fbekholden.com

Great work Scott,

Epoxy the boot lid and move on, looking foward to the rest of your creations !


Greg

funkyscooter wrote: Sat Jan 10, 2026 10:56 am

In the Shed wrote: Fri Jan 09, 2026 10:37 pm Hey Scott

Good work there, the stainless trim will polish up nice. Did you use a steel hammer on the window trim, is that why the trim has stretched? What did you use to tack the trim back together?

Stephen

Hey Stephen, I used hardwood pieces profiled to the curves and a steel hammer to knock out the fine creases, and then a plastic mallet to form the rest. Was hoping that cutting out the piece under the curve would force it to hold the shape, but the trim is only 0.5mm thick so it was asking a lot. Used 0.9 316 stainless wire to fill it all back in.

Thanks Scott

And so it begins......

Nice work - I will send mine over shall I mmmmaaaaatttttteeeeee ????????

Okay enough with the sanding and polishing already. These are about as good as I am going to get them. Still lots of spots and a few deeper pits here and there but much improved on what I had.

Blacky wrote: Mon Jan 19, 2026 9:59 am Nice work - I will send mine over shall I mmmmaaaaatttttteeeeee ????????

If you have two good front and rear window trim sets with no pitting or gouges and want me to polish them and only send you one back then sure thing
Just don't expect anything back any time soon - over polishing for now - think its time to get some more metal work done.

Polishing the trims is laborious and not that easy.

To get them spottless they need to be sanded through the grit range 1500 2000 3000 4000 then polished for a few hours.

You will still see marks from aging and it takes a very patient person to get them perfect.

Good Job Scott.

EK283 wrote: Thu Jan 22, 2026 5:06 pm Polishing the trims is laborious and not that easy.

To get them spottless they need to be sanded through the grit range 1500 2000 3000 4000 then polished for a few hours.

You will still see marks from aging and it takes a very patient person to get them perfect.

Good Job Scott.

Reality is these were a bit rough to start with so it was going to take a fair bit of work to get them perfect. Spending 50% more time to get the extra 10% - 20% would just result in constant paranoia every time I washed the car. Now that's not to say that I haven't gone all the way back to 120 grit in places to try and improve a few of the rougher spots, but it's only after you get back through all the grits and on to the wheel, that you can really see if you got it right.

But having said all that, if I had the skills to read the surface, apply the correct grit to totally remove the scratches/rust spots/blemishes, and get it right the first time for each step, then yes I would be aiming for perfect.

Started work on sorting out the stainless FB flash/trim.
Straightened and sanded everything and got some of it to 1200 grit then figured I should mark and fit everything before I go any further.
Flying blind a bit as this is an EK body, so I have used images off the internet for inspiration.
First up - rear quarter top. This had a broken end so I stole a good one off a shaggged bit I have in my stash. Think this material is about 0.6mm thick, but with a copper backing, and using 0.9mm 316 stainless wire, it seems to work. Put the C Pillar flash on and lined up the top trim along the crest of the fin. Result at the other end was not so encouraging as the top trim and C Pillar trim converge at the bottom of the window. Checked images online and from what I can see this seems to be the case. Checked the drivers side at it was doing the same thing so I guess it is what it is.
On a side note it was back to the hammer and dolly for the C-Pillar trim which grew an unexpected pimple. The culprit

Didn't mark and drill the rear quarters. Put off and unsure about the flow of the trim from the doors so figured best to get them done first, then trial fit the doors, and I'll drill the top of the rear quarters last.
So on to the doors.
Clamped the drivers side doors together after lining the top and bottom of the them up. Needed a bit of extra help holding the trim down so out with the gaffer tape. Positioned the ends and again used images to help me get things lined up. Bottom sweep of the front door was lined up to the existing hole for the EK flash. Ran around everything with a sharpie and then marked centres, punched, and drilled the holes. Went with 3/16", but might step them up a size to give me a little bit of play room.
Then forgot to take a picture of the end result. Repeated the process for the passenger side. And forgot to take a photo again.

Got out my collection of trim clips and fitted up the drivers side to confirm that I had all the bits and they held everything. Noticed a flaw in my original design which had a bent over tab to hold it in the trim. Every second one broke off when I fitted them, so came up with plan B. Stainless 316 0.9mm welding wire as a spring. Set up a little production line. Some time later
Ordered some 304 domed head 3/16" bolts online, screw the bolt into the mounting plate with the spring sandwiched in-between and you get this.
Here is a complete front door kit.
The only downside was I ran out of speed nuts. Ordered more and Rares sent the wrong size, then when I got the correct item I discovered that they are a bit shit. Well actually a lot shit.
I have opened a complaint with Rares - they are following it up so let's see.

In the picture, the old ones I had are in the middle. The holes are smaller and there is only one notch where the tread starts. You can spin both these old ones on to a bolt with ease. The new ones are surrounding them - the hole is a lot bigger, it has two notches, and when you try to spin the nut onto the bolt it almost instantly binds. The hole is so big you can walk the nut down the bolt.

Rare Spares - close but no cigar should be their catchcry......

Neat work Scott,

There is a big difference in the diameter of the hole in them speed nuts, wow! So your car will be fitted with FB trim is that right?

Stephen

Far out mate. Great work. Blacky, I like that.


FB ute fixer upper, EK van on rotisserie

In the Shed wrote: Wed Feb 18, 2026 10:35 pm Neat work Scott,

There is a big difference in the diameter of the hole in them speed nuts, wow! So your car will be fitted with FB trim is that right?

Stephen

Yeah going with FB Trim. Was 50/50 for a while there but I like the look, and the front clip is off an FB so it makes sense. Not going for period correct so it will be a bit mix n match.

Sounds good