wantboost

iTrader: (2)

Let me preface this by saying I THINK this is the right forum lol.

I'm building a 450whp road course/time attack car with the main goal being to beat my dads fastest hot lap around Atlanta Motorsports Park... We have a full track prepped C6 Z06 that makes roughly 600rwhp and 590lbft of torque and handles like its on rails. Me and my dad have a standing bet that if any of my cars beats his lap time then I get the Corvette (this is probably BS but it is a good motivator to get the car done) Hence why I'm calling this build "Operation Vette' Killer" lol

Car will have full aero, front splitter, flat bottom, functional rear diffuser, rear wing mount at a proper height and its uprights will tie into the chassis, at the roll cage... that way I can actually have downforce and not just bend body panels. The front fenders though, are gong to be one of the toughest, most labor heavy parts of the build

I'm pretty good at mold making and the processes involved but I'm going to take two stock front 96-98 civic fenders and use them as a basis for a custom BTCC/JGTC style fender so I can run wider rubber, get more downforce over the front axle, and help keep air out of the wheel wells (my flat bottom project will help with this as well), as well as direct any air in the wheel wells out in a lamniar, controlled fashion (contouring the rear fender wells front and rear to aid in this)

I haven't done anything with making a plug like this in a while so I'm not sure what to use as a base for building the contours and overall shape. Some have told me to use the pink high density insulation foam... securing each piece together with 3M spray adhesive, however, no one can tell me how to securely fasten the foam to the fender... The last time I tried this on another car it was a crap shoot finding an adhesive that would keep them in place for shaping, smoothing and prepping for mold construction.

The overall design is rather simple, I just need to widen and flatten the upper part of the fender, the front and rear of each fender will join the sideskirts by way of carbon fiber side plates, of which the front will contain internal carbon canards to direct air over the fender and help with downforce, the rear carbon plate will attach (somehow) to the kiwi special projects 5" sideskirts I plan on running. This will help the air leaving the wheel well to flow in a smooth, laminar fashion down the side of the car. There will be some sort of smooth transition at the back of each fender well that will attach at some point behind the end plate to help direct airflow.

Here's a general idea of what I'm talking about

This is Luke Ryalls civic that competes in Australia at various circuit and time attack events, his car is what gave me the idea for these fenders, especially since I couldn't find anything off the shelf that would suit my needs

You can see where the actual fender stops, that is where I will be cutting the rear portion of the OEM fender off before the fender is made into a mold, the dark area below is a contoured FRP or carbon piece that directs air out of the wheel well smoothly and efficiently... also got my idea from his car.









and the side skirts, in case you aren't familiar





So I'm not even sure that the pink foam is the stuff to use anymore, nor can I determine a secure way to fasten the foam to the fenders... unless I take the first layer of foam and mount it using nuts and bots (small diameter, smooth head, so the inside of the fender doesn't have any sharp points, the smooth rounded head of the bolt should (i say should because who really knows) just leave a smooth round buildup of resin that I can sand down,

I do have some concerns about using the outside of the fender, as it will make everything bigger in respect to the OEM fenders dimensions.. So I might try to see if I can build a mold off the inside of the fender to keep the OEM dimensions as close as possible, since an external mold would cause the fender to mount to the car in a weird manner and the thickness of the material would make it even worse

I know it will take a few passes per fender and lots of foam to get it right, especially since I haven't made a large body panel in some time (mostly patching up bodywork from drift event damage) but once I do I can take the completed fender and make a mirrored template for the other fender

So I'm very open to opinions and suggestions as to the best way to start and what the best material would be to shape the material to my desired finished product

Thanks

that-guy

too lazy to read ALL of this, but i am assuming that by using the pink foam, you are trying to create a fiberglass widend fender???

my recommendation, would be to use the OEM sheet metal fender, cut out the arch, move it out to where it needs to be, tack thin steel rod in place to hold the new position, and fill in the gap with more sheet metal. with that you can either stick with the sheetmetal fenders and run those, or use them as a female mold for your fiberglass fender

tasco

You can use a 2 part marine foam, there are a few videos on youtube of people using this stuff. Or if you want to go a cheaper rout, get some expansion foam that they sell at hardware stores. Use it to cover the fenders, sand it flat so you have a flat area to glue the pink foam to.

redboost10

Why not get one of those wide front ends like all the drag racing guys have?

If you really wanna make your own, we just use the foam from lowes or Home Depot and here are pictures of some of our products.

Www.stohr.com

beetledeuce

I've been doing something similar recently on my fiesta. Cut the arch lip and moved outwards by 2.5". Masking tape to fill the void - now need to mould in fibreglass and reproduce

wantboost

iTrader: (2)

I would do sheetmetal but I have no tools to work the metal (english wheel, planishing hammer, metal brake, etc) plus if I damaged a steel fender to the point where it could not be repaired, I would have to completely build another one from scratch, unless I made a complex jig.

This is where I see fiberglass having the advantage... If it were a street car then sure but a track car will eventually have a tire failure, contact with another car, etc. So the labor to build another steel fender would put me behind on getting in seat time, racing, etc.

We've used the marine foam before to fill in gaps in unibodies on various cars, stuff dries hard as steel lol, I'll have to look into it.

When you say expansion foam do you mean things like great stuff? because I've never had good results with anything I use it on

The 3 piece front ends are only made for 99-00 civics, I have a 97 and the 96-98 models have a totally different front end... meaning I would need a new hood and headlights. Also the front bumpers hang vey low on the chassis since most drag cars run large tires and sit very high off the ground.. It wouldn't allow me to get the ride height down where I need it.

Also I would have to heavily modify the fenders and front bumper... by the time I do all of that I could have made my own and saved a lot of money ( 3 piece front ends are not cheap, not to mention having to buy a new CF hood and headlights, plus the shipping costs) then the man hours needed to make them work.

I'll look at your site
If you notice in the pics, the wheel arch has been raised a good bit, until it's even with the top of the fender (notice the curve in the top of the fender) It would require a good bit of metal removal and I would have to heavily brace the fender to keep it true.

I know I'll have to brace the fender anyways due to how much material will be removed and where I'll be removing it. The hardest part will be getting the wheel arch contour right and getting them perfectly symmetrical side to side (I might make a pattern once I get one fender how I want it)

I feel that using metal to make the various different bends/shapes/curves will be vary labor intensive versus using foam that I can sand, file, smooth to my desired contours.

Like I said, it's all about which foam I use to make the plug and how I can affix it to the OEM metal fender. I'll probably start with cardboard first, so I can try various different things and see how they work out before I start hacking up my spare set of front fenders

Thanks everyone for the ideas, I will definitely take the advice... and keep it coming

89LSED

I love the look of these! I will be doing a Set of Sheetmetal ones soon on my EF Wagon. Ill Make sure to take lots of pix!!!

turbohatch96y7

iTrader: (15)

Did this project ever get finished?

powerneedy

So not fenders but completely the same concept. This is how I built my lower half of the bumper