SlickMS3's Custom Widebody Gen2 Build Thread...

[SlickMS3]

Hey everyone, been awhile since I've posted on here - don't really do the "FORUM" thing to often anymore but I am pretty active on FB with AMI as one of the admins on our group called "SOMAC" (Southern Ontario Mazda Auto Club), check it out HERE!

Anyway, I figured it's about time that I threw up a post on here to show everyone what I've been working on over the past 6 months as the car should be completed sometime end of June or beginning of July and I'm hoping for a lot of excitement about this endeavor!

I had posted an original thread on the "New Members Section" about my car and where it sat last fall before storage, you can find the thread HERE, but for some reason the pics aren't working anymore so I will make a quick recap below:



EXTERIOR MODS:
8,000K HID's for Fogs/Hi/Low Beams
Custom Cool White LED Strips in Headlights
Colour-Matched Side Reflectors and Black Painted Headlight Housings
Colour-Matched Side Reflectors and Black Painted Taillight Housings
Gloss Black Wrapped Roof/Front Fascia/Rear Fascia/Mirrors

ENGINE MODS:
Corksport SRI
Corksport TIP
Custom Orange Painted Engine/Battery/Fuse Box Covers

SUSPENSION MODS:
Eibach Pro-Kit Lowering Springs 1.3" F/R
18" RAYS 350Z Wheels Painted Gloss Black 18x8 +30F / 18x8.5 +27R
245/40/R18 Dunlop SP Sport 600 Tires

Currently the car has been going through a MAJOR facelift, over the winter I had to make the decision that to either go for appearance or power this season and ultimately due to the ridiculous cost of performance parts once you factor in our wonderful CAD, I chose for appearance. Now for some this means coilovers, rims, tires, side skirts, etc. but I wanted something a little bit more than that...

From December to around the middle of February I put in work designing and fibreglassing a custom, one-of-a-kind overfender kit designed specifically for the Gen2 Mazdaspeed3 - This is not a "universal" flare kit bought off eBay, this is completely custom! Call me crazy, but now that the project is finally coming to completion it will definitely be worth it!

Here are some pics of the process I used to make the flares:

Flares were made out of clay and molded to fit the body lines...














Then they were covered in aluminum foil and glassed...


























Once glassing was complete they were then sanded and filled using bondo and short-strand bondo-glass mixture, here are a few pics of that stage along with a test fit of my awesome 275-35-18 RE-11's!...




















Once the flares were filled and sanded they were removed, at this point I wasn't planning on trying to do the final touches along with cutting my fenders and welding the seams, etc. I figured I would leave that to the pros. Since the car was removed from storage in late April I ran into a slight delay with one of the shops I had contacted to do the final fitment and installation of the flares, they ended up keeping the car for about a month and only somewhat finishing ONE of the flares. I have moved the car to another shop who is now in the process of completing the project and it is now on track to be completed somewhere around the end of June or beginning of July.

Here are a few of the last pics I have to show the new wheels that will be on the car and how they fit with the 75% completed front flare - Wheels are reps of the Prodrive GC-05F and specs are 18x10.5 et25...














I will be adding more progress pics as the project comes to it's final stages, in the meantime feel free to post your comments and thoughts below!

[Dave_The_BMXER]

Are you going to make a mould of each for future use? I saw you made the FG flares you currently made off the clay, but I was just thinking if you damage one are you sunk?

Furthermore, mold = sales = $$$

[Hyperion]

I was so excited when I saw you molding it to car, thought it wasn't going to be bolt on.
Never the less, great job.

[SlickMS3]

It's definitely something I've thought about. Might take on that task once car is out away in storage I the fall.

[SlickMS3]

I was so excited when I saw you molding it to car, thought it wasn't going to be bolt on.
Never the less, great job.

I've gone back and forth with this idea, I'm 50/50 on which look I like more. Molded parts have a tenancy to get cracks over time which I think is what ultimately pushed me into the bolt on direction. Also this way I can make moulds and sell in the future if I decide to do so.

[Hyperion]

Yea we've seen molded ones crack before.

[SlickMS3]

Yea we've seen molded ones crack before.

True, I just would hate to put in all the time and effort moulding them into the body and painting, etc. Just to have them crack in the future. The bolt on look is definitely an acquired taste but at least it eliminates cracking paint issues, plus it's definitely a more profitable route from an investment point of view.

[r4BBiT]

It looks like you put a lot of bondo in some areas and bondo tends to crack over time (from vibrations, etc) if it is thick. Hopefully you have sanded most of it; with bondo less is better.

Otherwise loooks good

[SlickMS3]

It looks like you put a lot of bondo in some areas and bondo tends to crack over time (from vibrations, etc) if it is thick. Hopefully you have sanded most of it; with bondo less is better.

Otherwise loooks good

Yes, the goal of this set is to figure out fitment, run them on the car, etc. Over the winter I will have a mould made from these ones which will allow new sets to be made purely of fibreglass and no bondo at all.

[r4BBiT]

Thats sounds better

[TonyM3H]

Car is looking awesome

[ecmirand]

Those rims look sick!

[color0]

I'm torn. The craftsmanship and finish look great, but aesthetically the Rocket Bunny lines make the bubbly Genpu look yet more bubbly. At least the wheel/tire setup looks great -- just be careful of tire grinding against the frame at full lock, which is my issue both with 285/30 RE11 and 265/35 AD08.

[Hyperion]

265 rubs the rear pinch welds in the front for me. Also rubs the bracket on the passengers side that holds the windshield washer fluid. Also rubbed through the wires that hung behind the fender liners. Those'll give you a CEL. Drivers side bracket can be bent away, passengers has to be cut.
*Rubbed. All issues have been resolved.

[SlickMS3]

Most of the rubbing will be resolved when the fenders are cut for the flares. Any clips that are rubbing with this setup will be cut off so no issues there. So far the only other bracket is the one mentioned above on the DS. This will be cut or grinded down. I'll post up what needed to be done once I'm at that stage.

[SlickMS3]

I'm torn. The craftsmanship and finish look great, but aesthetically the Rocket Bunny lines make the bubbly Genpu look yet more bubbly. At least the wheel/tire setup looks great -- just be careful of tire grinding against the frame at full lock, which is my issue both with 285/30 RE11 and 265/35 AD08.

Thanks for the comments Brian, your car is actually what made me go forward with this idea in the first place. Once I saw you tucking that badass rim/tire cobo I knew I needed to do something similar. There were a bunch of reasons I decided to make my own but ultimately it was to be the only one out there with a Rocketbunny MS3 as opposed to the universal flares that most run. I really was leaning towards just slapping on the JDM ones like you have, but decided to go a different route. Hopefully when it's all complete the car won't look so "bubbly" but there's only so much we can do about that I guess LOL!

[SlickMS3]

Been a little while since I've posted an update, but the flares are finally nearing completion. Should be painted and ready to go by end of July beginning of August. Anyone planning a project like this, my best advice is to have patience, this stuff takes A LOT longer than you would think, but it's definitely well worth the wait!


[IMG]https://s31.postimg.org/utg***r57/Progress_pics_02_2.jpg[/IMG]

[SlickMS3]

One more, the link didn't work in the last upload for some reason...

[IMG]https://s31.postimg.org/utg***r57/Progress_pics_02_2.jpg[/IMG]

[SlickMS3]

One more, the link didn't work in the last upload for some reason...

[Aitch]

Looks like you've done good work incorporating the stock body lines

[shaboi]

This looks awesome! Patience is definitely key

[Bully Dog Racing]

Yes, the goal of this set is to figure out fitment, run them on the car, etc. Over the winter I will have a mould made from these ones which will allow new sets to be made purely of fibreglass and no bondo at all.

You have pretty mad skills to end up with these awesome results.

How about knocking out some carbon fibre flares for fellow MS3 owners!

[SlickMS3]

Thanks for all the comments guys. These flares will be the prototypes for potential future copies. The car will be at MOM 2016 this year so if you want to see them in person just hit me up at the meet and we can talk. I will be looking into having molds made of these while the car is stored over the winter, at that time I will be gauging interest as well as probably collecting deposits to aid in the cost of having these mass-produced

[Manpreet]

those look awesome, cant wait to see the finish product

[MS3_]

thats awesome! finished product will be even better!