Overcomplication is my specialty: Widebody

[AceInHole]

So... I was all set to buy overfenders and such, when my friend who happens to own an audio shop convinced me to make my own.

I'm a sucker for that "make it myself" thing.

First step was to cut the fender. I love/ hate this step. It's easy to do, easy to mess up.


Then I slit the fender well so I could hammer it up and tack it in place:


Test fitting clearance after welding:


Yeah... it'll fit.

This time, I decided to keep the stock arch, and space it out horizontally. So, I added some strips of metal to extend the tubs:



Test fit the tires again:


I could almost call it a day!! Bondo will fill that in nicely.

Not.

Tried to figure out how to fill the rest in... since I can't just layer fiberglass over it as is. While I was doing stuff to the oher side, someone started playing with rolls of cloth and tape:


Looks good!! Let's not do that.

This requires something a bit more solid:


That looks little better... add a few more bricks:


Sweeeeet. That looks awesome. Where's the fiberglass?

Of course, Jenna didn't feel the same way I did:



Crap... it's starting to "look good" and stuff. Where's the fun in that?


And some small peices to fill in the gaps...




Fiberglass to come soon. God bless 315/30/R18's.

[WilloW]

Nice man, Balls-O-Steel. I wish I have the balls, time, equipments, and patient to do that.

[veilside180sx]

It's coming along.=)

[Def]

WTF!


Looks good. If I were going to do a custom widebody I think I'd make it look like a PTG E36 M3 - kinda like an E30 M3's stock flares but on crack. R32 GTR flares are similar too.

[turtl631]

I have the same shoes as Jenna.

Cool DIY bodywork. How are you going to paint this whole mess when completed?

[AceInHole]

Looks good. If I were going to do a custom widebody I think I'd make it look like a PTG E36 M3 - kinda like an E30 M3's stock flares but on crack. R32 GTR flares are similar too.

I was tempted to do the "touring car/ JGTC" look, but wasn't sure if I could do it without compromising suspension travel (suspension is "soft" enough to handle roads and such). The other thing I wanted was to keep a stock-ish body look, something like an MKIV Supra or R33-34 GTR.

Some fleece layered over it shows something of the bodylines:


If I stretch it a bit it'll hopefully blend some of the contours more and bring the entire fender out.

[AceInHole]

Updates:

Moneyshot:


Needs smoothing. Looks like a car again.

More candy:

[veilside180sx]

That'll squeeze 'em=)

[Your Mom]

flease and resin. ftw.

[racepar1]

Looks pretty mean, but you shoulda just got overfenders, it would be lighter i'm pretty sure. By the time I get my rear overfenders I will have a custom cage so I'll just cut the whole quarter panel out and extend the wheelwells to seal it up.

EDIT: OOOOHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! You should cut the whole quarters out when you are done and get some molds taken off of them cuz those look pretty bad-ass!

[BigOdom1]

awesome man

[AceInHole]

Looks pretty mean, but you shoulda just got overfenders, it would be lighter i'm pretty sure. By the time I get my rear overfenders I will have a custom cage so I'll just cut the whole quarter panel out and extend the wheelwells to seal it up.

I was originally going to go overfenders, but was concerned with a few things:
1. General fitment: rivets? Pfffft. They never seem to fit the entire fender, either.

2. Actual clearance: They don't LOOK like 50mm to me. Plus the concavish shape makes it seem as though there isn't a lot of inside clearance. I was sketchy on the actual dimensions, and with no way to test my tires with them, it seemed like a risky purchase.

3. My clearance: Do I need more than 50mm? Supposedly my wheel is 41mm larger than the 285's I run on the stock pulled fenders... seems like more with the 315's on them (larger OD I guess).

4. Cost: costs virtually nothing to screw up resin on fleece. If I screw up, I go buy some crap fenders and curse myself when I screw them up modding them to fit my tires.

5. Look: I got more of the widebody look I was going for, I think.

EDIT: OOOOHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! You should cut the whole quarters out when you are done and get some molds taken off of them cuz those look pretty bad-ass!

I'd cut the quarters out, but I'm sketchy on abusing the rules/ allowances for my racing class. I'm allowed to cut everything outboard of the wheel hub, but only in allowance to gain tire clearance. I think cutting beyond the expected travel of my wheel could be a protestable mod.

[a_ahmed]

Liking the shape, keep it going I bet itll be good

[McCoy]

Looking good, PJ. Can't wait to see the finished product

[a_ahmed]

The zenki s14 looks so much sexier like this than kouki imho.. the curves are hot.

Btw, the 285/315 stagger you mention on zilvia affects the handling that much?.. cause i was thinking of going with something like that down the line due to my plan for the ls1...