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Trying to smooth out a flare


zeeboost

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On my widebody project, the front flares are a bit different than the rear. I can get them to flow together, but it will require the front flares to be smoothed out, so to speak. I believe both flares are smaller IMSA flares. I picked the rears up off eBay with very little description on them, and the fronts are IMSAs that speeder ran on porkchop. This is his previous front bonnet. Pics:

 

SAM_0571.jpg

 

SAM_0572.jpg

 

If you notice, the rear flares look like they're blended in with the car, versus the front flares which look like they're just slapped on there. Not putting either one of the styles down, but they're clearly different. I'd like to keep the front flare on there, but just have it look more blended like the rear. I'd like my front flares to blend more like this:

 

myflares1.jpg

 

myflares4.jpg

 

I talked to the body guy about this, and he said my best bet would be to buy another flare. A) If I have to I will, but I'd rather not cut into the bonnet. B ) I don't know if he's just telling me this b/c it would be the easiest way for him to knock it out. To me, it seems like it would be simple to just lay some fiberglass mat and resin where the flare meets the fender, and then bondo that to smooth it. I told him about it, but he's worried about it being too much bondo and cracking. Anyways, just trying to see if my idea would work, if I should just buy different flares, or if you guys have any other suggestions. Thanks

Edited by zeeboost
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No experience at all, but just thinking logically it seems you could either get a new flare and cut the old one off and graft the new one on or you could modify the existing one. If you liked the wheel arch size and distance, you could just do the floral foam thing and then glass in your new shape, and then cut the old shape out from underneath. Seems like finding a flare you like would be the easier route.

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I have done this kind of work, and if I were to do it again, I would try harder to find the flare you want first. They are much more available than they were 10 years ago.

 

It is possible to blend them in, but it would be pure custom shaped by hand/eye. Takes some time/skill if you catch my meaning.

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Thanks for the feedback guys. So the consensus is to find new flares, but after checking zcarparts, betamotorsports, zccjdm, and zforceproductions, the only flares I see are the ZGs and the competition IMSAs (which from the pictures I've seen, look larger than mine). I'm running the exact same wheel (size and model) that speeder ran with this flare, so it fits like a glove. The floral foam thing sounds interesting, though I have no experience with it and I doubt the body guy has either. How would I go about cutting up / butchering the front flare to make it look more blended?

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Cool, thanks for the link. I'll message them and check on international shipping costs. I noticed the flares seem really wavy, though. I don't have much experience with fiberglass, but from what few pairs I've seen, they didn't look this...cheap. I don't know, these give me the impression that they're flimsy and may be more trouble than they're worth. BUT they do look like they'd match my rear flares really well. Hmmm

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Cool, thanks for the link. I'll message them and check on international shipping costs. I noticed the flares seem really wavy, though. I don't have much experience with fiberglass, but from what few pairs I've seen, they didn't look this...cheap. I don't know, these give me the impression that they're flimsy and may be more trouble than they're worth. BUT they do look like they'd match my rear flares really well. Hmmm

 

Details are pretty hazy now (maybe I don't want to remember those sweaty/itchy days B) ) but I did some molding to make the front of the flares transition into the airdam.(looks like you have cut off the original airdam part of the one-piece that had the molded on parts of the flares) I took thin cardboard, formed it close to the desired shape, taped it onto the desired place, covered it with wax paper (to prevent the resin from sticking ) and then built the piece with cloth and resin over the form just described. Careful grinding/sanding finished the piece.

 

If I was doing your car, I might think about widening the airdam shown and then making the desired transitions into the front.

 

You could reform the front airdam and side panel transitions the same way if the tops of the flares are the right size/shape. Hell, you could even reshape the whole thing that way. You wouldn't believe how many times I did a piece of fiberglass, looked at it, didn't like it, chopped it off with a saber saw, and redid it.

 

This is how it looked on my car:

Zcomp.jpg

 

I consider myself pretty spastic with fiberglass and bodywork, but I'm very stubborn - I kept at it until I had what I wanted. This may be one of those things that would cost too much if you were paying someone to do - I think I warned you about that when you picked up the body kit.

 

Good luck with this - let me know if I can offer any more suggestions or moral support...

 

PS, Do you still have that rear spoiler? If so , I'd be interested in buying it back from you.

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zr8ed - Thanks for that link, I think that'll be the route I'm going to take.

 

speeder - I just threw the front air dam on there for the picture to get an idea of how everything's going to flow. The final fit will have the dam much closer to the ground, and it will be a bit wider to flow in with the front flares. I didn't want the front bumper on there, but since it was blended in right under the buckets, we had to cut off quite a bit. We were planning on using a similar method as you to fiberglass the front flares in with the air dam. Thanks for your help on this

 

If I had known you would've been interested in the future, that spoiler would be in my garage waiting for you...it's long gone, sorry bud.

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I sold my flares pictured here that are close if not the same ones on the red car you posted. The fronts are actual left over IMSA flares bought from IMSA racer, Bob Lapp. I agree that they are not as wide as the other IMSA flares I have. Not much help I'm afraid because I have never come across similar fenders again.

 

gt2flares007small.jpg

Edited by zlalomz
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Just the top of the bubble is filled in with say floral foam and glassed to blend into the body. It takes away some of the sharp angle where the bubble meets the body. It takes less skill than blending the bubble flare around the whole curve as was was done on my brothers car. The body shop started with a bubble flare and filled in around the crescent.

 

Bansheesmall.jpg

 

Looking at your front flares I'm not sure it would work as well. There is not much room to the top of the fender.

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