How To: Fender Brace Rebuild◄

[BR3W CITY]

I posted asking about saving these in my "Fender Brace & Fender Seal" thread not long ago, and thankfully we found out they could be saved.

edit; found out these are referred to as "cab splash guards" so we're going with that.

Is it less work to just buy new ones? Sure. But I felt like I'd rather spend the time than the money, so here goes a complete rebuild on the front inner fender braces;

Mine were crapped out badly, but I took them to the blaster anyway to see what was left. This would have been a good time to pull those factory staples out, but I didn't think about that at the time! Notice how badly chewed up these are.



They would have been too thin to weld without chasing a hole, but a little JB Weld and some tape let me reinforce the thin metal, and fill any holes I didn't want anymore.


They dried and I sanded a bit of surface off the JB, and hit them with some Epoxy Sealer Primer to protect whats there. I did come back and trim that upper rough edge back a bit after this pic.


I hit it with a couple coats of good old engine black paint to get a nice surface (even tho you'll never see it!). They look a far cry from the first pics. I also finally pulled the staples out haha.




I got my seals in from Classic Parts, those guys haven't done me wrong yet. Their listings aren't as detailed as other places, but they seem 2-5$ cheaper on everything.
Unless you wanna punch new holes in your braces (don't!), grab yourself some steel or stainless garden/safety wire and a pliers. You'll need to align the seal and use something sharp to make a starter hole to feed the wire through. Do the same for both holes and make a loop. Then you can pull taught, and twist the wire to secure it from the back. Do this a whole bunch of times, and your seals will be in place good as original.




My last step before installation is twofold. The original part would have been coated with undercoating, if your truck was equipped with it. Due to bad tech, undercoating is a blessing and curse. In dry climates it protects the vehicle, but it moist salty places, it traps moisture in. I didn't want to have that happen again!

Generally, anything I need to protect, or anywhere I used to have undercoating...gets replaced with truck bedliner. Its WAY more durable, not porous, and won't trap anything under it as long as you prep first. This gives the guards a waterproof/chemical proof coating...and as a bonus, it recreates the original finish and texture. This is something to keep in mind for all you "factory look" guys!


I'll add the last two pictures of my topcoats of bedliner tomorrow so you can see them in non-phone-flash conditions. And YES, I did spray onto the seal as well. Thats how the original undercoat was sprayed (sloppily hahaha), and it helps coat the steel wire to prevent it from rusting out from the seal.

Let me know what you think guys. I had to learn how to do it, so yall might as well learn from me.

-Rev J