jackie

The purpose for doing this whole big fender project was to make more room for larger tires so I made room....

Ouch!!!!

The car doesn't seem to be structurally impaired but if you are worried about that and do this project, I suppose you could put a bunch of metal in there and weld the heck out of it.

jackie

I used some 3m Panel Bond to attach the fender to the car. I put a real thick bead or two between the fiberglass and the bare metal on the car. I then used some tek screws about every 4 inches to suck it up to the car. Then I put rivets between the tek screws about 4 inches apart.

The following day, I took out the screws and ground the rivets down smooth. Then I put a thick bead of panel bond over the joint and mashed some of that cloth type fiberglass mesh into it.....sort of like putting tape over a sheetrock joint. I was told by a body man that it would prevent a crack from forming later. We'll see.....

UPDATE!!!!! don't put the rivets in...they will show thru the paint. Just use the screws to hold the fender to the car until the panel bond cures then remove the screws but don't use rivets and leave them in. I will be drilling mine out later. OUCH!!!

jackie

Next you should put on some Bondo Glass to fill in the low areas then sand with the orbital with some 80 grit. Then put on a layer of Evercoat Metal glaze. That stuff goes on smoothly and sands off a lot easier than fiberglass or Bondo Glass. This picture shows what it looked like with the metal glaze applied. It is pink because I used red hardener.

jackie

Next came the fun part...not! Block sanding is a long and tedious process. I used 80 grit paper and sanding blocks to knock down the high spots then apply metal glaze to the low spots then repeat over and over and over.
I alternated using blue hadener and red hardener. At first it helped me keep track of what I just applied but after several rounds...it all started looking like a mess.

A friend of mine that owns a body shop gave me a jar of this black powder that looks like soot. You smear it on the area to be block sanded. After block sanding...the part that remains black is the low area that needs more body filler. Here's the problem... you need to remove the black stuff for the filler to stick properly.. I took a sharpie marker and circled those areas then used some rubbing alcohol to get the black stuff off then applied the filler (metal glaze).

jackie

I used Bondo Glass to get a very smooth/distinct line where the fender joins the bumper. After painting the fender, I was going to get some black silicone caulk and cover the joint. My painter talked me out of that and I am now working on joining the two so that you can't tell where the joint is. I ground down both sides of the joint, put a layer of panel bond down with the fiberglass cloth squashed into it, let it dry then began the metal glaze/block sanding process. I'm currently working on that so it will be a little while before pics are posted of the finished product.

Update 6/9/15..the miata is a car of curves so I got rid of that distinct line and blended it in with the fenders. All bodywork is done and it is going to the painter tomorrow.

jackie

Next my painter sprayed some primer on the fender. It cost a hundred bucks a gallon and he says that is some of the cheapest primer he uses. This is called filler primer and it is a two part mixture. He mixed up a batch, put it in his gun and sprayed it then waited about 10 mins and did it again, waited 10 more mins then sprayed again.

He says more block sanding will be needed and this stuff sands "like concrete". It sure looked better after the filler primer dried....all the same color and it filled in a lot of the imperfections.

update 6/9/15 I got rid of that distinct line where the front part of the rear flare joins the body. It is a more gradual transition. It's going to the painter tomorrow. I will post pics when it is back.

jackie

I didn't take any pictures of the back fenderwells I constructed but the process was very easy. First, I ground off the undercoating on the outside portion of the fenderwell then I cut some wire mesh with 1/2 inch squares in it into a couple of pieces about 2 feet long by 4 inches wide. I used tek screws to attach it to the fender that I bent out (making clearance for the new tires) and the part of the fenderwell that I had just ground off the undercoating. Then I applied a layer of bondo glass to the wire mesh. I think mesh with 1/4 inch squares would have worked better. Once that dried, there were a few voids so I applied more bondo glass. Once that was dry, I ground down the high spots with my 4 inch grinder then I sprayed undercoating on it. Now it looks like a factory job.

jackie

At this time my car looked kinda funny. Like a chick with a big booty. LOL
It needed wide fenders on the front to match the back. I was really dreading going thru process again. I got lucky and found these. They cost about 700 bucks for the pair but worth every penny. I bet I have close to $500 in my rear fenders considering the cost of fibergalss resin, fiberglass mat and body filler and primer.

Update 6/9/15 These fenders sure saved me a lot of time vs making some from scratch or modifying the stock ones however...don't be fooled into thinking it is just a bolt-on project that can be done in an hour or so. First, you have to figure out how to attach that front piece to the front bumper. I riveted and panel bonded it then had to do the blending process with bondo glass and metal glaze. Second, the gap between the new fender and the hood was excessive so I applied about 10 layers of fiberglass to build it up so it would look ok. My painter says fiberglass are notorious for requiring this type of work to look right. You also have to figure out how to attach the side portion of the front bumper cover to the front/lower part of the new fenders. I drilled a couple of holes in the horizontal part and put some threaded clips on that portion of the bumper cover then ran a bolt down from the fender into the bumper cover clips.

jackie

Here's a pic of the fenders on the car. Notice the small piece that connects to the bumper cover does not look very good like this.

jackie

I had to cut the bumper cover to allow the side marker light holder portion to come out even with the new part. I then used the panel bond glue and rivets to connect the two together. Then metal glaze, block sand, metal glaze, block sand over and over.

I messed up. I took the bumper cover off the car to attach this piece and do all of that work to make it look good. When I went to put it all back together....It didn't fit right. If you install this kit, glue/rivet these pieces together with it on the car and the headlights in the car. I ended up cutting the piece off and had to glue/rivet it back while on car....THEN took the bumper cover off and did the body glaze/block sand fun stuff all over again. Woo Hoo!!!

jackie

I put my front springs in the rear and bought some of those Ford Escort station wagon springs and put them on the front. Others have done this and I suppose it may work on a NA miata but on my NB miata the front was way too low. The front end rubbed every time I would go over a speed bump or try to enter a parking lot that had a slightly steep approch. It went around corners ok but was rough as heck going over bumps an potholes.

I purchased a set of the track pack vmax shocks from flyin miata and it rides better than my Z28 now. It's like a different car. They have two different springs...a skinny one and a thick one. The skinny one stays compressed all of the time. I called FM and they said it was supposed to be that way. I like that the ride height is adjustable. The dampening is also adjustable but I don't know much about that.

jackie

I went with the Boss Frog double hoop rollbar. I think it looks good. It is well constructed and installation went very well...I think it took me about 4 or 5 hours to put it in.

If I had it to do over again, I would have gone with a single hoop with a diagonal brace. I want to take it to the drag strip and see what it will do. I did a little research and the NHRA requires a roll bar on all convertible cars faster than 13.49 in the quarter mile. They have very specific requirements for rollbars and mine doesn't cut it. They also want some side bars and attachments for the 5 point harness. Oh well...maybe I can put a hardtop on it and they won't consider it a convertible....who knows?????

jackie

I wanted some decent bass for my stereo. Many have tried this task in a miata...few have succeeded.

First step was to line sides of trunk with tape...

jackie

I bought a pair of Fosgate 10 inch subs.

They have a particular requirement for air space in the speaker box. I think it was 1.1 cubic ft for closed boxes...and it would need more if it was going to be ported. Miatas are short on space so I opted for a closed box. I converted cubic feet to gallons and it worked out real close to 5 gallons. I filled up a 5 gallon bucket with the packing peanuts then used them to make sure I was going to have enough air space for the speakers to sound best.

jackie

Then I taped a piece of cardboard on top

I'm just showing one side. I made a box for both sides.

jackie

Then I put a couple of layers of fiberglass on the blue tape. It works best if you use 4 inch by 4 inch squares. Wear vinyl gloves and do your best to keep from getting it on you.....good luck with that!!!

jackie

Then I took the shell out and removed the blue tape.

Next I filled this shell with those packing peanuts and drew a line on it where the board needed to be so that the volume of the box would be right.

jackie

Then I cut some 1 inch thick OSB board and screwed it to the fiberglass.

I suggest if you do this....first place the speakers approximately where they are going to go. Make sure there is enough room. You may need to angle the face board differently. Speakers with huge magnets require a lot of space behind them.

jackie

Then I put about 3 layers of fiberglass over the OSB board and wrapped it
around the edge of the fiberglass shell I made. Then I put several layers of fiberglass inside the box. (you don't want to put additional layers on the outside because it won't fit if it gets bigger) Then I put some of that dynamat type material inside the box.

I think there was a clearance issue with the trunk lid so one of the boxes was modded after this picture.

jackie

Then I sprayed them with some textured paint designed for trunk lining. It hid the imperfections in my fiberglass work. Then I sprayed them black and installed the speakers.

jackie

Here's the finished product. It sounds good stopped or going down the road 80mph with the top down!!! I had to put some weatherstripping on the trunk lid to reduce rattling...imagine that!

If I were to do this project over, I would consider taking the spare tire out and utilizing some of that air space.

charchri4

Such a great build Jackie and great thread too! If I was going to do it again I would have done just about exactly what you did with your. Love the DIY subframe and or flairs are SWEET!!! Thank you for posting this thread!

So how did you go about getting your quarters the same on both sides? LOL or are they the same on both sides? What company did you get your front fenders from?

I love the wheel and tire combo you went with too!! I really wish someone would make a 315 street tire with about 300 tread wear. I'd kill those 140s by mid summer!

jackie

Here's the company I bought the front fenders from...
Wide Body Kit - 1999-2005 Miata - AWR Racing Store Remember when getting a price from them to have them include the fenders, the extensions that go on the bumper cover and shipping.

Just so there is no confusion regarding the back tires... they are Sumitomo brand they are 315 35 r17 tires. They have very deep tread. The treadwear rating is 160aa whatever that means and you can buy them for $142 ea at tirerack.com http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes

The fenders are pretty close to mirror images of each other. I placed a line connecting a bunch of dots on the blue tape. You can take lots of different measurements to find the same spot on each side. Measure from the door handle, frankenstein bolts, back tail light lens, over from the fenderwell etc..
Then once you get the foam on there, cut it and draw lines which will direct further cutting then the math guy inside you has to take a seat and let the artist take over. Step away from it and look at both sides at the same time...much like my daughther does when she is trying to cut the hair around my ears the same length. I used lots of bondo glass to get it "just right".
You will want to put the tires on it to get the gap between the fender and the tire the same. I put the tires on then used a sharpie marker then used the orbital sander to take it down or up in this case to the line.
The more effort you put into the foam.....the less you have to mess with the fiberglass. Foam and the metal glaze body filler is much easier to sand/shape than fiberglass. I feel like the bondo glass is structural whereas the body glaze is just there to make it pretty.

By the way Jim,
Your build site is awesome. It was very helpful and gave me the confidence to tackle this project!!! Without your website out there, I would have been a lot more detailed in some of my thread. I consider it an honor that you complimented my thread and project. I am amazed at your ability to fabricate things and your unwillingness to let others do it for you. BTW, I am also a born again Christian with a son in the US Navy. He is stationed at Virginia Beach.

Your big brakes are awesome. I just bought a set from V8 roadsters which I will comment on next. I also thought your electric cutout using a throttle body and the electric window motor was beyond cool!

If you had to do it over, would you go with the same size rims on the front and rear?

jackie

I purchased the V8 roadster brakes for the front. The rotors are 11.75 inches outside diameter. As you can see...they are larger than the ones I took off.

If you go with this kit, make sure you have stock tie rod ends and not the Moog brand which are a little more beefy. I had the Moog ones on there and when I turned a little bit, it ground a big gash into the side of the passenger side rotor.

Another piece of advice regarding this kit....mine had a high pitch squeel right before stopping.... from 2mph to complete stop. Go ahead and buy some of the rubber coated shims sold by Summit and made by Wilwood that go between the pads and the caliper plungers. They don't come with instructions...just know ahead of time that the little tabs get bent over to keep the shim from falling out...you will figure it out. Here's a link to the shims... http://www.summitracing.com/parts/wil-300-8259 you can see the tabs I'm talking about. I put the black ruberized side against the pad and it stopped the noise. It may be designed to to the other way around. I wish they would have had some instructions.

The good news is that the replacement rotor was only a little more than 30 bucks. V8 roadsters was sorry about it and paid the shipping. Their website is a little bit misleading at this time because one of the pictures shows a drilled and slotted rotor. The other pictures show the regular rotor like comes with the kit and the description of what you get says nothing about drilled/slotted rotor...the picture just made me think drilled/slotted ones were on the way. Enough fussing about that....they are good folks and have excellent products and I would purchase the same kit all over again.

V8 Roadsters talked me out of the big brakes for the back at this time. It costs about the same amount to purchase them separately and they are still working on making the emergency brake modification for it.

jackie

Here's the big brake kit master cylinder. Just a couple of comments...
First the instructions were not as detailed as I would have liked. It left out the fact that you have to use the stock pin that pushes on it. See pic. The kit had a bigger one which I installed only to figure out it was too long. Remember...I'm not a mechanic.

The instructions said the if you wanted to install a proportioning valve...this would be a good time to do it. The stock miata set up had something that looked like it might be a proportioning valve but I didn't use it because the plumbing tubes and manifold block led me to believe I was supposed to leave it out. I have hit the brakes a few times really hard and the back didn't lock up and cause a wreck so I guess I'm OK the way it is. If anybody knows differently please comment at this time.

You should also buy 2 extra bottles of brake fluid with the kit because the single bottle is not enough to bleed the master cylinder and brakes. It will save you a trip to the auto parts store and a lot of the time on the internet searching the differences between brake fluid types and their boiling points.