[DanEC]

289 FIA - I used drum sanders (about 1-1/2 dia from memory) to work the raw opening back to my masking tape line. I also used them some to bring down a few areas on the inside where the fiberglass thickness was a little too great. After getting it down to my masking tape line I just ran the drum back and forth on the opening radius to smooth it up until it looked good to the eye and by feel. I used the scotch sanding discs (about 2-1/2 inch dia) in my drill to bevel the inside and outside edge of the lip to form a rough circular contour. I used the wood block with a 1/2 inch hole in the edge (discussed above) to finish sand it to radius. After that it came down to some hand work to touch up any areas that didn't seem to be quite even or true to contour. The fiberglass thickness on my car varied quite a bit around the wheel lips - typically thicker along the top part of the lip and thinning out quite a bit at the bottom. I evened it up a little around the top and floated about 2-1/2 inches inside the lip with filler and sanded it smooth. I sanded the inside of the wheel opening and filler mostly with a 6-inch piece of swimming pool tube with 180 and 220 sandpaper wrapped around it. I probably should have worked a little more evening up the thickness around the lip on the inside but I hated to thin it down a lot for fear of weakening it. Mine are probably a good 3/8 inch thick diameter along the top and and around the side - and stout. They are never going to crack except from hitting something hard. I found this to be kind of nerve wracking because I was afraid of taking too much off and having to re-glass the lips. But, it worked out fine. By the way - pick up one of those smaller diameter swimming pool tubes and cut some various lengths. They are great for sanding inside curved areas.