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Different angles of the GTU IMSA widebody kit (need pics)


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I need to see some different angles for some ideas I have. I have searched the site over and cant seem to find any pictures of this kit. Im not talking about the IMSA flares that MSA sells Im talking about the huge ones. Any pictures or links would be awesome.

 

Jared

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Check link below at my ZPARTS.COM to see if this is what you are looking for. Photo in top left corner is of the Tildon flares that I believe were the basics used in an IMSA GTU kit design. Someday I'll get the rest of the the photo shoot of that car published. I brokered it for sale back in 1989. Back then the car sold for $15,000! It ran 15x12 wheels on rear and 15x10 on the front.

 

Photo at http://zparts.com/gallery.html

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I have not found any businesses selling real IMSA flares still. I bought a set of front fenders from an IMSA racer from the seventies. I also bought and cut up a 280Z with a street version of IMSA flares that is very close to the race cars. Any one is welcome to pull a mold off of the fenders in the Sacramento area. Doing it for resale might be a problem but I don't know the laws. :? I will try and get some pictures posted. If you just need IMSA pictures I can E-mail you some of the ones I have collected off the web.

album_pic.php?pic_id=1043

 

album_pic.php?pic_id=2100

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I started my project a while ago and came across a few companies that used to make fiberglass body panels that allowed you to duplicate the black car in question. It also came to light that there were at least 2 different width rear (and front?) body panels - the really wide ones (like the black car) would handle 15" wide rear wheels. Evedently, IMSA changed the rules to force the Zs to use narrower (12"?) wheels in the rear so the Porsches could keep up!

I found my body panels used (the "narrower" ones) and filed all the other source information away - I'll see if I can find the info. One was a guy that had the body panels (YZ and 940Z) John Washington now sells - possibly John got those molds as well? Another was Arizona Z. There was another that just faded away over the last few years - I gave him an order for all of the body panels but he never did anything. More than a year later, I found the used panels and they were made by this guy originally!

Another set of molds belong to the guy that bought Frassille's 197? IMSA GTU champion car. Another was a fiberglass panel company that may or may not be in business now. I talked to the guy who has Bob Sharp's cars, but he wasn't interested in making molds.

Again, I'll see if I can find this info.

 

The set I've got are useable with a lot of body work so I'm ok. I would like to have another set that won't take so much body work though! If some one like John was interested in making molds, I could make mine available as masters. The front fenders are slightly wider than the G-nose and I do not have the air dam.

 

Pictures of the GTU cars are hard to come by but the cars are getting more track time now on the vintage race circuit. Maybe someone has photos that they could share.

 

Al Keller

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Here is a Bob Sharp car.

 

http://ashautomobilia.photosite.com/Vintage1/85_Datsun_Away.html

 

So it was a rule change to level the playing field! I wondered why the different rear flare widths in some of the pictures. Someone needs to start an IMSA website to chronical what little information there is about this wild series.

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Roger Edsinger was the guy from whom I got the 280YZ and 940Z tooling. He's in Campbell, CA. He didn't call them that, and I can't remember if he had some other designation or just called them "medium" and "wide." He was an SCCA GT2 guy.

 

At one time I knew of at least four people who had tooling for the traditional IMSA kit, but don't know if they were "medium" or "wide," per Al's reference. If I were to pursue something like this, I'd try to buy the existing tooling first.

 

To start with parts (thanks for the generous offer to loan them) is a difficult proposition. In order to do it right, the parts have to be mounted, checked to see if they need modification to make them fit right, braced up, prepped, and then molded. Very expensive proposition.

 

Either way, I'd have to feel like I'd be able to sell more than two or three sets, and in a sense I'd be competing with products I already offer.

 

At the time I made the decision to purchase Roger's tooling, the consensus seemed to be that the 280YZ was a better looking kit than the IMSA...particularly in person rather than in photos.

 

So, how many of you want IMSA parts?

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I appreciate the suggestion, Steve. It's a good idea particularly for the back.

 

In the front, if you have to trim sheet metal vs. unbolting the fender and bolting on the replacement fiberglass the extra cost of the complete fender might turn out to be a wash.

 

However, the overriding question is still economics; even if more folks want it that way, I still need to be able to sell eight or ten sets a year to make mold fabrication or purchase feasable.

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  • 2 weeks later...

i would be interested in making molds for some quality Z flares such as the IMSA style ones. I can do them in carbon and Kevlar making them many times as strong as regular fiberglass. Steve, would you be willing to discuss that.? thanks.

 

 

i will be needing a pair for my future Z car. i like the Prosche look it gives.

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  • 1 year later...

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