Mark D Posted March 30, 2011 Report Share Posted March 30, 2011 :oI know most of you long term members have discussed this ad infinitum, but I just need some help understanding attachement methods for the skirts that came with my car. Below are four pictures of the same skirt with details for the rear clip at front and back of the skirt. (by the way I drive a '48 S/D) I tried putting these things on the car (previous owner claims they where on the car, but claims he can't recall) I just can't undertand the clips and spring loaded gizmos? I haven't a clue who made these, or if they are period or later made. Any advice is appreciated. Weather forecast for Central Massachusetts says rain on Saturday but sun on Sunday, so Saturday will be a good day to change the oil, filters and tackle these skirts so I can be on the road again for Sunday. Apologies in advance for the dirty skirts... just dug them out of the trunk where they've been since '94. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plymouthy Adams Posted March 30, 2011 Report Share Posted March 30, 2011 (edited) are these overlay type shirts where the skirt lays against the outer fender panel and not just within/insert the opening of the fender well? if you were to lay this flat and snap one more picture as it would look from the bottom of the skirt as installed on the car will give one a better view of the mounts in use..unfortunately I have no experience with the overlay style.. it appears the spring loaded devices are to keep the item centered in the opening..the upper tap will spring load the top of the skirt to keep it flush with the body...and the lower slots and mount stud is for affixing the skirt in place...one would assume that the lower fender opening will have the associated hardware for the stud/bolts to affix to on the lower fender edge.. Edited March 30, 2011 by Tim Adams spelling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark D Posted March 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2011 Thanks for the help Tim, are these overlay type shirts... Yes they are overlay skirts. There is continuous rubber strip that is applied to the outer edge of the skirt itself. If I were to make a selection myself I'd probably buy the inserts as I like the look better than the overlays. (Vendor suggestions for those always welcome...)if you were to lay this flat and snap one more picture ... Can do, but it may not be until Saturday. Had one of them on the car but it was only held by the center spring. The edge clips didn't seem to want to dovetail with anything. it appears the spring loaded devices are to keep the item centered in the opening..the upper tap will spring load the top of the skirt to keep it flush with the body...and the lower slots and mount stud is for affixing the skirt in place...one would assume that the lower fender opening will have the associated hardware for the stud/bolts to affix to on the lower fender edge.. If I were to guess about the spring loaded device I would have to say that I agree something missing on the fender side as you suggest. The point on that pin wants to make me beleive that its purpose was to self center into a bracket hole of some sort. But then there are these other angle clips and thumb nuts on the other corner that just dont seem to want to grab onto the fender. From an industrial design point, I want to think that the designer would have put the spring loaded device at both corners to make it convenient (tools not required) if a skirt had to be removed to facilitate roadside tire replacement.Hoping someone out there may have the same skirts and can take a quick snap shot or at least verify that I have all of the harware required to keep these on the car. Once again thanks for the help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobT-47P15 Posted March 30, 2011 Report Share Posted March 30, 2011 (edited) I don't understand the latching system at the bottom corners, either. The middle one for the top is pretty simple. My skirts, bought on ebay, came missing all attaching items. So, I finally invented a thing to hold the top at the middle, then drilled a small hole thru each end of the skirt and fender, and attached with small sheet metal screws. Then painted the head. Not as they should be, but are there and you don't much notice the screws at a glance. It almost seems like there should be some piece attached to your fender to which to attach the skirt. But there isn't much lip around our P15 fenders to work with. Edited March 30, 2011 by BobT-47P15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claybill Posted March 31, 2011 Report Share Posted March 31, 2011 remember to put a rubber (hose) tip on the end of the spring loaded rod that presses against the fender... the spring loaded rod actually works backwards of what you would think..as it requires some pressure to keep it tight against the fender. the ends.....well attach best as you can..sometimes just a sheet metal screw is the answer. bill, they are cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
58prostreet Posted March 31, 2011 Report Share Posted March 31, 2011 I have skirts for my '52 dodge. They came from Agape, and had some fairly useless attaching hardware for the bottom corners. I did as Claybill said and used a piece of fuel hose on the top attaching piece. This applies a little pressure to hold it tight as well cuts down on rubbing. I then pulled the bottom in as tight as i could to body and drilled a hole from bottom up through skirt and into bottom edge of fender. It is drilled straight up so you cannot see it from side of car. They fit good this way and they're not coming off. I used self tapping screws. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark D Posted March 31, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2011 remember to put a rubber (hose) tip on the end of the spring loaded rod that presses against the fender...the spring loaded rod actually works backwards of what you would think..as it requires some pressure to keep it tight against the fender. the ends.....well attach best as you can..sometimes just a sheet metal screw is the answer. bill, they are cool! Excellent advice about the hose Bill. I will do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark D Posted March 31, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2011 I have skirts for my '52 dodge. They came from Agape, and had some fairly useless attaching hardware for the bottom corners. I did as Claybill said and used a piece of fuel hose on the top attaching piece. This applies a little pressure to hold it tight as well cuts down on rubbing. I then pulled the bottom in as tight as i could to body and drilled a hole from bottom up through skirt and into bottom edge of fender. It is drilled straight up so you cannot see it from side of car. They fit good this way and they're not coming off. I used self tapping screws.Bob Drilling the fender worries me gents, Up here in new England raw steel invites rust, ay yup. The car I have is so original Im still afraid to make any mods. I'm going to do a quick free patent search tonight since I'm stuck in NYC for the evening without a plan. If I find anything, I'll post. Thanks gents! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobT-47P15 Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 Here is a pic of skirts for sale on ebay.....they say for a 49-50 Pontiac. The catches on the bottom go behind the fender edge, then it's secured by the middle latch rod. I had some skirts many years ago that were made similarly that I used on a P15 owned at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark D Posted April 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 Here is a pic of skirts for sale on ebay.....they say for a 49-50 Pontiac. The catches on the bottom go behind the fender edge, then it's secured by the middle latch rod. I had some skirts many years ago that were made similarly that I used on a P15 owned at the time. Now those edge clips make sense to me. I'm pretty sure I could mod the skirts with an edge clip similar to that. I worked for Bose for 17 years and they had a device that was used in the manufacturing lines to hold down product while it went down the line. Basically what I'd call a small cam-lock clamp, it would work perfectly in this application to grab the back side of the fender at the bottom edges. Woodworkers also use these types of clamps as well. Off to the hardware store and then to woodworkers warehouse to cruise the shelves and see what I can find... Thanks for the photo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobT-47P15 Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 The skirts I had years ago had a lip that turned under across the bottom. The maker used a piece of spring-y wire bolted to the bottom lip, then it had a bend of maybe 45 degrees at the end......which went behind the finder edge, rather like the ones above. Then it had the middle lever thing to secure it at the top. The springy wire was attached maybe 8 or 10 inches back from ends of the skirt and hung out past the end. You could scoot the skirt a little to get it centered properly. Hope that description makes some sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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