S14 wide body without rivets and flush?

[Xektrix]

Ok I don't have a 240sx yet, but I do plan on getting one in the very near future (hopefully I can find a decent one once I have all the funds). But in the meantime I have been trying to figure out what mods I plan on doing. I'm trying to think of exterior and interior mods first, because I will probably stick with the ka for a while. I want to rebuild it, but I still want the ka for learning.

But that gets me to this question. Is there a wide body kit out there that does not have to be riveted? I really hate the look of the rivets, it doesn't look good in my opinion. Same with the obvious edge of the fender kit itself.

What I want to do is put it on so there are zero rivets, and make it flush with the body. Do they make something like this? Because I can't find any that don't have rivets and/or flush with the car body. I've thought about putting bondo on the edges of the kit so that I can possibly make my own incline to match up the surfaces. Would that work, or is it optimistic?

Basically what I want is for it to look somewhat OEM, just wide body. So to the untrained eye, people wouldn't even think twice if it was aftermarket or not. Because I love the idea of wide body, but I really hate the tacky (IMO) rivets and uneven body surfaces. It looks unfinished to me.

[KAT-PWR]

Yeah it's called $1,000's in paint and body work. What you are wanting to do is a molded body kit. This takes skill and proper materials. No, bondo will not do.

You will have to cut and re-weld the arches. Properly seal them from moisture. Prep the body surface where you will bond the FRP panel to the OEM metal. You will need panel bond, short strand fiberglass fillers, a good quality light weight filler, full set of sanding blocks, various grit sand papers, and a good amount of experience.
Then add your primers and paint.

Also you will want to start with a good quality over fender like charge speed which run $650 or so.

[brndck]

vertex ridge /thread
http://www.vertex-usa.com/catalog/RIDGE-S14-ZENKI-WIDEBODY-SYSTEM.html

http://www.vertex-usa.com/catalog/images/T/main-15.jpg

http://www.vertex-usa.com/catalog/RIDGE-S14-KOUKI-WIDEBODY-SYSTEM.html

http://www.vertex-usa.com/catalog/images/T/main-14.jpg

roughly $3k for the kit, plus shipping, plus labor/install.

[Xektrix]

Yeah it's called $1,000's in paint and body work. What you are wanting to do is a molded body kit. This takes skill and proper materials. No, bondo will not do.

You will have to cut and re-weld the arches. Properly seal them from moisture. Prep the body surface where you will bond the FRP panel to the OEM metal. You will need panel bond, short strand fiberglass fillers, a good quality light weight filler, full set of sanding blocks, various grit sand papers, and a good amount of experience.
Then add your primers and paint.

Also you will want to start with a good quality over fender like charge speed which run $650 or so.

Hey thanks for the response, that's interesting. And kinda sucks. I'd probably just stick with the oem look if it's that labor intensive. Because I would like to do the work on it myself, but I am not anywhere close to being able to do that. I honestly know nothing about body work, so I was hoping it was going to be simpler. Because I don't want to try it and end up ruining a perfectly good chassis.

If I ever do plan on trying anything like that, I'd probably try it on a junk chassis or work in a body shop. Thanks for the reply tho, are you experienced with that kinda thing? Because I can't really find much information online about this topic. Maybe I'm not searching the right thing, or not hard enough.

[KAT-PWR]

I've done my fair share of body work/fiberglass repair and I would be a bit hesitant to do it without professional guidance....which I have been fortunate enough to find.

[Xektrix]

vertex ridge /thread
http://www.vertex-usa.com/catalog/RIDGE-S14-ZENKI-WIDEBODY-SYSTEM.html

http://www.vertex-usa.com/catalog/images/T/main-15.jpg

http://www.vertex-usa.com/catalog/RIDGE-S14-KOUKI-WIDEBODY-SYSTEM.html

http://www.vertex-usa.com/catalog/images/T/main-14.jpg

roughly $3k for the kit, plus shipping, plus labor/install.

Dang, that's an expensive body kit lol!

[Xektrix]

I've done my fair share of body work/fiberglass repair and I would be a bit hesitant to do it without professional guidance....which I have been fortunate enough to find.

Yeah it'd be nice if I knew someone that could really teach me, because I can only learn so much from books and research. I'm a hands-on person, and I usually fail pretty bad at first but I'm pretty quick to learn what is right and what is wrong. Maybe if I find someone in the future lol

[collegekid]

The rear on the s14 should accept a 10 inch wide wheel with a low offset and just a roll. How wide do you want to go?

[silviaks2nr]

No need for over fenders for what you want. 18x11 with 295 fits in rear on stock body...

[silviamang]

Hey thanks for the response, that's interesting. And kinda sucks. I'd probably just stick with the oem look if it's that labor intensive. Because I would like to do the work on it myself, but I am not anywhere close to being able to do that. I honestly know nothing about body work, so I was hoping it was going to be simpler. Because I don't want to try it and end up ruining a perfectly good chassis.

If I ever do plan on trying anything like that, I'd probably try it on a junk chassis or work in a body shop. Thanks for the reply tho, are you experienced with that kinda thing? Because I can't really find much information online about this topic. Maybe I'm not searching the right thing, or not hard enough.




Like KAT-PWR said, molding a body kit properly to car will take a lot of time, money, and skill. I would not recomend someone to do it that has zero experience with body work, or even some experience with body work.


Bottom line is, you are not going to be able to do the work yourself and have it not come out like crap. Most (if not all) kits need to be fitted properly out of the box.


I know starting out you want to do most of the work on your own car. I know the feels, but somethings (like body work) I would just let someone that has the experience do it. Good luck on the S14!

[spray2020]

Molding on the over's isn't hard, as long as you have patience and can sand you can do it with time. Take a look at this build, page 6 and 7, you will see one technique used- however it can be done in different ways:

http://zilvia.net/f/showthread.php?t=447170&page=6

[Corbic]

Slide show mounting turbo fenders on a 911, same concept.

-nJ8l5ErxQM

[KAT-PWR]

Molding on the over's isn't hard, as long as you have patience and can sand you can do it with time. Take a look at this build, page 6 and 7, you will see one technique used- however it can be done in different ways:

http://zilvia.net/f/showthread.php?t=447170&page=6

Just have to take a moment to laugh. That thread shows a COUPLE of pictures of a PROFESSIONAL body shop molding on overs. It's not 'that hard" but it is hard to make a panel fit well, be durable, and be straight for paint. That thread doesn't even mention a single material used or a single step.

[spray2020]

Just have to take a moment to laugh. That thread shows a COUPLE of pictures of a PROFESSIONAL body shop molding on overs. It's not 'that hard" but it is hard to make a panel fit well, be durable, and be straight for paint. That thread doesn't even mention a single material used or a single step.

Just because that shows a professional shop is doing it, doesn't mean you cant do it yourself. There is descriptions for many of the photos as well, that explains the steps. Cutting the oe quarters, bonding them together to seal for moisture, mechanically bond the overs to the quarter panel, use a wheel to check fitment/ stance, glass the overs to the edge, then fill and feather, and guide coat and block sand.

Making a poor fitting panel fit well, yes I agree - its a pain in the ass. But if you start with a decent fitting panel then the rest should be fairly straight forward. Pinholes and waves, can be difficult to remove- but most paint shops can help with that.

[RPS13-604]

i had my fenders molded on it looks really clean but the down fall i had was the body kept on flexing and cracked the paint on the overs. Look in the wheel fitment thread i posted some pictures of it in there. But be prepared to spend $$$ like KAT- PWR said the fender needs to be cut, welded, sealed properly. I also had the the gap between the overfenders and cut metal completly sealed so it looks OEM when you look under it.