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Thread: DIY wide body / flares, anyone ever tried this?

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    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! charchri4's Avatar
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    DIY wide body / flares, anyone ever tried this?

    Anyone else making their own flares around here?

    I'm not a fan of the bolt on flare look and everything that is cool is also stupid expensive. But I figure I can do 100 bucks in 22 gauge, fiberglass and bondo so I'm making my own.
    This is my pattern:



    Rather than making a plug and a mold to shape the fiberglass I am making a sheet metal frame to support the shape of the fiberglass and do it in one pass.


    My plan with the metal strips is to use it as a frame to hold the fiberglass matt in the shape I want it. The holes in them are for bonding. I'll put a layer on both sides of the frame and since fiberglass becomes one with itself when it sets there is no way it will come loose. The strips are welded to the fender and I will also bond it with the fiberglass so it should be a pretty strong structure.



    I know you will ask so I'll just put this in now. The wheels are 17x10 and the tires are 265/40/17s and yes they weigh a ton but I have 450hp and 400 ftlbs of torque to turn them.


    I know the back needs more girth then this because they have to be bigger than the front even though there is no need for the clearance.


    But I figured I'd press on in the front because if this goes wrong fenders are easy to replace. And there is just so many ways this could go wrong! So I am working the fronts now to get them the right shape and pretty much the same


    And I have a ways to go!


    So besides the obvious construction issues never doing this or even seeing it done this way there is a long list of concerns here. If I go too bold it will look added on, if I go too wimpy the big wheels will look like a monster truck. If the radius at the top of the fender doesn't flow the as the flair or if the wheel arch radus is too different it will look added on. If the front is bigger than that back it will look stupid but I need way more room in the front so how to make the back bigger without it looking empty. And the list goes on...

    So I was just wondering if anyone has ever tried something like this and has any tips for me.

    BTW the top choice for paint at the moment is blitz black with semi gloss stripes. Like this but not so shiny in the stripes

    Closer to this contrast


    Yes I know most folks would go black wheels but I really like the 5 spoke nickle wheels. She's way more muscle car than anything else so I think it works.
    Last edited by charchri4; 02-28-2014 at 12:32 PM.
    Jim Stainer
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    Idling - Listen to it purr... Bohman731's Avatar
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    Wow! Props on just tackling this yourself. I am very excited to see the finished product!

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    Supporting Member Malibu Q's Avatar
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    I've done similar work on old cars, but built the framework and lip from 1/2" steel electrical conduit. It provides a rigid lip to start from. I just bent it over the tire to get the basic shape.
    Looks awesome. Good luck!

    Edit: Grind then paint areas to be glassed with 2K epoxy primer for maximum adhesion and no rust problems
    Last edited by Malibu Q; 02-28-2014 at 11:28 AM.

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  6. #4
    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! charchri4's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Malibu Q View Post
    I've done similar work on old cars, but built the framework and lip from 1/2" steel electrical conduit. It provides a rigid lip to start from. I just bent it over the tire to get the basic shape.
    Edit: Grind then paint areas to be glassed with 2K epoxy primer for maximum adhesion and no rust problems
    Conduit and a pipe bender of course! I should have posted this before I started - what a grand idea! I wonder if a piece of 5/16 or so threaded rod would do the same thing. Give a nice radus right at the edge too. I was planning on just griding the get the right shape of the wheel opening but that is way better. Thanks!

    I had not thought about priming any of it before I start glassing so thank you very much. I'm going to have to get off the fence on a color then so I can use the same primer as whatever paint system I go with. Never actually painted a car either so that will be another can of worms!

    Thank you!
    Last edited by charchri4; 02-28-2014 at 01:47 PM.
    Jim Stainer
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    95 Miata automatic, all options all stock but if an LFX auto came along cheap...
    http://jimsmiata.blogspot.com/

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    Admin / Pit Boss / Miataholic Phatmiata's Avatar
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    ugh that cobra is soooo sexy!! Excited to see what you come up with, and the final product!!!

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    Super Moderator atank's Avatar
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    Good work!!!!!!!!!!

  9. #7
    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! charchri4's Avatar
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    So the fiberglass on the front ones did not go so well. Not sure why but the first layer down bubbled and pulled away from the frame in several spots leaving rather large bumps to deal with. I was really concerned when I saw this!

    I ground the bumps down then patched the holes and built up the areas in between them. The good news is I figured out a way to keep it from lifting like that again and they are starting to take shape and look good now.

    In the back I knew I had to start over and be really bold or end up with a monster truck looking Miata. So I took the lessons learned from the front and started with an entirely different approach. I pushed things out as far as I could on the quarter and also went straight up at the top about a 1/2" to give it a muscle car sort of shoulder.


    I used roughly the same top to bottom curve of the original fender but exaggerated it a lot front to back and came up with this..




    The photos don't do it justice they have some pretty sexy curves in them.




    I made each piece for both sides at the same time to keep things identical as possible. I also was very careful to make things smooth so no drill holes this time because that distorted the metal.


    I'm going to finish shaping and blending the front ones before I glass in back in case I need to change anything and to gain more experience with the fiberglass. It's slow putzy work but so far I have about 35 bucks into it so can't really complain.


    PS the current color choice is gloss black with sun burnt copper pearl stripes.



    Something like this but smaller and tad less orange in the stripes.
    Last edited by charchri4; 03-17-2014 at 03:11 PM.
    Jim Stainer
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    95 Miata automatic, all options all stock but if an LFX auto came along cheap...
    http://jimsmiata.blogspot.com/

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  11. #8
    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! charchri4's Avatar
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    A little video update. I hope you can kind of see the body lines here. I just used the pocket point and shoot I keep in the garage but should have used a real camera...

    Jim Stainer
    96 Miata powered by an 02 Camaro SS
    95 Miata automatic, all options all stock but if an LFX auto came along cheap...
    http://jimsmiata.blogspot.com/

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  13. #9
    4,000 rpm - entering the fun zone wannafbody's Avatar
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    Impressive work

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    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! HELLIONMX5's Avatar
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    In on this thread. Good luck man. Thats a huge challenge. Looking great so far
    Last edited by WASABI; 04-01-2014 at 07:13 PM.

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    6,000 rpm - mere mortals would shift JamieH's Avatar
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    So, this thought is probably a bit late at this stage. But did you use a piece of rolled steel to act as the new fender lip? Very curious to see you get to the primer stage.

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    Super Moderator atank's Avatar
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    Looking good "charchri4"..........!!!

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    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! HELLIONMX5's Avatar
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    You want me to drop off my car? How much you charging? Dude i see this already playing out well enough.

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    4,000 rpm - entering the fun zone Ihatecars's Avatar
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    Looking damn good.

    I'm so excited to see the end results of your hard work.

  20. #15
    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! charchri4's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JamieH View Post
    So, this thought is probably a bit late at this stage. But did you use a piece of rolled steel to act as the new fender lip? Very curious to see you get to the primer stage.
    LOL I wish I knew! I first thought I would just wrap them with light weight fiberglass weave rather than the chopped stuff the rest of the flares are. Then I picked up 20 feet of 1/4" rod to have a nice solid rounded end to the panels. But forming that to the shape of the flares didn't work very well. So I'll probably just wrap them glass for lack of a better solution.

    I'm just about ready to shoot the front with a guide coat and I am looking forward to seeing some color on them. I think I'm going to work on the rocker rust this week though. I'm thinking about kicking the back of them out some like the project G stuff.
    Last edited by charchri4; 03-30-2014 at 09:27 PM.
    Jim Stainer
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    95 Miata automatic, all options all stock but if an LFX auto came along cheap...
    http://jimsmiata.blogspot.com/

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