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fox max track width accomodations


MHISSTC

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Possible but it might require a purchase to experiment....

 

I talked with Glenn this morning and have submitted a rule change request to him and all other directors. This should be reviewed over the next few days so there is a glimmer of hope for this season.

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Very good read on the rule as written Scott. I'd agree with you 100% that those rears are an "aftermarket flare" used to modify the stock bodywork and that the fronts are a replacement fender that arent allowed.

 

Glenn is herding us cats around this one. The question of whether or not those fronts allow you to get to maximum track width is being worked on, after which (if they do) we'll make a decision. Now would be a good time to get on the phone with your regional director (or me) and lobby

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Al,

 

I forwarded some dimensional info to Glenn this morning. Although reasonable estimates the lesser 1-1/2" flare offered by Preform Resources should accommodate the current max track of 72.75" whereas their 3" flare should permit beyond he max track to 75.75"

 

Let me know if you'd like some more lobbying, I live just a few minutes from you

 

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I completed my fender widening project on my CMC fox in March last year. I sent Al a brief write up on it when he inquired about the process some time ago. Here is that text:

 

"There is an outer skin and an inner wheel well. They are spot welded together at the outside of the wheel well and then folded back under at the factory. I used 3" wide jaw vise grips to "unfold" this lip towards the outside of the car. It was more difficult where the lip had been tucked in previously to allow more tire clearance. Then, I drilled out all of the spot welds that held the inner wheel well to the outer skin. Next, I folded the wheel well down and out of the way. Then I used a big hammer to push the outer skin up and out. When I had the clearance that I needed, I folded the inner wheel well back out and tacked it into place wherever it hit on the outer skin. This gives a little strength, and maintains an all metal closure from the wheel area to the inside of the passenger compartment. No braces, no foam or fillers between the outer skin and wheel well.

 

Bondo and paint. I cut the lip at the body line and flared it out, but chose not to flare the lip below the body line because I didn't need the clearance and liked the look better.

 

It would have been MUCH easier and cheaper to cut out the quarters use 240SX or some other purchased rubber fender flares, but I like this look better. Make sure you go through a full articulation test (springs removed) of a suspension cycle. I am about an 1/8" shy on clearance on the right front and the body filler is taking a beating. I will probably have to redo that corner in the off season."

 

I have 30 photos if anyone wants to see them. Send me an email at wade dot zimmer at gmail dot com.

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For what it's worth, I strongly considered buying Maier Racing or Tiger Racing replacement fenders for the front. I was going to bolt them on, paint them, and thumb my nose at the rules. In hindsight, I am very glad that I didn't, because I am convinced that my approach was less costly, looks nearly as good, and is more in the spirit of the rules. The repaint was the same price for mine versus a replacement set of fenders so that is a wash. So basically, I saved $850.

 

http://www.mustanglab.com/maier-racing-fender-flares-for-the-mustang-coupe/

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Yes, I did all four of my fenders for the cost of the repaint with no flares. Hence, saving $850 off the cost of the proposed set. I saved nearly double that off of the flares that were available at this time last year from Maier and Tiger.

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Yes, I did all four of my fenders for the cost of the repaint with no flares. Hence, saving $850 off the cost of the proposed set. I saved nearly double that off of the flares that were available at this time last year from Maier and Tiger.

 

What would a body shop charge to do this same work?

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I can't speak for a body shop, but both methods would probably be about the same cost for the rears. Just bolting on replacement fenders would be easier on the front, assuming they are good quality and fit right. Also, what's the price to ship one of these kits?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Here are some of Wade's Fox body fender / quarter flare pictures. He has more if you'd like to contact him.

 

I completed my fender widening project on my CMC fox in March last year. I sent Al a brief write up on it when he inquired about the process some time ago. Here is that text:

 

"There is an outer skin and an inner wheel well. They are spot welded together at the outside of the wheel well and then folded back under at the factory. I used 3" wide jaw vise grips to "unfold" this lip towards the outside of the car. It was more difficult where the lip had been tucked in previously to allow more tire clearance. Then, I drilled out all of the spot welds that held the inner wheel well to the outer skin. Next, I folded the wheel well down and out of the way. Then I used a big hammer to push the outer skin up and out. When I had the clearance that I needed, I folded the inner wheel well back out and tacked it into place wherever it hit on the outer skin. This gives a little strength, and maintains an all metal closure from the wheel area to the inside of the passenger compartment. No braces, no foam or fillers between the outer skin and wheel well.

 

Bondo and paint. I cut the lip at the body line and flared it out, but chose not to flare the lip below the body line because I didn't need the clearance and liked the look better.

 

It would have been MUCH easier and cheaper to cut out the quarters use 240SX or some other purchased rubber fender flares, but I like this look better. Make sure you go through a full articulation test (springs removed) of a suspension cycle. I am about an 1/8" shy on clearance on the right front and the body filler is taking a beating. I will probably have to redo that corner in the off season."

 

I have 30 photos if anyone wants to see them. Send me an email at wade dot zimmer at gmail dot com.

 

FlaresCMC34Zimmer10Large.jpg[/img]

FlaresCMC34Zimmer11Large.jpg

[/img]FlaresCMC34Zimmer12Large.jpg

FlaresCMC34Zimmer19Large.jpg

[/img]FlaresCMC34Zimmer23Large.jpg

FlaresCMC34Zimmer24Large.jpg

[/img]FlaresCMC34Zimmer28Large.jpg

FlaresCMC34Zimmer30Large.jpg[/img]

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  • 2 months later...

Here are a few shots of the progress we've made over the last couple of days.

 

Dave cutting while my son watches:

Daveturn_zpse585c10c.jpg

 

 

The outer skin bent up before cutting and bending the inner fender to match:

intermediate2_zps08525918.jpg

 

 

Another view of the outer skin bent up:

intermediate1_zps0c918542.jpg

 

 

Right rear prepped for fiberglass:

backprepped_zps6c6d7642.jpg

 

 

That should be enough clearance:

rearclearance_zpsbf3d9681.jpg

 

 

Work has also started on the right front:

frontbegin_zpsc7d2404b.jpg

 

 

A current shot down the right side:

sideshot_zpsa47229b2.jpg

 

 

Left front before cutting:

leftprecut_zps9558ab53.jpg

 

 

Left rear cutting begins:

leftrearcutbegins_zpsaa25f811.jpg

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  • 3 weeks later...

And now for fiberglass and resin, body filler, and primer.

 

It's not finished, but it's done enough for the dyno tomorrow and our first event this weekend.

 

glassed_zpsb7769b89.jpg

 

bondo_zpsa8beeeb4.jpg

 

primed_zps7b9f64b1.jpg

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After our first event of the season, I can happily report that wider IS better.

 

Along with the modified fenders to accommodate the wider tires and wider track width, we also managed to get rid of our part throttle stumble and firm up our soft brake pedal.

 

Dave put down a lap time in the Saturday morning warmup that was 0.4 seconds faster than his fastest time ever on that track. By the end of the weekend, he was consistently running around 1.5 seconds faster per lap than he had ever done before. Lap times were in the low 1:06.xx range.

 

Of course our competition is lowering their lap times also, so we still have our work cut out for us.

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  • 1 month later...

Finally got an opportunity to finish up the paint this morning mere hours before I headed to work and Dave loads it up and heads east to Topeka for the RM/CR crossover event. The new paint almost matches. Orange and shiny is better than just raw fiberglass, filler and primer.

 

Still masked up with about 3-4 light coats to just barely provide coverage.

 

frontmasked_zps548e5d6c.jpg

 

 

Masking removed. Close, but not quite a match.

 

frontunmasked_zpsa8bb204a.jpg

 

All done and curing in the sun.

 

side_zps38e629c5.jpg

 

side2_zps7fe5a8c9.jpg

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  • 4 weeks later...

Took a bit of a different route than the other builds documented here. Decided I wanted to be able to replace flares fairly easily should I damage them.

 

We still have a slight rub in the front under heavy compression. Once we created the template out of card stock, forming it was relatively straight forward.

 

FlareProject_01_zpsce336a71.jpg

 

FlareProject_02_zpsdb97beb2.jpg

 

FlareProject_03_zpsaec2a45e.jpg

 

FlareProject_04_zpsae9e0966.jpg

 

FlareProject_05_zps1dd8fcf8.jpg

 

FlareProject_06_zps63138f8c.jpg

 

FlareProject_08_zpsbf0b3cf8.jpg

 

FlareProject_09_zps0aec281f.jpg

 

FlareProject_10_zpsfb20bbc8.jpg

 

FlareProject_11_zpsd9ea0e14.jpg

 

FlareProject_12_zpsb92dd6c0.jpg

 

44afc02c-f550-446c-8b93-788bf11f95df_zpsb3185216.jpg

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Looks great! I can tell from experience so far that replacement instead of repair is a very good idea. For the next version of max-width Fox wheel arch flares that I make, I'm hoping to develop a set of molds I can use to make several sets of fiberglass flares to have on hand for replacement. It will be more work up front, but will be less work at the track or at home if they need fixed.

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I tweaked one at Sonoma already. Our first set of rear flares were steel sheet metal, but when we tried aluminum sheet up front we liked it so much we swapped out the rears for it as well. Track width is ~72.5" front and rear in case anyone was curious.

 

I prefer metal to fiberglass, in that we can bang out incidents that may occur during the weekend and then fix them properly before the next weekend.

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  • 1 month later...

I recently went the "easy" route for tire clearance by installing the fiberglass Z flares. I could have trimmed them to end just above the belt-line molding but decided to try them full length.

 

The steel cut easily with just a sabre saw then I rolled the raw edge upward to eliminate sharp edges. Probably look better painted body color.

001_zpsea476f56.jpg

 

003_zpsa5d90494.jpg

 

 

 

011_zps3ac5af00.jpg

 

004_zpsc52e64c7.jpg

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