Widebody 350Z?

[r34 racer]

Dear members,

So far my project 350Z is progressing very well, It has a dual internal 150mAh NIMH mod, black painted spokes on chrome wheels, and is lowered in front by way of removing the stabilizer bar in front.

However, within a week, my pullback will be coming in. I plan to transplant both front and back wheels onto my Z's chassis and then lower the body by splicing tabs, but i am not a fan of the way the wheels protrude out of the sides of the body by several millimeters (deduced from pictures on this board). I am going to mold widebody flares onto my Z, but i need to know the procedure.

What i'm thinking so far is to mold the wider flares onto the existing body, wait for them to dry, and then dremel out the insides of the flares as needed, removing the old plastic flares that will be underneath the new, wider, molded flares.

However, i have several questions as i am quite the n00b to body mods. I need to know the following:

1) what is the best type of material to use to mold the new flares? Where can i get this material?

2) do i need to score the plastic where the moulding material attaches to get it to adhere properly? I know this is protocol with ceramics, but im not sure about plastic.

3)what can i use to shape the material i will use for the flares, when it is wet and when it is dry?

4) I assume it is necessary to strip paint before molding. How does one go about stripping the paint off of bodies without scratching the plastic?

5) what procedure should i use to paint the finished kit, and what type of paint is best?


Thanks for the time, and please, feel free to post any tips/tricks for this project. I will get pics ASAP, it promises to look totally badass.

[r34 racer]

nobody wants to help?

[SuperFly]

can't help much with the molding part, but I hear pine-sol works good for removing paint and not messing up the plastic, and I would use enamel paints. I use Testor's Model Master paints, and they work great. I've read in other threads about specific kinds of puttys for molding, Squadron's green and white versions are what I think work best. I have some Model Master that's kind of rusty red, and it's too hard for the bit bodies.

[nrmcj]

this is extremely advanced stuff, if u have little or no experience with putty/models/bodykit molding....

basically what you're looking to do is buy some putty, preferably some good soft stuff that will not dry too fast, and just... well, sand the area ur gonna do (i dont think the paint needs to be stripped, but roughened up, maybe even all the way through to the plastic), and well, mold it roughly with your hands and whatever tools you need, let it dry, then sand/cut/dremel it to the shape you want. then paint. i suggest simply repainting the whole car, giving it a much smoother and fluid look... to do this, you may want to strip the paint completely, mask, spray on primer, then spray on a few coats of paint, then a clearcoat. (making sure that everything is the same brand, cuz we dun want to krinkling paint!)

im soo not good at this, and i havent tried it with my own putty yet (too damn scared)... but good luck!!
*i use tamiya 2 part epoxy... you can get it at most LHS, as well as any import hobby shops....*

hope that helps

[r34 racer]

Thanks pie and superfly, i appreciate it a lot. Ill post pics when this beast is finished.

*runs out to get putty and some new dremel bits*

[BaY oN AiM]

1. use expoxy... u can get that at ur LHS....

2. iono about that....

3. use ur hands to mold it while its wet...then when its dry sand it down until u get the look that u want...

4. me myself i used fine sand paper and sanded odown the whole car be4 i painted mine...

5. iono about procedures it really depends on u... there are many threads out there about this one... and u should use enamel paint...

btw i dont think that u have to take off the oringinal fender flares...i myself would leave them on even though most LHS whould say that the expoxy itself can b its own part....

[nrmcj]

hmmm bay on aim, how exactly did you do your putty molding... just.. with wet hands..?

and well, i would shave out the original flares, mainly because i'd be lowering the whole deal over pullback rims... so they might need the extra room inside..

[BaY oN AiM]

Originally posted by Pie
hmmm bay on aim, how exactly did you do your putty molding... just.. with wet hands..?

and well, i would shave out the original flares, mainly because i'd be lowering the whole deal over pullback rims... so they might need the extra room inside..

heh...

i sense agression....

o wells... he does watever he wants its just adivce....

no offense pie....

[nrmcj]

nono!! waaa im not being agressive i was just saying.. like what i would do if i were to ever fix up the guts to put a widebody kit on any of my bits..!!

*whew*,... averted a flame war

i dunno tho.. see u know how some cars have really really wide flares, but the wheels are nowhere near wide enuf?

i kinda wanna do away with that, putting big flares on the car, but filling it up to the brim with *wheel*... this is gonna make the putty wheel well very, very thin... so maybe just for a show-ish body or something...

no aggression **runs away and hides**

[ralliart]

crazy man...
when you finish the project, you gotta tell us EXACTLY how to make fenders .