Madddsciontist
07-13-2006, 08:43 PM
Yo!* Bein kinda new to the VSC forums, i wanted to write up the proccess i used in my bubble flare project.* If ya havent met me yet, my names Mikey.* Ive always been crazy about widebody kits and fender flares, but this was my first attempt at doing anything this big.* It should be said that ive been doin body work for the passed 5 or so years...* *All together i estimate the labor involved somewhere between 300 and 350 hours.* But ive always been known for my "projects".* Most of the stuff on my car has been made by me.* And aside from spraying the paint, ive done all the work, from airbags to interior.* Well anyhow, ill stop yappin and show some pics:
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j173/madddscientist/MyBox.jpg
This is where we start, taken in March of this year.* After Bag'n the box, i had major issues with fender clearance.* Even after rolling/pulling the fenders and Qtrs.* Im running 17x8.5 +20 offset Works.* And making things worse, the airstruts were throwing me into possitive camber.* I knew i wanted to flare it...* And id like to tuck a whole lotta rim.* So i knew i had to go with some bubble flares!
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j173/madddscientist/BBflare1Medium.jpg
Heres an early mock-up of the bubble flare i found.* They were a universal flare purchased from Team prototype.* Basically just big arches of fiberglass, with no left/rights or front/rears.* I knew i didnt want to mold in the bumpers and rockers, cause personally i think that looks just shitty.* Plus it just isnt a smart thing to do, just in case.* So i split the arches into 3 peices, each to be moulded in seperately.
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j173/madddscientist/flareside4-20-06.jpg
Here you can see where i split the rockers to be moulded.* You can also see how in the rears i needed to cut releifs in the flare to conform it to the smaller wheel arch.* Those releifs allowed me to essentially make the wheel arch smaller.* These were cut and screwed into place (temporarily).* I took care to line up all the seperate peices as much as i could, to get a nice flow from one to the next.* You cant get this perfect, but thats where fiberglass comes in...
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j173/madddscientist/flarefront4-20-06.jpg
In this pic you can see where i actually cut about an inch from the fender, and reworked the edge into the start of the flare.* This was done not only for clearance, but to give the flare a foundation to be fiberglassed too.* The Qtrs were also rollded flat, cut 2 reliefs and pulled out to start the flare (kinda hard to see in the pics)* This is the first chance i got to see how wide the flare was really gonna be.* I also test fit the Works several times to make sure i had clearance at full drop.
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j173/madddscientist/flare3qtr4-20-06.jpg
I threw in this pic to show the shaved hatch...* This was such a pain in the $#@!* Scion sheet metal is about 1 step above tin foil.* And I made the mistake of cutting the patch panel out of an Audi hood.* Prolly bout 4 guages thicker than the hatch...* Even with quenching, it was a mess.* *ALLOT of metal work, and some duraglass made things all better though.
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j173/madddscientist/DSC00530.jpg
Here i started moulding in the flares.* I used several layers/products to ensure that the finnished product was damn near bullit proof.* Started with a fiberglass product called Fiber-all.* This stuff is AWESOME!* Its like fiberglass in a tube. without having to paint resin on some mat.* This* is the main adhesion product i used, and it worked great.* Bare metal, spread the fiber-all like penutbutter on the flare and reattach it with screws.* Within 20 min remove the screws and its already hard.* Grind the excess, and on to filler.* Duraglass is next.* Its a fiberglass product with Talc for better sanding.* Stuff is really strong when dry.* I actually did almost the entire fender in duraglass to give it strength.* Once again Scion sheetmetal needed to be reinforced.* After ruff grinding a coat of Rage gold filler to get it smooth.*
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j173/madddscientist/DSC00552.jpg
From joint to joint i spread the Rage across both peices, then came back once it was "clay like" and cut the joint in it with a razor.* This really is the only way to get the m to blend almost seamless.* Once again the Works were test fit to ensure clearance.* At this point i added a 20mm rear spacer* (yes its OTG :0))* to kick out the rears just a bit more.* In this pic you can see the difference between the duraglass, on the bumper, and Rage.
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j173/madddscientist/DSC00567.jpg
Next is by far my most favorite product in the world.* Spies Spray pollyester. The stuff is just THE only way to get wavy fiberglass straight.* Its just a super time saver... I could speak for hours about it...* But i wont here.* *The color difference in the bumpers and body is just the bumpers have been blocked already.* Yea, the stuff even guide coats itself for you.* But i digress...* ALLOT of hand blocking and sanding.* This is prolly the 4th time ive sanded just about the entire car.
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j173/madddscientist/DSC00569.jpg
Heres the clearance of the rear rims and the flares...* i took this because people were askin if i was gonna space it out more.* *
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j173/madddscientist/DSC00570.jpg
Just a cool F'n shot of how it all flows.* Also at this point i added the Cusco front camber plates.* To finnally rid that possitive camber problem!
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j173/madddscientist/DSC00584.jpg
Everything got 4 coats of highbuild primer.* Blocked then 2 coats of Vario.* Blocked again and finnaly paint!* (if your keeping track, im up to about the 8th time ive sanded the whole car.)* I actually took it to the Scionlife Mid atlantic BBQ like this.* Kinda a suprise cause everyone knew it wasnt ready yet.* But I couldnt miss our BBQ!
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j173/madddscientist/mikeysxB008.jpg
Finnaly paint.* The color was a BIG descision for me.* I kept going back in forth between a candy red, and a cream/biege.* The color i ended up with was actually kinda a fluke.* I had ordered a brand new lexus color, (3R1) a 3 stage red from the brand new IS350.* But the color just didnt cover.* We woulda ran out of material and i wasnt gonna wait for more.* So we went with what we know.* About 90% of my work is porsches...* And ive always liked the old school velvet red color... but it needed some pop.* So we threw in a heavy flake and 4 coats of clear with a gold pearl added.* It really makes the color almost a chromabase.* It changes with whatever lighting is on it.* From purple to red and sometimes even bronze'ish.
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j173/madddscientist/mikeysxB016.jpg
Im really pleased with how it all came out.* There were times i just wanted to run the thing into a tree.* Keep in mind that all the work was done after hours, nights and weekends, after ive worked my full day.* My friends excitement really kept me goin though!* Hell, they even came and helped me Block out the primer some.* All together it took about 4 months, a lil less.* But seeing people go WHOA!* Makes it all worthwhile.
http://www.scionvip.com/gallery/gallery/event_coverage/scion_vip_events/2006/scion_vip_slam_jam_7-2-06/0122.jpg
Here it is at Englishtown NJ.* One week after paint.* Judging was screwy, but somehow i took home first place mild and third place wild xB.* The trophies are fun, but the expressions i get are the real reward.* I hope you all got a feel of what went into this.* And just how crazy i am...* But its all in luv.* Thanks again for the warm reseption, and i hope to meet more of ya soon.* >Mikey
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j173/madddscientist/MyBox.jpg
This is where we start, taken in March of this year.* After Bag'n the box, i had major issues with fender clearance.* Even after rolling/pulling the fenders and Qtrs.* Im running 17x8.5 +20 offset Works.* And making things worse, the airstruts were throwing me into possitive camber.* I knew i wanted to flare it...* And id like to tuck a whole lotta rim.* So i knew i had to go with some bubble flares!
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j173/madddscientist/BBflare1Medium.jpg
Heres an early mock-up of the bubble flare i found.* They were a universal flare purchased from Team prototype.* Basically just big arches of fiberglass, with no left/rights or front/rears.* I knew i didnt want to mold in the bumpers and rockers, cause personally i think that looks just shitty.* Plus it just isnt a smart thing to do, just in case.* So i split the arches into 3 peices, each to be moulded in seperately.
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j173/madddscientist/flareside4-20-06.jpg
Here you can see where i split the rockers to be moulded.* You can also see how in the rears i needed to cut releifs in the flare to conform it to the smaller wheel arch.* Those releifs allowed me to essentially make the wheel arch smaller.* These were cut and screwed into place (temporarily).* I took care to line up all the seperate peices as much as i could, to get a nice flow from one to the next.* You cant get this perfect, but thats where fiberglass comes in...
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j173/madddscientist/flarefront4-20-06.jpg
In this pic you can see where i actually cut about an inch from the fender, and reworked the edge into the start of the flare.* This was done not only for clearance, but to give the flare a foundation to be fiberglassed too.* The Qtrs were also rollded flat, cut 2 reliefs and pulled out to start the flare (kinda hard to see in the pics)* This is the first chance i got to see how wide the flare was really gonna be.* I also test fit the Works several times to make sure i had clearance at full drop.
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j173/madddscientist/flare3qtr4-20-06.jpg
I threw in this pic to show the shaved hatch...* This was such a pain in the $#@!* Scion sheet metal is about 1 step above tin foil.* And I made the mistake of cutting the patch panel out of an Audi hood.* Prolly bout 4 guages thicker than the hatch...* Even with quenching, it was a mess.* *ALLOT of metal work, and some duraglass made things all better though.
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j173/madddscientist/DSC00530.jpg
Here i started moulding in the flares.* I used several layers/products to ensure that the finnished product was damn near bullit proof.* Started with a fiberglass product called Fiber-all.* This stuff is AWESOME!* Its like fiberglass in a tube. without having to paint resin on some mat.* This* is the main adhesion product i used, and it worked great.* Bare metal, spread the fiber-all like penutbutter on the flare and reattach it with screws.* Within 20 min remove the screws and its already hard.* Grind the excess, and on to filler.* Duraglass is next.* Its a fiberglass product with Talc for better sanding.* Stuff is really strong when dry.* I actually did almost the entire fender in duraglass to give it strength.* Once again Scion sheetmetal needed to be reinforced.* After ruff grinding a coat of Rage gold filler to get it smooth.*
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j173/madddscientist/DSC00552.jpg
From joint to joint i spread the Rage across both peices, then came back once it was "clay like" and cut the joint in it with a razor.* This really is the only way to get the m to blend almost seamless.* Once again the Works were test fit to ensure clearance.* At this point i added a 20mm rear spacer* (yes its OTG :0))* to kick out the rears just a bit more.* In this pic you can see the difference between the duraglass, on the bumper, and Rage.
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j173/madddscientist/DSC00567.jpg
Next is by far my most favorite product in the world.* Spies Spray pollyester. The stuff is just THE only way to get wavy fiberglass straight.* Its just a super time saver... I could speak for hours about it...* But i wont here.* *The color difference in the bumpers and body is just the bumpers have been blocked already.* Yea, the stuff even guide coats itself for you.* But i digress...* ALLOT of hand blocking and sanding.* This is prolly the 4th time ive sanded just about the entire car.
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j173/madddscientist/DSC00569.jpg
Heres the clearance of the rear rims and the flares...* i took this because people were askin if i was gonna space it out more.* *
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j173/madddscientist/DSC00570.jpg
Just a cool F'n shot of how it all flows.* Also at this point i added the Cusco front camber plates.* To finnally rid that possitive camber problem!
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j173/madddscientist/DSC00584.jpg
Everything got 4 coats of highbuild primer.* Blocked then 2 coats of Vario.* Blocked again and finnaly paint!* (if your keeping track, im up to about the 8th time ive sanded the whole car.)* I actually took it to the Scionlife Mid atlantic BBQ like this.* Kinda a suprise cause everyone knew it wasnt ready yet.* But I couldnt miss our BBQ!
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j173/madddscientist/mikeysxB008.jpg
Finnaly paint.* The color was a BIG descision for me.* I kept going back in forth between a candy red, and a cream/biege.* The color i ended up with was actually kinda a fluke.* I had ordered a brand new lexus color, (3R1) a 3 stage red from the brand new IS350.* But the color just didnt cover.* We woulda ran out of material and i wasnt gonna wait for more.* So we went with what we know.* About 90% of my work is porsches...* And ive always liked the old school velvet red color... but it needed some pop.* So we threw in a heavy flake and 4 coats of clear with a gold pearl added.* It really makes the color almost a chromabase.* It changes with whatever lighting is on it.* From purple to red and sometimes even bronze'ish.
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j173/madddscientist/mikeysxB016.jpg
Im really pleased with how it all came out.* There were times i just wanted to run the thing into a tree.* Keep in mind that all the work was done after hours, nights and weekends, after ive worked my full day.* My friends excitement really kept me goin though!* Hell, they even came and helped me Block out the primer some.* All together it took about 4 months, a lil less.* But seeing people go WHOA!* Makes it all worthwhile.
http://www.scionvip.com/gallery/gallery/event_coverage/scion_vip_events/2006/scion_vip_slam_jam_7-2-06/0122.jpg
Here it is at Englishtown NJ.* One week after paint.* Judging was screwy, but somehow i took home first place mild and third place wild xB.* The trophies are fun, but the expressions i get are the real reward.* I hope you all got a feel of what went into this.* And just how crazy i am...* But its all in luv.* Thanks again for the warm reseption, and i hope to meet more of ya soon.* >Mikey