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New to me 240z.... with flares!


Onesight1

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Heys guys!

So I recently purchased a 240z that was apparently worked on... the guy I bought it from seems like a genuine guy when he told me he has cut and replaced all the rust on the car. ( his attention to detail seems a little rushed lol.. and  his weld are...rough lol) Nonetheless, I am happy. One thing I do not like... and wish I could modify with ease... is the molded fenders. They don't look right on the car. I don't know if its the offset of the wheels (9.5 in the rear) ... or the shape of them? .... or the stock height? Something looks ...not cool.

When asked, he told me he fiber-glassed the panel after he cut the rust off. He did this by applying the glass on the fender directly, then on the backside of the fenders. He sandwiched them, and added some screws. After it dried, he removed screws and applied filler/resin/glass, whatever and shaped them.


I am contemplating just removing them, but I am scared that too much of the body was cut? I don't want to end up worse than what it is (at least not right now - maybe later). 

Can someone provide any comments regarding the height of the cut/fender? is it too low? too high? I am looking into ZG flares. I dont want to be screwed with not having the proper fitment for ZG flares, or equivilant. Maybe I can get away with trimming/shaping these? I plan on lowering the car on coilovers and possibly new wheels. (may do 5 lug)

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Edited by Onesight1
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It looks like he has cut the quarter panel metal above the body line that runs the length of the car, I'm sure there are others here with a lot more experience than me but I don't see how you will get ZG flares on the rear without removing all that fiber glass, replacing the metal, then just cut the lip off so you will have something there to attach the flares to.

ZG flares can go above the bodyline as well but they metal under them.

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Depends on the suspension. If it has basically stock suspension you can install them lower, but when you start moving to shorter coilovers or sectioned strut housings, you start running out of room for the wheel to move up into the wheel well real fast. Camber plates make it a lot worse, especially on a 280 because the strut isolators are 3" tall vs 2" for 240Z.

I cut my fenders and then put the suspension together with no spring and compressed and realized that my tire was hitting metal. Had to cut again much higher to prevent that from happening . In my case I cut the fenderwells so that they were flat from the top of the arch in the well to the outside of the quarter. Basically couldn't have cut any higher and made more room for the tire unless I had removed the whole wheel tub and rebuilt it. When the strut hits the bumpstop, there is about 1/2" space from the top of the tire to the fenderwell. I think the bumpstop is more than 1/2" long but I have super stiff springs so hopefully I won't have any issues.

It's a pet peeve of mine to see ZG flares mounted way too low in the rear with really wide tires. Just obvious that nobody took the time to see if there was clearance for the tire, they just held the flare up to the body and marked and cut it there with no thought as to functionality. The other one that really bugs me is the tire and wheel being 1" from the inside curve of the flare, hellaflush style. You know that tire will hit the inside of the flare almost instantly, but still people do it all the time...

 

 

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Forgot to say the flare install on yours looks fine. If you don't like them I'd try reshaping before undoing all the work. Personally I'd be inclined to cut the "mud flap" part off of the back of the flare. Never was a fan of the MSA IMSA flares they used to sell because they had mud flaps on both ends of the car, and the front of the tire exposed, which is kinda backwards from what you'd want from an aero perspective.

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On 5/25/2020 at 5:12 PM, JMortensen said:

Forgot to say the flare install on yours looks fine. If you don't like them I'd try reshaping before undoing all the work. Personally I'd be inclined to cut the "mud flap" part off of the back of the flare. Never was a fan of the MSA IMSA flares they used to sell because they had mud flaps on both ends of the car, and the front of the tire exposed, which is kinda backwards from what you'd want from an aero perspective.


Thank you for giving me a little hope in saving these with a trim... I was hoping someone would encourage that before totally removing them. Any tips on how you'd do it?
I am looking at coilovers and im torn between Silver-Line Motors coilover kit, 1-3" option and the BC extreme low. I figure I will install the coilovers first and then look at the trim. What should I do with the front? Mold some  ZG flares on to match?

The tires and wheels are  235/45/17 front and 275/40/17 rear   (17x9 front and 17x10 rear) - I am not sure of the offset.

Edited by Onesight1
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I'd make a cardboard template, trace it on one side then flip and trace on the other side. Cut with a dremel and cutoff wheel.

I don't think they'll look right together with ZGs, plus you'll have the same issue with not having enough clearance for the tire with ZGs matching the body line the way everyone wants to mount them. 

You will probably have to find a set of matching fronts, or switch to ZGs all around and mount them wrong and slowly drive me crazy. ;)

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Suggest you start by reading all the FAQs -- plenty of good discussions in there on how to accomplish all the mods you are considering.

 

You can try reshaping the rear flares, as JonMort suggested.  If you do, I would consider adding a similarly-styled flare to the front....for both functionality and aesthetics. 

 

If you decide to replace, replacing the rear quarter panels is a very common repair.  You can get the panels used from a donor car or new from one of the vendors that produce reproduction body panels.

 

Good luck with it.  Your car appears to be way further ahead than many project cars are at the start.

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One other option if you do decide to delete the existing flares is to go with a fiberglass replacement:

https://www.ztrix.com/fender-kits/subtlez/

 

There are several options out there, the one linked above will fit 9.5s in the rear, but the offset has to be just about perfect. The 280YZ rears would definitely fit those wheels and tires. I agree with Jon that I think it looks odd because of the 'mudflaps' and also because the front is stock. Anyway, best of luck with it!

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