63 Convertible A-Arm Flap Installation

[Kenneth B.]

Hello again, Folks,

Hope you are all having a great Memorial Day weekend.

I am ready to install the fenderwell a-arm flaps on my 63 convertible, but I am unclear as to how to orient the staples.

Are they installed 'inward', so the folded ends/tangs are in the engine compartment? Or do the go 'outward', so the folded ends are next to the tire in the wheelwell?

Also, I have two identical flaps that are somewhat trapezoidal in shape, with one distinctly taller edge. Does the taller edge of the flap go to the front of the car or the rear?

Finally, when installed, does the 'tongue' of the flap point inboard into the engine compartment, or does it tuck under toward the wheelwell?

As always, thanks in advance for your assistance!

[Mike M.]

Re: 63 Convertible A-Arm Flap Installation

Hi Ken
1. The staples install from the engine side and clinch on the wheel side.
2. Not sure about a '63, someone else will probably comment. But, on later years I believe te longer end actually goes to the rear and trimmed off.
3. The center tab is rolled under the upper A arm.
HaND

[John H.]

Re: 63 Convertible A-Arm Flap Installation

If the flaps came with the usual stainless steel staples the vendors love, don't use them; many of us check them with a magnet. Make your own from 16-ga. galvanized steel wire (blister-pack item from the hardware store). Both the flaps and the staples should show some blackout paint, as they were in place during the blackout operation in the Paint Shop.

[Kenneth B.]

Re: 63 Convertible A-Arm Flap Installation

Thanks to Mike and John for the information.

The installation went well, actually easier than I anticipated. My staples were not SS, so that was not an issue. I just followed the factory holes in the fenderwell and used them as a template to drill new holes in the new flaps.

I was surprised at how poorly the original staples were installed, with more than half of them missing part of the flap and one staple that missed the flap completely.

As my Dad (a retired GM Fisher Body/Fleetwood plant employee) says, my car must have been built on a Friday afternoon or a Monday morning...!