ComposiMo

Since my other thread kinda got off track, i'm just going to make different threads for the various parts of the car build... So for now, this'll be the fender flare section

Ok, so i need to make fender flares for my car, and i want them to look nice, and not look like they were an afterthought.

I have a friend who i normally go to in Orlando that does this kind of thing for a living, and has always done a BRILLIANT job on the projects that he has helped me with... but right now, he doesn't have the time due to other projects, and then to make matters worse, i now live in Melbourne, and he is in Orlando... so i'd have to take my car over there to have this done... he's not confident in being able to get them done in the timeframe i need (VERY fast)... so my only fall-back, is that i use what he has taught me, and do it myself... eeek! Thankfully, he was a great teacher, and i pick up on things pretty fast

So, here's where we're at... normally, this would be done with a foam spray gun that he has, but i don't have that wonderful little invention... so i have to figure something else out for the base. So, i had an idea, and ran it by him... he hadnt really heard of it being done, but figured it could work, so here i go!

THIS IS NOT THE ACTUAL PART!!! There, got that out of the way before someone comes on complaining about how crappy it looks... LoL!




Here is the plan for this round: This part won't look good, the dimensions are going to be wrong, and so forth.... is is JUST to prove the idea that i can make a fender flare blank with poured foam... then basically shape it like a surfboard, until i have the desired shape, then glass over one side of it, and then dissolve the foam out leaving a nice fiberglass shell that i should then be able to make work, clean up, and should look fairly decent...



Well, thats the plan anyway... so, heres how i'm going to carry out with the plan.

Before i go out and spend a buttload of money on wood and mold making parts, and the time required to do all of it, i wanted to make sure that this could even be done, and come out how i want it to....

If/when i do it for real, i'll use a wooden buck/form to simulate the wheel,and then have a board that will simulate the very outer edge of the wheelwell... then, i'll have "blockers" both front and back to control where the foam goes... then, line the whole thing with plastic, making it fairly water-tight, and then pour the foam in... the foam will form around the mock-tire, creating the inside edge and arch around the tire opening, and then the outer form will be my outer dimension... then, i just have to shape the top part, the front, and back of each fender, and create a way for it to mount...

First things first though, is to do it the ghetto-way to see if it is even feasible...

So, i grabbed a box, a trash bag, and some tape, and some tires to help hold the box (this foam pushes kinda hard when it expands).

I set it up so that the box is my "outer limit", and then just put the bag right in the middle, and taped the top of it to the car and the box:








Then, i taped up some more, and set up the tires... in hindsight, i should have put more support inside the actual box, but its ok, it did its job still...








Then, it was time to POUR! THis stuff is a mess, and there is no time to take pics while pouring... so here is the aftermath of that:




Then, once that was cured, i popped it off the wheel... and also found out that the bag broke... grrr! but it'll clean up...




See how the inside follows the contour of the body and wheel pretty nicely? This is working gooood

So, the next few steps involved my band saw, and a hand sander... about 2 hours worth of cutting, sanding, and whatever, i came up with this:












Here are the leftovers...



It isn't how i really wanted it to look, but it doesn't matter, since i'm not using it anyway... but i learned that i needed the pour to go higher, so that i could shape the top more (notice how flat it looks on top), but with more shaping and time spent on it, the other parts of it could turn out very very nicely... so that made me happy.

All in all, i'm not happy with the way this particular part looks... but that wasn't the point. I AM happy with the fact that this shows that the concept is a sound one, and i can make a fender flare using this process...

So, the "proof of concept worked"... Next up... create the form, and begin making the flares!

triman54

This looks like it would be good with crackers and a Merlot.

Sub-Zero

After doing A LOT of that and work with Carbon Fiber. I would go higher to blend into the fender. Are you going to make a one off, bolt ons, or blended in overfenders?

The progress looks good. I am looking forward to coming over and talking over some ideas.

ComposiMo

Hey Sub... thanks for the compliment

To answer your concern about the height of the flare, this flare is a throw-away, and so i didn't want to pour that much foam... in the actual version that i plan on making for myself, it will definitely go up higher on the body... but for the purposes of this setup, that was high enough.

I actually wanted it to go higher, but in my volume calcs, i didn't account for the box flexing, and increasing the thickness of the part... if it hadn't done that, it would have gone much higher, and produced a more 'flowing' part up top... ah well.

Actually this flare is flaring out a LOT more than my actual flare will probably..

These will be bolt-on... i don't want to mold anything to my fenders.. as for making them.. they are going to be one-off, but since i'll be building a mold anyway so that i can do a carbon version of them for myself, i probably won't stop anyone from buying a set from me if someone wants them haha!

jdmfool

cant wait to see the finished product =o)

JustinsanE

You know I will probably buy a set if you get this going before october!!!!

ComposiMo

It'll be done well before October Justin

jphish

Nice. I can't wait for the finished product. It it's anything like your surfboard rack, this should be good.

The Twanksta

Do you plant to cut the fenders out behind the flares? If not, wouldnt it defeat the purpose of the flare since you wont be able to lower the car much more than with stock fenders?

SortaRican

If I may add a little advice on another way to do this. You can get high density foam from various craft stores and use a trim adhesive to "glue it to the body. It will look very block shaped at first then you begin the process of shaping the contours that you want. Once that is complete, you begin glassing it with a release agent first then your fiberglass second. Once your done with that and have what you want you drill a hole in the top of your new flare and pour acetone into the foam behind the new flare to melt away the foam. you can then begin the process of finish work and removing any unwanted metal underneath. Just my $.02 hope that it gives you some ideas at the least.