Fender Welt

[Classic Finn]

I was wondering if the fender welt for the fenders can be from almost any
car ? Or does it have to be from a particular car make.

In question are the Extra Wide Kit Fenders.. Then I wouldnt have to order them from the states as well... There is plenty of different
types available here.

It would be nice to have the fenders protected on the inner side..


Classic Finn

[Chris C]

Any fender welt will do, and if memory serves me, (which it often doesn't at my age) Rich's list has a link to where to buy it.

[cracker39]

And I kept delaying ordering welt and when I was ready to put on my fenders, I didn't have it. So, I just used poly sealant and went ahead and put them on.

[Steve_Cox]

Heikki,

I didn't use fender welting either, but took Doug's (Snoop) advise and filled the crack between the teardrop and the fender with black silicone sealant to keep the dirt out. It looks good and worked well... just the way I did it.

[goldcoop]

Heikki-

I think Vintage VW Bug welting would work?!

Cheers,

Coop

[doug hodder]

Heikki...whether or not you use welting depends on how you are finishing off the sides of your tear....with an aluminum side it will work fine and look great...and there is a lot of generic stuff out there...If you can't find it, you can have it made up...or make it up yourself...just get some uv resistant automotive vinyl and wrap it around a piece of like 1/4" nylon cord...sew right next to the cording full length, using a zipper foot on the sewing machine...not hard to do at all..I didn't use welting as I had the maple framing around the fender exterior...welting just wasn't going to work, but I did want to stop any material from building up and holding water in that area...that's why I did the silicone...and thanks Steve...glad it worked out for you, your build looks great!!! doug

[Juneaudave]

Doug, Doug, Doug, Doug, Doug...Can I get a Zipper Foot from Proto Tools..or will a generic one from Ace Hardware do?

[madjack]

Heikki, ...we needed it, couldn't find it locally and didn't have time to order it...so...we used 1.25" x 3/16 closed cell foam weatherstripping(common at most hardwarre stores over here) in place of welting...it worked great and we will use it again for future builds...gave a very clean look.........
madjack

[SteveH]

Any automotive upholstery shop can make fender welting for you in any color you want, and it's cheap.

[asianflava]

What exactly is the purpose of welting? Seems strictly cosmetic to me. Unlike a true gasket, it will only be on the edges of the mating surfaces.

I don't think it will keep all the dirt out. What happens if dirt gets in between the wall and fender?

[cracker39]

Asian, I think of the welt as mostly being cosmetic, although it should keep out dirt and moisture. The part that goes between the fender and the wall is very thin and if I had used it, I'd have also used sealant placed at the bottom edge of the welt and at the bottom of the fender to make sure it is sealed good. That's assuming that your fender has an inside face to fit against the trailer wall like mine does.

[Melvin]

What exactly is the purpose of welting? Seems strictly cosmetic to me. Unlike a true gasket, it will only be on the edges of the mating surfaces.

I don't think it will keep all the dirt out. What happens if dirt gets in between the wall and fender?

On metal bodied cars with bolt on fenders the welting does two things:

1) stops the two pieces of metal from squeaking and rattling together.

2) prevents water kicked up by the tires from pouring past the fender-body gap.

The welting gets dirty as you speculated but mostly the dirt just keeps the metal underneath shiny. Bodies used to rust at the fender line but that was mostly because of the fender bolt holes.