Fender Flares

[frankeeski]

Well, after years of staring at these fender flares I got from Gary Cook, I finally broke out the saw today and started the installation process. Rather then cutting them down as others haves done, I am installing them full size.

Here is the before picture of the unmolested Factory Five MKIII fender. The silver Sharpie line will be the cut line for the new fenders.


Oops! No going back now. Anyone want to buy some slightly used fenders?


I fit the fender and fixed it to the body with some wood blocks to back it up and some wood screws through the fiberglass. First coat of glass and resin applied. The rest of the glass and resin will be applied from the back side when I pull the body off of the chassis.

[frankeeski]

Here are a couple of shots to give perspective on the difference between the original Factory Five fenders and the Cook fenders.


Just a bit more room for bigger wider tires.


Pictures down the side of the car with the original fender.


And another from the side with the new fender.

[riptide motorsport]

I like em...nice clean job.

[skullandbones]

What are you going to fill that fender well with anyway?

Thanks,

WEK.

[frankeeski]

What are you going to fill that fender well with anyway?

Thanks,

WEK.

I was thinking about a couple of these.

[skullandbones]

Wow! Those look like 17"x14". Holy cr**, Batman!!!

[Jeff Kleiner]

That's ambitious Frank! I was feeling pretty good about cutting the scoop out of a M3 hood and grafting it onto a Mk4 recently but that's nuthin' in comparison I'll enjoy watching this come together so please keep us updated!

Is this how Hoofa started?

Jeff

[Plebeian]

I was thinking about a couple of these.

What size tire is that?

[CraigS]

Looking good. I got mine from DatonaBill and used flat head machine screws. First tape install to make sure they fit and where to position them

Painted them and reinstalled. The paint match isn't perfect and I will probably do a permanent install w/ glass and have the rear re-painted.

I got 35 mm spacers to move the 315s outward. Since I had not moved the 3/4x3/4 tube that goes to the door latch when I did the 315 mod, I was always rubbing it. The spacer fixed it but I keep thinking about 335s.

[frankeeski]

What size tire is that?

Mickey Thompson 26x12x18.

[frankeeski]

Is this how Hoofa started?

Jeff

That's just messed up Jeff.

[MPTech]

Those flares and those tires will be an awesome combination. Good choice!
I give you a lot of credit, cutting into that fender is brave.
Good luck with the mod.

[frankeeski]

Work continued on the fenders today. I moved over to the passenger side to extract the existing fender and then mock up and install the new fender. Here are a few pictures of today's activities.

Old fender cut out. No fear here, I figure if I muck it up too much that I can hand it over to Miller (AKA Da Bat).


Close-up of the seam. I tried to get it as close as possible. The body will be flipped over when I pull it off of the chassis and I will glass the fenders in from the back side. Then the outside surface of the fender fiberglass can be sanded down.


Finished fender at the end of today's work. I really do like the way they turned out.


I am going to add a pair of 1" aluminum wheel spaces for now and see where that puts the existing wheel package in the fender wells.


I know the apprehension a few of you guys are referring to. After having my baptism in fiberglass work bonding the Super Snake hood and glassing that whole thing I dove right into this project head first. I'll be sure to update as I continue to work on the body over then next few months, My goal right now is to get this thing torn down to get the new engine in and then get the body back on before the Huntington Beach Cruise-In. Wish me luck.

[esff32]

Nice job Frank, should be able to get some beefy tires under there!

[chopthebass]

I do love beefy tires on the rear. Excellent job.

[Someday I Suppose]

Frank, wider is better for sure.

Ron added a bit of the original edge back to my flares as well to give a little outside lip. I'm still running 315's, though someday might take the plunge and have the wheel modified to 11 inches and go with 335's. That said even with the 315's I love how the fender comes over the top and squats down a bit on the tire.

[JJ'snakepit]

Looking good Frank.... You'll be a pro when I get ready to do mine. See you tomorrow......... JJ

[frankeeski]

Wheel Spacers

Found the time this evening to install the 1" wheels spacers on the rear of the car. Here is a before with no spacer installed. I previously install 3" studs in the axle flanges in preparation for the spacers. I had to install these small "tuner" lug nuts as they were the only through lug nuts that would fit in the recess of the rear wheels


Close-up after shot of the installed spacers.


With the spacers I have increased the track width of the rear of the car by a full 2"


I gained quite a bit of clearance in the wheel wells behind the seats. Near no chance of ever rubbing the inner aluminum on the front of the fender well.

Close-up of the tuner lug nuts versus the full size lug nuts designed for these wheels. I am very happy that I had no issues with these tuner lugs in the short time they were on the car.

[CraigS]

Not sure on yours but a lot of the sockets for the 'tuner' lugs are aluminum. Be sure to order an extra one because they tend to crack at the wrong time.

[Jeff Kleiner]

C'mon Frank, hurry up and throw the body back on that thing so we can see it with the wheels pushed out! Hmmm, an extra inch on the inside + flares on the body...I bet that little devil on your shoulder is whispering "335s" into your ear

Jeff

[Sanford]

Are you interested in selling the original flares? they are wider I believe than what I have on my MKII

[frankeeski]

Not sure on yours but a lot of the sockets for the 'tuner' lugs are aluminum. Be sure to order an extra one because they tend to crack at the wrong time.

Craig, Tuner lugs were temporary. They are in a bag now with the key and looking for a new home.......for the right price. I only used them because I needed through hole lugs once the 3" studs were installed. The original lugs would not snug down against the wheels. They snug down just fine now with the spacers.

[frankeeski]

Work continues on the fender flares. Today I managed to lay up 3 layers of glass and resin. That with the previous 4 layers has gotten to the thickness I feel comfortable with. I still plan to lay up a final layer of mat. Reason being, the mat tends to even out the surface as opposed to the cloth. I also plan to sand down the outside of the body just to even things out and throw some sand-able primer on it for the time being. The new truck lid will also get a shot of primer. Here a a couple of pictures I took this afternoon of the bottom side of the body so you can all see the lay up

[frankeeski]

Since I had the resin flowing I decided to fill in a few holes in the body and add some mounting bolts.

This first picture is of the trunk area of the body. I filled in the inner two roll-bar mounts. I initially drill the inner two roll-bar holes to fit single roll-bars and make my roll-bar jig which matches the FFR mounting points. Since the jig is now made, I can fill in the holes. I also filled in the original trunk hinge mounting holes. Since I made new under mount hinges these holes can be filled in as well.


This picture is of a stud I bonded on to the trunk area. Although probably not needed, I figured it couldn't hurt. This will give me a way to adjust the body to the chassis much like the z-brackets that mounted to the surface mounted trunk hinges.


Last photo is a sneak peak of a top secret project I am working on. As soon as I complete this project I will reveal what it is. Until then I'll let you all guess.

[CraigS]

Frank, an idea for you if your spacers are the same as mine. Mine are the Eibachs like these.
http://www.jegs.com/i/Eibach/369/902...FYMcOgodBFsAsQ
What I did was knock out the studs they have installed. I installed them on my axles w/ my 3 inch studs in the counter bored holes and held them in place w/ plain lugnuts properly torqued. Of course the wheels also get installed on the same lugs. This way they become semi-permanently installed spacers rather than adaptors. I like that there is no load on the aluminum pieces at all which is different than the way they are intended to be installed.

[frankeeski]

Craig, I'm not using adapters, I'm using spacers. The studs I am using are 3" long and I installed them when I installed the 5-Link rear.
Here is a picture of the spacer I'm using from Allstar.

As you know, this type of spacer puts no stress on the spacer itself. The stress is directed at the studs and lug nuts. I am not a fan of the adapter style spacers.

[frankeeski]

That'd make a handy place to hide some low profile tweeters just behind your elbow. Gotta get all your Dolby surround channels represented!

Sorry Bill, you're not in the right area of the body (a persons body or the car's body). This are nowhere near the elbows. I think you already know what this is. I think we discussed it, so no cheating.

[JJ'snakepit]

Can't wait to see her done.

[frankeeski]

Me too John. The problem right now is "the clock is ticking". If I don't get these wrapped up this weekend and get the car back on the road, then Huntington Beach is pretty much out.

[JJ'snakepit]

Here is my guess ..... Some sort of mount for a top..... Three points, corners and one in the trunk to hold everything down or a rack for luggage... Love the flares Frank.....JJ

[frankeeski]

Continued progress on the fender flares. Outside surface went a few rounds with the DA sander this afternoon. I got it fairly smooth and hit a few problem areas with some Rage. Another round with the sander and then a few coats of sand-able primer.
Here is a picture or two of the fenders sanded and masked ready for a bit of primer.



And a picture of the passenger side fender with a few coats of primer laid down.

And now the money shot, all one color again (more or less). All ready to go back onto the chassis in the morning.

[WIS89]

Hey Frank-

What a terrific job! I think it takes serious guts to cut into the body like that, but you really nailed it.

I enjoyed following along, and seeing it done is fantastic. I am sure you are happy and relieved all at the same time!

Congratulations.

Regards,

Steve

[JJ'snakepit]

Wow .... Looks awesome Frank...Can't wait to see em on the car in person. As good as those turned out I'll bet you are thinking about doing your own body work prior to paint. I am thinking that didn't take you very long... JJ

[frankeeski]

Hey Frank-

What a terrific job! I think it takes serious guts to cut into the body like that, but you really nailed it.

I enjoyed following along, and seeing it done is fantastic. I am sure you are happy and relieved all at the same time!

Congratulations.

Regards,

Steve

Steve, I manage to get the body set back on the chassis on Saturday with a little help from Dan (bwdziol). And while the car takes on a completely different look with the new fenders, the addition of all of the other parts (roll bar, windscreen, etc) really make the fenders look like all this work has been worthwhile. I am resisting the temptation to post anymore pictures until I have all of the other components back on the car. By the time the hood goes back on, the car is going to have a distinctive look. I know I am going to love it!

Wow .... Looks awesome Frank...Can't wait to see em on the car in person. As good as those turned out I'll bet you are thinking about doing your own body work prior to paint. I am thinking that didn't take you very long... JJ

Thanks John. While I dove right in with this fender project I have no ambition to do more fiberglass work. And body work has got to be at the bottom of my wish list. I know that Miller is going to vapor lock when he sees what I have done to a perfectly good body. You should have heard his comments the first time he saw my Super Snake hood. Yikes! But all of the body work is going to be "his" problem at some point. As far as not taking long, it's probably just perspective. To me it seems like I have been working on the fenders for a lifetime.

[JJ'snakepit]

Its going to look awesome.... How is your new engine going? We need to see a thread on its progress as well... JJ

[frankeeski]

How is your new engine going? We need to see a thread on its progress as well... JJ

John, there is a thread for the engine build. It will next be updated when I have a first start of the motor. Hopefully that will be this coming weekend.
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showt...ghlight=bullet

[2FAST4U]

That is going to look wicked

[BigBlockBandit]

Anybody done the front fenders? I remember reading something about them on the old boards but I cant find any mention of front fender flares on this board. Im finally getting back to work on my cobra this winter and once the terminator motor is back in I hope to get to all the glass work done before spring. I have the Daytona Bill rear flares out here but I have not seen a how to on widening the fronts. I hope to do some auto crossing with this one and want to get it low and wide. I have the used 315s on the chassis now and want to get the 335s on when its ready to roll. the fronts are 275 now and I need to find the old threads and see what is possible there. I got distracted for a couple years on this project, long enough the old forums got shut down and I just finally registered on the new ones.

[frankeeski]

Updated picture of the finished fender flares.

[DaleG]

They sure look nice!