Nameless 07 WRX wagon

[lorenkb]

And so it begins... I recently picked up a brand spankin new 07 WRX wagon after my first car (1973 Datsun 240Z) had its diff implode (long story... wasn't my fault, still keepin the car as a project...)

I plan on doing most everything custom made to my wagon. First up is a set of mudflaps. The first iteration will be a one-off job of foam-cored fiberglass. Once I get it to where I'm really pleased I'll pull a mold off of the completed parts for quick replacements. So far I'm invisioning a cross between the 3D wrap-around stock style and large rally-armor style. They will be black (color from pigment in the resin).

After that I will be doing custom tail-light and head-light housings. I'm not really a fan of the stock "chrome" units... way too flashy! Haven't decided yet if I want to stick with pigment-colored fiberglass or if I should lay up the parts in carbon. Molded carbon is pretty flashy, but it might look unique enough with the lights to pull it off.

If by the time I'm done with those I still don't have enough money saved up for the exhaust I want (super expensive JIC titanium) I'll start in on the mold for a composite hood. Plan for that is aerospace style layup: fine honeycomb core with carbon skins (painted to match the car). The mold itself should take me a month or two of weekends alone.

Basicly my thoughts for this car are "why buy when I can make one that looks and functions better" and "if it saves weight it's worth doing". Half the fun for me will be in making the parts in the first place.

Here she is the first weekend after I got her. She's still nameless... The Z was "Vicky B" as in Vindictive Bitch (me and that car had issues... I treated her right, she treated me wrong!)
http://webpages.charter.net/lorenkb/Subaru/All_in_Red_medium.jpg

Loren

[409industries]

I am never able to think of names for my car, so dont feel bad. Eventually something will come to you! As for the mudflaps, id say RallyArmor or rallyarmor style flaps are the way to go, they just look great IMO. nice looking wagon... keep us posted on its progress!

[Pedro]

swap your tails for some from a 2004-2005 wagon. and for the headlights, you can bake the clear covers off and paint the internal parts of the headlights.


don't bake the tails!

[lorenkb]

Small update: I should have payed more attention to the clearances before deciding foam would work as a core... way too flimsy so I've switched to balsa. I'm having a hard time resisting the urge to purchase some RallyArmor flaps so that I can go play right away. If they didn't need to be modified to fit the wagon I might overlook the price and go for it...

Now if only it would stop blowing at 20 mph all damned day I could work in decent light without being assaulted by sand :evil: It hit 40 mph at the airfield earlier today, along with some hail, and a whole LOT of sand flying about. Nasty stuff.

Loren

[Pedro]

you don't really want flaps as hard as you would make them by using a composite and epoxy.

[lorenkb]

Why do you say that? As long as I'm not scraping speedbumps with the things I don't see why they can't be rigid?

If there is a legitimate reason not to have them entirely rigid I can make the lower portion without any balsa core. Fiberglass by itself is quite flexible.

Loren

[Pedro]

It really depends on what your defenition of a mud flap is.

like how long are they going to be. You will be surprised how far the body will roll and scrape things. especially inclines/declines. Mine are pretty low and they drag in parking lots and on the highway if there is a big enough bump.

I honestly think you will be happier with urethane flaps or something of that nature. Unless you are looking to do "aero flaps"

[lorenkb]

By "aero flaps" do you mean the enlargened side-skirts? I'm more after a cross between these and the profile of the Rally Armor flaps:
http://homepage.mac.com/supermarkus/.Pictures/Fixed/166.jpg

Hmmm... If body roll is going to be a problem I may have to go to a sacrificial (easily replaceable) lower portion that bolts on to the rigid upper portion. I'm sure that is as clear as mud without a picture... Thanks for the comments BTW, you are saving me some trial and error!

Hopefully by tomorrow night I'll have some pictures of the left front flap roughed out. Today was spent finishing two of the three mounting hardpoints.

Loren

[JacksonRally]

Congrats on the wagon. I have an 06 I got last oct. and Im lovin every mile I put on her!!!!

[albascoob]

get it dirty....

so you obviously have an autoclave for the CF parts?

[lorenkb]

Nope, no autoclave. That's for stuff where strength and temperature resistance is really required. I may end up having to cure the hood under elevated temps, but the high pressure isn't needed.

My composite work centers around vacuum bagging in the mold. If I could find an old dive chamber for cheap I wouldn't mind switching to an autoclave :wink:

I roughed out the profile I like last night... these things are going to cost me some fuel efficiency :twisted:

I plan to get it very dirty... heck it got dirty just sitting parked at work during the sand storms :lol:

Loren

[lorenkb]

Getting closer, ever so slowly...

http://webpages.charter.net/lorenkb/Subaru/profile.jpg

Finally have the two mounting points on the fenderliner to where I'm happy with the angles and clearance. The third mounting point is on the skirt, and requires no shaping/strange angles. In hindsight I could have saved myself a lot of time taking a different approach. Meh, it works.

I'll post up some photos after tomorrow's work. I'm looking forward to more than an hour of daylight to work in!

Loren

[lorenkb]

Man, at this rate, I'm going to have to buy a set of Rally Armor flaps so that I can go play in the desert on the 21'st... :(

The ground clearance isn't final. The final flaps will probably be closer to the ground, but the balsa core will end higher up to allow a fair amount of flex. We shall see...

http://webpages.charter.net/lorenkb/Subaru/flap_underside_profile.jpg

http://webpages.charter.net/lorenkb/Subaru/flap_side_bare.jpg

Loren

[Blix666]

frickin' love the color man. WAGON-POWER!!!

[lorenkb]

Yeah, Wagons rule! I like the "Probable Cause Red" as well :twisted:

I guess I should throw up a picture of the progress I made since the last one. Not a whole lot really; got the foam roughed out for the side fairing of the flap. I'm rethinking what I want out of these flaps now that I have a set of Rally Armor flaps. That, and it's a tad hard to mock up my flaps now that the Rally Armor ones are in the way...

Loren

[lorenkb]

Hmmm, well the custom mudflaps are on hold. After having the Rally Armor flaps on for a while, I've decided to leave them on for now. They do the job just fine. The only thing I really want to change is the way they mount. I would like to be able to remove them without having to worry about the plastic clips falling off/stripping/breaking. It's an OK system for the one time install. The idea I have requires access to a lathe, so I'm either going to have to pay for someone who has a shop, or attempt to get one of the guys I work with to crank a few out during lunch (yeah right...)

I've also decided to leave well enough alone elsewhere. I was just about ready to buy a full turboback exhaust and accessport from COBB. Instead, I'll be buying a few dozen cones to aid in improving my driving on the lakebed, and putting money into the Datsun

Couldn't resist a short video (http://webpages.charter.net/lorenkb/Datsun/Inspiration.wmv) of the Z for inspiration. Lots of work ahead...

[lorenkb]

I just realized I never posted any pics of the pig in the mud! For shame!!

Says it all...
http://webpages.charter.net/lorenkb/Subaru/Dirty%20Impreza%20Meet1/front_cropped_2.jpg

[BlueREX04]

Man, at this rate, I'm going to have to buy a set of Rally Armor flaps so that I can go play in the desert on the 21'st... :(

The ground clearance isn't final. The final flaps will probably be closer to the ground, but the balsa core will end higher up to allow a fair amount of flex. We shall see...

http://webpages.charter.net/lorenkb/Subaru/flap_underside_profile.jpg

http://webpages.charter.net/lorenkb/Subaru/flap_side_bare.jpg

Loren

What I am lookin for is a large sheet of rubber.. I might have to go to a truck stop and make something from that. I have a pretty good pattern to work from but my current ones are too small (not wide enough).

[Rallyarmor]

Loren you should have no issues remounting and installing your setup. We have done this many times particularly on our in house vehicles using the existing mounting hardware

[lorenkb]

Loren you should have no issues remounting and installing your setup. We have done this many times particularly on our in house vehicles using the existing mounting hardware

My worries come from having had to modify one of the clips. For the front flaps, the outermost clips would not fit without quite a lot of material being removed right at the bend/joint. I'm worried that with taking it off and putting it back on the two halves of the clip are going to shear apart (not much left connecting the two halves).

Also, I'd rather not have to peel the fenderline back when a clip pops off. I'm sure if I took extra effort to not disturb the clips, they would stay put. The setup works as is, I just think there are other mounting methods that would be a lot more convienent.