wilson's speed3

[miako]

Hmmm... What's cooking?

Where's that wrapped pipe coming from? it's huge!

[Dave_The_BMXER]

Where dem flares at?

[loki]

Where's that wrapped pipe coming from? it's huge!

Hot pipe for intercooler

[Kiyomi]

Where dem flares at?

This

[Mr Wilson]

Where dem flares at?

Still some work to do.

[IMG][/IMG]

[FD22]

I'm really excited to see the setup once it's all figured out!

[loki]

You're gonna kick up so many rocks onto the side of the car

[boyracer]

Nice picture..... all it needs is a few of the boy's standing around a BBQ with beer`s in hand

[loki]

The flares are already colour matched to the chicken

[Jackal]

This is THE member's thread to watch. Keeping a super duper eye on the progress of this super duper aggressive set-up. Make it so!

[Dave_The_BMXER]

I feel like I am missing a lot of inside jokes.

[6strings]

I feel like I am missing a lot of inside jokes.

A few more years with the speed and you'll be in.

[Mr Wilson]

Figured I'd try and keep track of some of the steps of putting everything together on the car.

Late last summer I placed an order from Evasive Motorsports ( http://www.evasivemotorsports.com/ ) in California for a set of wheels I've always had my eye on. Tony at Evasive was great to deal with and responded quickly to emails and offered advice through the process.

To get the concave wheel face I wanted, the wheel offset (+22) would have the wheels poking beyond the fenders. Several Mz3 and MS3 owners are running similar wheel specs with camber and/or narrow tires. My choices were limited to make the wheels fit as I wanted a meaty square tire setup (265 series tires from TireRack).

I had spent hours on various wheel/tire calculators to try and get an idea of what fitment was going to look like, but nothing would quite prepare for the ‘real’ product on the car. Once mounted it was obvious everything was too wide and even with the coils raised it was a no go, the car could roll in a straight line, but that’s it.

I have been following Color0’s build thread on Mazda3Revolution.com since he started his build thread.

(http://mazda3revolution.com/forums/m...-skyactiv3.htm)

And now on TM3:

http://www.torontomazda3.ca/forum/sh...dy-13-Skyactiv

Color0’s flares looked pretty good and I decided to follow suit. The flares ordered were the ‘JDM’ fender flares from http://jdmfenderflares.com/ .

I used the following links to help me though the process

http://classicdatsun.com/new/ZG-flares_inst.html

http://www.motoiq.com/MagazineArticl...-Aero-Kit.aspx

http://mazda3revolution.com/forums/m...activ3-15.html

There are a few more out there, but these were the ones I always came back to.

The following were the tools, parts and steps I used to mount the flares:

Tools
Phillips screwdriver
8mm Socket
10 mm Socket
11 mm Socket
½ in wrench
Painters masking tape (Green)
Razor blade
Drill
Step drill bit – 3/8 hole - lubricant
Rubber mallet
Angle grinder with cutting wheel
Rocker Guard
3M Super Strength Molding Tape (1/2 in x 5 ft)
Rubber welting
+ a few odds and ends

Parts Purchased
MS3 OEM front fenders
MS3 OEM front bumper
JDM fender flares
30 - ¼ in – 20 .165-.260 Large Flange Ribbed Nutsert (Steel) – Fastenal (Part No. 0125618)*
30 - ¼ in – 20 x ¾ in Stainless Steel Button Head Socket Cap Screw – Fastenal (Part No. 73754)
30 – Stainless Steel Lock Washers – Fastenal (Part No. 100041811)
30 – Stainless Steel Washer – Fastenal (Part No. 100040738)
6 – Stainless Steel ¼ in Nuts
Mazda OEM white plastic fasteners – Mazda (Part No. G18K-51-SJ3)

*Nutserts are also called Rivet Nuts and/or Rivnuts. Depending on the hardware store you go to you will get some very perplexed looks no matter what you call them.

The following steps are for a 2008.5 Speed3. I’ve tried to include everything for someone to do this from stock, but might have a missed a small thing here or there. What I have written is not gospel, but a guide for those thinking about flares or going through the process.

Remove Bumper
- 2 Phillips screws on top
- 2 Phillips head plastic fasteners on top
- 4 Phillips head plastic fasteners on TMIC channels (two on each)
- 4 Phillips head plastic fasteners in the wheel well (2 on each side)
- 2 8mm screws in wheel well (1 on each side)
- 11 (ish) 8mm screws underneath
- Pull bumper off with care given to the two plastic clips that attach to the crash bar
- Unhook fog light wiring and Phillips head bolt on exterior temperature gauge
- Place bumper aside



Remove Side Skirt
- 2 Phillips head plastic fasteners in front wheel well (or screws if you run flaps)
- Carefully pull top of skirt back using a razor blade to cut the double sided tape
- Pull entire skirt towards front of car – some of the white plastic fasteners may break
o ~12 white plastic fasteners on the side, 8 grey fasteners on the bottom
- Place side skirt aside



Remove Front Fender
- Cover edge of hood and door with masking tape (just in case)…found this out the hard way
- Pop out side marker by sliding to rear of car and pull out, undo harness
- 3 10mm screws on top in engine bay
- 1 Phillips head plastic fastener near headlight
- 3 Phillips head plastic fasteners in the wheel well
- 1 10mm screw under rubber edging on valence
- 1 10 mm screw near top of fender, accessed by opening front door
- 2 10mm screws near pinch weld that would have been hidden by sideskirt
- 3 10 mm bolts by grey plastic front bumper spacer under headlight
- Pull fender off and set aside



Installing Front Flares
- Remove current wheel and install new set
- Set ride height to the desired level
- Cover new fender with painters tape and loosely install – 2-3 bolts just hand tightened
- Drill out fender flare mounting holes – in my case ¼ in
- Fit flare to car using tape
- Since the flares are universal fit they need some work to fit properly
- Pushed flare to where I wanted them mounted and drew a line on the tape around the outside
- Starting from the top most centre hole I made a mark with a marker
- Using a step drill bit and some cutting oil I drilled the hole to 3/8 in
- Cut out a 1 in by 1 in square around the hole and remove the tape – otherwise with the nutsert installed the tape sucks to remove
- The nutsert fits with a little love from a rubber mallet
- You can by the proper nutsert tool ($10 online up to $70 at some stores) or by using a ¼ in bolt 1 in long with a ¼ in washer and a nut that is just too large for the bolt threads, spend $2 at Home Depot and have a nutsert tool
- Pull the fender off the car and place the fender down on a blanket to tighten the nutsert, I found that trying to do this while mounted can warp the nutsert as it crimps
- Put the fender back on and repeat the previous steps holding and marking the holes one by one
- Since the lower most front fender flare hole lines up with the front bumper a nut must be used on the back side of the bumper as nutserts do not work well with plastic
- I did not attach the rear most lower hole on the fender flare as the flare was trimmed
- With the flare fully mounted a line was drawn approx. 1 in down from the nutserts, with care taken for the plastic fender liner mounts at the rear
- Using a cutting wheel on an angle grinder the fender was trimmed to the desired design (the front bumper requires a small trim as well)
- The passenger side was done in the same manner. I did not fully trust a template, but made sure the flare matched the positioning on the driver side.
- Once the fenders were cut the edges were smoothed out a bit, I did apply some vacuum tubing sliced along the edge and mounted along the cut section with adhesive, just to protect hands from sharp edges and maybe a little cushion if the tire were to make contact



Installing Rear Flares
The rear flares are a little more difficult. As they require a very steady hand with the cutting wheel, welding and proper sealing I asked around for some shop recommendations. Byran at APH mentioned MS Autobody in Markham who did the work for the rears. The steps they used follow:

- Remove current wheel and install new set
- Set ride height to the desired level
- Cover rear fender with painters tape
- Drill out fender flare mounting holes to desired size
- Fit flare to car using tape
- Pushed flare to where mounting location desired and drew a line on the tape around the outside
- Starting from the top most centre hole, drill remaining mounting holes
- Using a step drill bit, mounting holes were drilled to desired size
- Rivets were used to mount the flares
- A line was drawn approx. 1 in down from the mounting holes
- Using a cutting wheel on an angle grinder the fender was trimmed to the desired design (the rear bumper requires a small trim as well)
- Some welding and proper sealing was required within the rear well
- The passenger side was done in the same manner.

Finishing
- The flares were sprayed with Rocker Guard on the inside to help protect the flare itself from road debris
- I cut the rear portion of each flare for a desired look
- Everything from the OEM bumper was transferred to the new bumper
- Fine tuning of the ride height was required due to rubbing
- My DG lip has gone through approx. 40,000 km and 2 winters. The fiberglass along the back edge of the lip (underneath) was broken and in some cases large sections missing as well as some pitting along the front facing edges. I used the 3M (Stage 2) fiberglass repair kit, with the 3M (Stage 3) kit to repair the broken and pitted sections. It took 2 applications of the Bondo to get everything smooth and level. A fine spray with primer and wet sand with 800 grit sand paper. The lip was then painted in Subaru Obsidian Black by Duplicolor.
- The front wheel liner was trimmed to minimize rubbing
- Rubber welting from Steele Rubber products finished off the look for the front flares
- The front bumper (w. DG lip), front fenders and all four flares may remain black as I’ve always liked the look of the TRD SC430 JGTC test cars
- Few decisions/issues remain
o Still some rubbing in the rear (alignment to be done), some rubbing in the front on the wheel liner (will take care of itself)
o Not sure if I want to run the side skirts
o Few other miscellaneous things, but nothing stopping me from driving the car

[Aitch]

In for photos.

[Dave_The_BMXER]

Good read, in for photos.

Was sourcing spare fenders hard? I've got a long distance idea sort of.

[Mr Wilson]

@Dave_The_BMXER

Went to few places to look for spares and just buying OEM front fenders had the least hassle. The were pretty cheap in the grand scheme of things, $100 each before the TM3 discount and you knew what you were getting out of it (no fitment issues, shitty paint, damaged, etc).

[GWN]

in4pics

flares are becoming quite intriguing to me lately

[Dave_The_BMXER]

@Dave_The_BMXER

Went to few places to look for spares and just buying OEM front fenders had the least hassle. The were pretty cheap in the grand scheme of things, $100 each before the TM3 discount and you knew what you were getting out of it (no fitment issues, shitty paint, damaged, etc).

They are 100 each?? God damn that's good to hear.

[murdaspeed]

Saw this car last weekend, I'm a fan.

[boyracer]

Saw this car last weekend, I'm a fan.

I too had seen this vehicle last weekend.............................

[Kiyomi]

awesome writeup!

[Thrizzl3]

I also saw this car last weekend......LOL it looks good Mr. Wilson

[FD22]

Great write-up, definitely looking forward to (more) pics. Saw you post on another particular forum and the pic had me very intrigued looks awesome!

[dexter]

Wow. Wishing I was around High Park more often to see this thing. Gonna need to come check it out!

[loki]

Meh