bjhines Posted September 15, 2006 Share Posted September 15, 2006 I have a lot of fiberglass replacement panels... I got these fenders second hand through E-bay.... they are not the nicest things ever made... but I am going to make them work for me... The first problem is that the mounting tabs molded intot hem are just WRONG... they are warped and wayyy to tall.... I had to cut them off and make a new angled bracket out of aluminum and bond it on... I had to do the same thing to the bottom mounting lips... WAYYY OFFF... .... more to come... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted September 15, 2006 Share Posted September 15, 2006 What do the fenders weigh? I think I weighed my metal ones at something like 12 lbs. Gotta wonder if its worth the hassle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted September 15, 2006 Author Share Posted September 15, 2006 Type III side skirts... Trial fit.... These things require a fair amount of cutting and fitting in order to work properly with clearance... The front part was easy... The rear edge was not so easy... I finally ended up cuting away the dogleg section... some cars may not have a problem fitting this without cutting... but mine needed more clearance in order to get the bottom door edge gap straight and still not have the rear edge of the door hitting the skirt... attached to the rocker lip with stainless screws... the pan heads work fine.. but I have ordereed some truss head screws that are even lower profile and have a washer type head to spread loads... this is not finnished... I am adding some aluminum angle to flatten out the bottom lip and allow a hard point for mounting braces to the floorpan... I'll get pics soon... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted September 15, 2006 Author Share Posted September 15, 2006 JM.... the fenders are REALLY LIGHT... half the weight of the metal fenders... and they are fairly easy to work with.. I would much rather work with glass than metal any day... and I have worked a lot of metal on this car already... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted September 15, 2006 Share Posted September 15, 2006 There was another post where I seem to remember someone weighing their fiberglass fenders and they were either the same weight as the metal or like 2 lbs lighter. If yours are 1/2 the weight that might just be worthwhile. Are they really 6 lbs? You got them off ebay? Any idea who made them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted September 15, 2006 Author Share Posted September 15, 2006 They might not even be 6lbs... They are "chopper gun" fiberglass panels... not the preferred lay up parts.... although the chopper gun parts tend to use a little less material in most cases since they are sold as cheaper production parts... I have MSA ZG flares and MSA type III side skirts that are layed up parts.. they are considerably denser than the fenders... though they are not the same size so it is hard to compare... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted September 15, 2006 Author Share Posted September 15, 2006 I mounted the rear ZG flares on top of the side skirts... They are mounted with the top edge 3.75" up from the original lips... this should give me plenty of clearance for 16x10" wheels on a lowered track car... The front edge overlaps the side skirt... I am using the rivet nuts install method with VW bug fender welting to fill gaps and give it a finnished look... but the fit is not bad at all... ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
v8dats Posted September 15, 2006 Share Posted September 15, 2006 wow you have been busy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted September 15, 2006 Author Share Posted September 15, 2006 front fender flares are mounted.... again I am mouting them on top of the side skirts... so there are some gaps to deal with... but not bad... This image shows the relative mounting height... notice the highest point is slightly forward compared to the original fender lip profile.. I think this will work well with added caster on a lowered car... The flares overlap the skirts... I do not see any need to cut anything to make them fit better here.. I am using the VWbug fender welting to fill gaps... ... more to come... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted September 15, 2006 Author Share Posted September 15, 2006 You guys might have noticed that I am just layering these things on top of one another... there is a reason for this... I plan on having to replace some of this bodywork in the future... especially as I get used to driving this new high performance beast... I have seen custom bodywork disentigrate when it comes into contact with tirewalls... I plan on making easy repairs... every single piece is going to be bolted using rivet nuts and SS 1/4-20 screws... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LS1 240Z Posted September 16, 2006 Share Posted September 16, 2006 mind if i make personal comments? if you do dont read any further looks as if you have nice fender lips in the rear.... why cut them out? yeah fender flares are cool and all, but my personal prefrence is for cars without flares. i just think they look cleaner. as for that side skirt... i dont think it looks very good.. but i withold final judgment untill i see a final completed project becuase i know it can look very diffrent when completed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted September 16, 2006 Author Share Posted September 16, 2006 Thanks for the comments.. I too am unsure about the sideskirts... The Z has a beautiful profile with tucked sides... all of these panels will be fitted and then painted OFF THE CAR... the rivet nuts will be installed and painted with the body... when it is complete I have the choice to mount the skirts or not as I see fit.. all of the body will be painted without any of this fiberglass attached... One more reason I am not cutting the flares to fit the skirts.. I plan on insetting the rivet nuts so they will blend in with the painted body if they are not used... But.. this is a track car... and judging from the damage my current 240Z suffers on track.. I am trying to minimize debris impacts on the sides of the car... as well as improve aerodynamics... The ZG flares are a must to fit 10" wide wheels on a car with cut struts and coilovers... The car I am converting is nearly PERFECT... I caught a lot of flak about cutting it up and making a race car out of it... I responded by asking WHO WANT's TO BUY IT??? It was partially disassembled and is missing most of it's interior... It was blue with a white interior which is impossible to find.. and ugly as sin... The engine was shot... etc. etc. etc..... No one would buy it for even $3000.. which is simply not enough to convince me to start my project with a rusted out beater... I would rather work with a pristine $3000 car than one that will take a lot more effort to repair in the first place... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My Current Track 240Z... The fact is.. I have another wonderful 240Z.. It is set up for B-street prepared track use.. Triple Webers, fresh engine, rebuilt tranny, brand NEW R180 differential, 3 sets of 15x7" wheels with race tires, very little rust that has not already been addressed, decent black paint job nice front end... I have ALL OF THE ORIGINAL PARTS... all of them.. in good condition(seats too)... although I have removed them from the car... it could easily be converted back to stock form.... and no one want's to give me enough to part with it... I want 7K... I would take less... but I have gotten ZERO reasonable OFFERS.... I even have video and track event times for several years.. It runs an easy 1:30 at Roebling... I have vids of it passing all kinds of expensive hardware.. I get comments from other instructors who drive it that it handles marvelously... yet it seems that it is just not worth what I have in it for parts alone.. much less all of the extensive labor... regardless that it is a proven winner.... I do not doubt that there is SOMEONE out there who want's it for 7K... if that person is you.. PM me... Here it is when I first got it years ago... out of a barn no less.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted September 16, 2006 Author Share Posted September 16, 2006 OK... J Mortenson wanted to know who made the fenders... Here ya go... Perfect Plastics INC. Gary Stephenson... 12-28-1982 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted September 16, 2006 Share Posted September 16, 2006 What do you think the chance are of tracking that guy down? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted September 16, 2006 Author Share Posted September 16, 2006 I have no idea... You have a lot of interesting contacts on this board and others... fell free to repost those tag pictures anywhere you like... when you find him.. tell me how much he wants for them... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom'sZ Posted September 16, 2006 Share Posted September 16, 2006 bjhines: I think your doing an excellent job with those glass parts and I'm a former body man! Most all glass parts need some work to fit real well. I like the skirts and flares... man, do your own thing and let em eat cake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonfly Posted September 17, 2006 Share Posted September 17, 2006 There was another post where I seem to remember someone weighing their fiberglass fenders and they were either the same weight as the metal or like 2 lbs lighter. If yours are 1/2 the weight that might just be worthwhile. Are they really 6 lbs? You got them off ebay? Any idea who made them? I may have been the one who you are refering to as my glass fenders weighed in at 11 lbs each. I can say also that they had a label in them that looked very similar to what bjhines shows in his pictures. But my fenders were very inconsistant in glass thikness through out each of my fenders. I had about two years ago a pair of glass fenders (with the labels in them) that had never been on a car, I sold them to a kid who was admiring my car during a yard sale and asked if I had any body parts I would be willing to sell, and I let him have the fenders for $100 for the pair. This is what I have done with the glass fenders that weighed in at 11 lbs (I have not weighed them again since doing this work). bjhines I noticed you put vent holes in your car similar to mine you just did not put as many... here is a shot of mine. Dragonfly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Challenger Posted September 17, 2006 Share Posted September 17, 2006 DRAGONFLY will the hole vents help airflow move from the wheel wells to engine bay and out the hood vents? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LS1 240Z Posted September 17, 2006 Share Posted September 17, 2006 i would have traded you bodies lol sometimes i wish my car wasnt backhalved, but i wouldnt be able to afford a reliable IRS.. so im running with my 9 inch. if i had money id buy your car. but alas, no money here. i just hope that i can find a nice 240Z in about 5 years that i can make into a nice track car WITH NO FENDER FLARES lol the car will look amazing though.. that is if you keep those skirts off it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonfly Posted September 18, 2006 Share Posted September 18, 2006 DRAGONFLY will the hole vents help airflow move from the wheel wells to engine bay and out the hood vents? The holes are not intended to move air from the wheel wells to the engine compartment but rather the oppisite, I want to vent air from the engine compartment out through the vents in the fenders. I intend to put the plastic inner fenders back in to keep air from coming in from the wheel wells. Dragonfly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.