Front Fender Bolt Clearance

[SwerveMonkey]

Thought I would post to get some help, I'm not very experienced with Fiberglass parts and looking to learn.
I am trying to understand how to get the bolts that secure the fenders to the holders and I am finding that the bolts do now quite fit straight through.
As if the head of the bolt is not parallel with the washer insert that is in the fiberglass...

I can get the bolt through the insert's hole only by screwing it in from the inside... no issues pushing the same bolt from the outside-inward.
I think what's going on is that the fiberglass is taking up some space where the bolt would normally occupy.

So now when I can get the bolts to go through, as stubborn as they are, this is what it looks like.
Not sure if I am supposed to force things (similarly to some metal parts that will "give")

any suggestions? thanks in advanced for the input folks :-D

 

[Ross]

Do you have a thread tap to run thru it? Or maybe find a sacrificial bolt, and make a tap?
Clean out anything that might be caught in the threads.

 

[jaredthenav]

I had to scrape out some of the resin that was sitting on the metal screw hole. Used a screwdriver and then sanded it to get to a flat metal surface. It wasn't too hard, just took a bit of time in that tight corner.

 

[SwerveMonkey]

seems like if i took too much out then maybe
some epoxy could stiffen
up the insert in a worst case scenario...


would using a Dremel round grounding stone do the trick??

My guess is that it would be similar in approach to what was mentioned

 

[Gtstorey]

Typically I would use something more along the lines of a cutting/deburring bit for fiberglass/resin. The stone might work but tends to build up with resin. It depends on how much you need to remove.

 

[SwerveMonkey]

OK, so...
I used this bit on my Dremel, came with the basic kit

here is a before, the pictures i took earlier probably did it little justice to explain the predicament

not sitting flush and unable to screw straight through
and here is the after shoot once I trimmed the fiberglass away using the dremel

it may be that i could have taken a slight bit more off, but.... meh, this works.

is there anything suggested to "finish off" this modification?? should I be worried about the stiffness of the area or anything??

 

[Ross]

You did what was needed to make it work. Now test it and see if it is durable enough.
Nice work.