Jay Gadsby Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 if you were to make stamped steel flares with no bolt holes, specifically for the weld in guys, I would rather that than fiberglass bolted in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richie2619 Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 I'd buy steel! I've been contemplating getting some sheet aluminum and hammering them the old school way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted March 18, 2014 Author Share Posted March 18, 2014 Recently had a second meeting with my informal business mentor. This is a long-term project, if anything more than a pipe dream. I currently have two types of rear flares and a full set of Japanese flares on the way. I need to know as much about currently available products before I try to reinvent the wheel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richie2619 Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 If you get steel before I get to bangin on aluminum, I'm in! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 The OEM 240ZG 'overfenders' were well made, and fitted properly. Your problem is that you are confusing 'copies' of copies of copies ( sometimes 'copied' from something nowhere near the OEM shapes and quality ) with The Real Thing. If you bought the best available replication of the OEM quality, then you wouldn't have a problem. So pay Marugen Shokai for their product and be done with it. I would echo Alan's comments. Brian Ortiz states they were $300? Well my set of NISSAN ZG flares were ¥30,000 in 1989.... And I was crying when I bought them because had I bought them in 86 instead the ¥-$ conversion would have no been 268=$1 instead of 108=$1! And those fit fine...it's the crap 12th generation or "improved generics" that have the flex-crack and flimsy build quality. Yes, I do. Still with the part tags on them. No I won't. Don't even ASK! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPN_Garage Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 I tried speaking to various companies in my area to produce plastic injection or ABS flares and just to produce the molds they were asking me from 3K to 5K per flare mold. That's 12K to 20K just to start a full set of molds, I would imagine that there's cheaper company's out there but its not worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miccontreras Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 The OEM 240ZG 'overfenders' were well made, and fitted properly. Your problem is that you are confusing 'copies' of copies of copies ( sometimes 'copied' from something nowhere near the OEM shapes and quality ) with The Real Thing. If you bought the best available replication of the OEM quality, then you wouldn't have a problem. So pay Marugen Shokai for their product and be done with it. I'd like weld on metal flares much better than bolt on fiberglass or carbon. I tried searching for a picture of a Z with the Marugen Shouki flares. Can someone post a pic or reference to where I might find one? I'm probably going to want to put flares on before any are made out of metal. thanks. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted March 20, 2014 Author Share Posted March 20, 2014 Yeah, I had no idea how much investment it takes to get started in the injection molded product. I'm just tossing this idea around. Please don't take me too seriously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skerry Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 RebekahsZ, I appreciate that you're looking into making these. I know how it is to have an idea and deal with the naysayers. Put me down for a set from the first run and thanks again for offering spending your time and money in an effort to provide something like this to the Z community. Stephen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 I would do steel as well, I am a weld on kind of guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted March 12, 2015 Author Share Posted March 12, 2015 Thanks. This is dead-I lost interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inline6 Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 For all of those who posted interest in steel flares, I happened to come across this and thought I would pass it along in case anyone would be interested. http://www.zccjdm.co..._FENDER_FLARES_ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 I think your best approach might be to 3-D print them. Then you just need the program and a good sized 3-D printer. Assuming that the flares aren't universal from corner to corner but are individually shaped you would need four injection molds or one VERY large one. Using aluminum which is more cost effective for short runs the tooling would probably cost you around $10K/mold. One large one would maybe be $35K but then you'd need a very large machine to run it. Then you have to figure out which polymer is going to work best. Polyethylene is inexpensive, crack resistant and somewhat flexible but soft so it scratches very easily and also is difficult to paint. ABS is a common application here but not real forgiving. A good injection molding house could probably point you at a good material and also to a good prototype mold maker. Lots of those guys around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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