[DeTomaso] GTS Flares

[David & Marilyn Bell]

I also installed a set of steel GTS flares a few years.  The pre-fit was OK
but not what I'd call perfect.  In fact I had a very hard time figuring out
which one went where (front-back, left-right ???).  Once the body guy got
everything all welded up with a little smoothing filler at the seams, they
look excellent though.

Flares definitely add a more aggressive look to the lines of the car.  Some
like it, some don't.  I'm on the fence as sometimes I think I like the
original lines more.

And don't expect to gain much in the way of additional space for wider
wheels either - maybe 1/2 inch in front at most.


Muscat Dave

-----Original Message-----
From: detomaso-bounces at realbig.com [mailto:detomaso-bounces at realbig.com]On
Behalf Of MikeLDrew at aol.com
Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2007 8:16 PM
To: wdemelo at cogeco.ca; detomaso at realbig.com
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] GTS Flares


In a message dated 11/8/07 6:10:19 PM, wdemelo at cogeco.ca writes:


> I've heard about the problems with the fitting of GT5S and GR4 flares from
> the vendors. Has anyone had good luck with the GTS flares? Steel or
> fibreglass?
> Should the wheel offset change with GTS flares?
>

I was the intermediary between a set of fiberglass GT5 flares from Bobby
Byars (which in fact were made on Hall Pantera tooling) and a very
disgruntled
fellow restoring a 1984 GT5 in England.   Apparently the flares didn't fit
worth
a damn.   The fellow in England had the benefit of a half-dozen Panteras in
his shop to try them on, and it didn't fit on *any* of them.   The amount of
work required to fix them made it commercially unviable, and the brand-new
flares
were thrown over the hedge.   It's too expensive to ship them back for a
refund (if in fact one would be offered), and instead they just kissed that
money
goodbye and spent a bunch of time fixing the factory flares, which not only
fit but were also of much, much higher quality.

On the other hand, I also was the intermediary between a set of STEEL flares
from Bobby Byars and a fellow in another European country; those flares fit
just fine, needing just minor tweaking.  Although steel flares have higher
up-front costs, in fact it is normally less expensive when all is said and
done, to
put steel flares on a car, since steel can be 'worked' so easily compared to
fiberglass.

Chris Wilkins in Arizona has different molds for fiberglass GT5 flares, and
he claims his fit perfectly.   Pat Mical also said the same thing (although
15
years ago a friend bought a set of fiberglass flares from Pat, and one was
desperately warped and he refused to make good on them, and those too were
thrown
away I think).

Whatever you do, be cautious, and make SURE you have an agreement with the
vendor ahead of time as to how he plans to stand behind his product should
it
turn out that they don't fit and you can't use them!

Mike


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