F451

Hey gang,

I recall some discussion a while ago about someone trying to figure out a good rub strip delete process that was short of full on body work.

I frickin hate the body side rub strips on my '88. They have to go! They completely disrupt and ruin the fine flowing lines of the car IMO.

Sooo, has anyone come up with a decent rub strip delete method, short of full on body work? Or am I clutching at straws here?

Any input is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Ed

ps: the ironic thing was when I was looking for my first 928, I was completely oblivious to the whole rub strip, no rub strip situation, and ended up with an '85 that did not have rub strips. I didn't even realize it until someone pointed it out to me. Ever since that day I've been unable to accept the rub strip look, although I have tried and tried to convince myself that it looks great with them.

blown 87

No way to do this with out body work.
Weld or glue, that is the real question.

PorKen

I was looking at maybe putting on lower profile strips a while back.

heinrich

I have stripless doors and fenders spare. You'd need to paint, and only would have to delete the one small strip on the rear fenders.

Shane

Pull 'em, have the glue removed, color sand, and fill the holes with flush plugs painted Guards Red. Then later when you can justify a new paint job have them welded closed.

BC

I filled them in with fiberglass after sanding them with 80 grit or heavier, and then denting them in a bit for some bite.

F451

Ok, that is some great feedback guys, thanks. I like the idea of filling them with something like fiberglass as a bit of a stop gap measure. With enough patience I think it could be done in a way that would look decent, especially since the paint on my '88 is pretty hurting anyway.

If someday I wanted a full on paint job, it could be taken care of in a more permanent way.

Ok, thanks guys, these are some good ideas to ponder. I sure would love to get rid of those strips.

And H, thanks for the offer, but no can afford in either time or money.

Ed

Tom. M

When you pull the strips there will be two 1/4inch diameter holes in each panel (fender, door, and rear quarter). The fender and door are aluminum as you know. The rear quarter is steel. Problems with the aluminum is that welding them (with aluminum) is currently the only real way fill the holes..and the weld is typically more porous than the surrounding aluminum. You will weld and then paint..and a little while later water will migrate from the back side and bubble the paint. Mercedes has a great sealant for the back of the weld that supposedly works. Al B (welder extrordinairre) says you can back purge with argon to minimize the porosity of the weld. Aside from that, he also said that there are some new epoxy or filler materials that likely will work better with aluminum panels and not be subject to the water issue.... I'll be looking into this eventually...as mine are open holes right now.

Otherwise..like Shane said....get some fill plugs and dab them with red paint and stick em on...I can get away with the holes (or plugs for that matter) since they don't show up that much on a black car...red though would be pretty obvious....

Later,
Tom
89GT (rub strip less and holey )

PorKen

Now that you mention it, my '86 is so full of Bondo, anyway, that I could just delete, fill, paint the fill, and blend. Earl Schieb won't mind!

White is very forgiving.

F451

Tom, I remember seeing your GT at your house with the holes from the delete, and I remember thinking it didn't look too bad.

James-man

How bad would miniature bumper plugs look?

Tom928

The thing that I find about the rub strips that is makes them look out of place is how wide and thick they are. So I was wondering, what if they were much narrower & thinner which might look more better and not has as much body work to do.

Shark Attack

I dunno, but if you get them off with out ruining them... Ill buy them PM me

JHowell37

I'm in the process of doing mine and have used fiberglass on the inside of the fenders and then fiberglass reinforced filler on the outside. Since the quarter panels are steel, I'll weld them closed. If I had a Tig welder, I'd weld the holes on the fenders and doors as well. It's one of those things, if I wasn't planning on a repaint anyway, I would have left them alone. My main reasoning for their removal is that they should really be painted separate from the rest of the car and I don't feel like doing it.

F451

No, no, no!!!

Neg-a-rino!

They must go!

Uh, sorry, missed my meds this morning. I'm much better now.

Carry on.