the stud get to hot as it might affect your glue. if the studs are at a ok length leave them. now i used 4mm stainless nuts, and made my own washers out of 1p coins and rubber.(no pics as i havent done them this time round yet) yeah thats right, a 1p coin wont rust, and if its clean and the rubber is clean you can stick the rubber to it, and a 1p coin bends a bit so thats cool now with stainless nuts and stainless studs, its not going to rust up, however grit etc will stick to it over time and the fine thread can be damaged if you try and take them off, so i covered my thread in copper grease, i know it makes stuff stick to it more and faster but the grease is in the thread so the dirts not, and its easy to wipe off for removal. or you could use stainless dome nuts, that should stop water and dirt getting in i have some but dunno if to use them yet now please note, because you are fitting new studs to your arches, do not expect them to fit back on right first time, im not saying they wont, but it depends on how off center the studs are, the holes in the car panels etc, you will see the hole in the car panels are bigger than the studs, this is to allow a little movement and adjustment for the arch, worst case, your have to get a rats tail file out and open the holes in the body work (and repaint when done) to get the archs to fit 100% but you might be lucky. i will no doubt have to do a little work, so if your planning a full repaint, try the new "re studded" skirt on the car before you send it for paint you dont have to make your own washers, you could use stainless ones, but your have to put your own rubber on them. or if you want (and there not cheap) you could buy new fixings from fords, its the nut washer and rubber bit all in one, but remember there made from mild steel and will rust, and being on stainless steel stud, it will cause a electrolitic (spelt right?) reaction which mean they will corrode and prob faster. its a myth that stainless is better (in most cases), common stainless bolts are weaker than steel bolts, but in this case because it is only holding a bit of plastic against a car body is is more than up to the job. i wasn't paying attention when i was fitting my arch back on a few years back and was talking to my mate while doing it up, the arch had a massive dip in it where i was pulling it in so much, but it came out when i undid it though (phew) so the 4mm stainless bolt/screws are plenty stong enough. i got all my fixings off ebay as believe it or not, for the amount i got it was far cheaper than if i got it in a shop near me. good luck with it, and remember, if your not having the arches re painted, lay them on something soft so they dont get scratched up, i made that mistake the other year 1 last thing, apologies for any spelling or grammer mistakes, i'm not the best with "written" work hope this helps, and if anyone has any questions, ask away or pm me. extra pictures from the last arches i restuded, used a different glue this time due to the fact the plexus cannot be got (by me) anymore and so far so good, ive not fitted the arches back to the car (at the time of writing) but have tested the glue on a spare arch i had and its as strong as the pluxus new glue and the penny washers i made, made a bit of a mess with the glue as it was going off, might have to make more but you get the idea.

If you were logged in, you wouldn't be seeing this ad! Register your free account today, or log in if you already have an account.

[MKII XR2]

Thats brilliant well done Il be doing this very shortly on my latest project

[jayRS]

glad it could be of help mate

[stembo21]

i will be doing that to

[jayRS]

Originally Posted by stembo21

i will be doing that to

good good mate

[stembo21]

Originally Posted by jayRS

good good mate

were can i get the glue from

[jayRS]

tbh mate i wouldnt know, i got mine from work when i worked there.

someone used araldite once and said it was ok, me, i think its to brittle for this.

i see this on ebay and reckon it could be ok, the "sets has hard as glass" is a bit worring as it may be too hard, but it does say "UNLIKE MOST OTHER EPOXY ADHESIVES THIS ADHESIVE SETS HARD AS GLASS, YET IT IS EXTRA TOUGHENED TO PREVENT IT CRACKING ON IMPACTS OR IF BENT"

so it could well be just the job, if someone used alraldite and got away with it then this should be ok, for Ł4 it could be worth a chot mate

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Epoxy-Resin-Gl...1%7C240%3A1308

[stembo21]

Originally Posted by jayRS

tbh mate i wouldnt know, i got mine from work when i worked there.

someone used araldite once and said it was ok, me, i think its to brittle for this.

i see this on ebay and reckon it could be ok, the "sets has hard as glass" is a bit worring as it may be too hard, but it does say "UNLIKE MOST OTHER EPOXY ADHESIVES THIS ADHESIVE SETS HARD AS GLASS, YET IT IS EXTRA TOUGHENED TO PREVENT IT CRACKING ON IMPACTS OR IF BENT"

so it could well be just the job, if someone used alraldite and got away with it then this should be ok, for Ł4 it could be worth a chot mate

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Epoxy-Resin-Gl...1%7C240%3A1308

yer thanks mate i still need to do my brake and fuel lines

[crazycage]

if you cant find a good glue use some stickaflex .

[stembo21]

Originally Posted by crazycage

if you cant find a good glue use some stickaflex .

were do you get that from mate

[stembo21]

Originally Posted by crazycage

if you cant find a good glue use some stickaflex .

were do you get that from mate

[jayRS]

you dont want to use anything that stays a bit soft as the studs will just spin.
just thought i would ad that in incase you thought of using something as it stayed soft and wouldnt crack etc

[stembo21]

Originally Posted by jayRS

you dont want to use anything that stays a bit soft as the studs will just spin.
just thought i would ad that in incase you thought of using something as it stayed soft and wouldnt crack etc

good point

[RooUnit360]

JayRS i have your fRSt rebuild thread on fiestaturbo.com to thank for the bag of shit fRSt that is now being restored on my driveway.

Hope I can do mine to the same standard as yours.

[jayRS]

LOL, your be alright mate im sure.
i got another frst in the workshop currently being done, not mine, but im doing the work.

have you got a thread going on FT? if so link me mate.

and if you need any advise or what ever etc feel free to pm me on FT mate

[RooUnit360]

Cheers mate ill have a thread going by the weekend when i can get some work going on the little beauty. Strip interior and bodykit to guage the extent of the rot is planned.

[jayRS]

cool, ill look out for it, your user name the same on FT?