Series 1 Update

[Mark Maras]

Curious how one cracks a fender unless it's fiberglass or worse Bondo. 

[CDL1542]

3 minutes ago, Mark Maras said:

Curious how one cracks a fender unless it's fiberglass or worse Bondo. 

My first set of watanabe wheels were 16x8 rears on 225/45 and I had to use spacers for positive offset. Combine that with them sticking out past the fender, blown struts and NJ potholes on a cold day(very very big pothole) and you get a wheel hitting the fender pretty hard with nothing to push it back. I should have known better but it happened. Cut the fenders back for flares and welded them shut since.

[rturbo 930]

With regards to styling, I could go either way on the flares, but execution is critical if you want them to look good. Many don't. Part of it is the quality of the flare. The one sold by MSA, Classic Datsun, etc., are all a copy of a copy of a copy etc., and the exact fitment and shape of the original has been lost. The result is a poor product. To my knowledge, the best ZG flare available is made by Marugen Shokai in Japan. They are direct copies of the original, and are said to fit very well by those on these boards who have bought them. The other part of it is the installation. In this particular case, it looks as thought the rear flares should be rotated slightly toward the ground using the front of the flare by the dogleg as the pivot point of the rotation. If you look at the close up shot of the rear wheel and flare, you can see that the gap at about the 2 o clock position is much larger than anywhere on the forward half of the flare. This may be partly to do with the flare itself as well. On the Gnose Z example posted above, the flare shape is uniform, and the gap is pretty even all the way around.

Regarding ride height, I have the same problem getting a jack under my E30, but I just roll it onto some 2x4s before I work on it.

Not trying to knock your car or your work, CDL, but I think the overall finished product would benefit greatly if you improved the fitment of the flares.

Edited December 14, 2017 by rturbo 930

[JSM]

Flares are dead sexy when done right.  I think once you lower it, it will look better.

Edited December 15, 2017 by JSM