custom front clip for fb look!! pics
 

ok so heres how i did it.
(continuation from the fc front end on fb thread)

well no offence to those who love the factory front end look but since i got my car ihave hated the front end. looks like a bullet, or something so heres how i changed it.
started out with a trip to a local bumper shop where i had previousely seen a lage pile of plastic/eurothane bumper skins, and it gave me a killer idea that i like to think worked out well. i asked the owner if it was ok to take a look and take a few out of the pile and he was more than happy to accomidate my request. so i picked out a few that looked about the right size and hight and threw them in the back of my brothers k car (not an easy task)


i test fitted the bumpers that i found and both looked really good and matched the width and hight, (one was from a miata, and the one i used was from a 05 civic) dont flame me till you see it all you purists out there,

so heres what i did
fitted the piece
cut piece to match lines of car, and then started thinking of ways of attaching eurothane to my upper metal front bumper (stock piece) after a week or two of fibreglassing, and scratching my ways i finally got the two pices together and sanded it down into a smooth refinished restyled front clip for the fb, and im very pleased with the way it turned out, hope you like it too, here the result.

finished product
http://photobucket.com/albums/b345/a...t=DSC00869.jpg

http://photobucket.com/albums/b345/a...t=DSC00868.jpg

http://photobucket.com/albums/b345/a...t=DSC00872.jpg

http://photobucket.com/albums/b345/a...t=DSC00874.jpg

"in the works"
http://photobucket.com/albums/b345/a...t=DSC00832.jpg

http://photobucket.com/albums/b345/a...t=DSC00833.jpg

http://photobucket.com/albums/b345/a...t=DSC00834.jpg

http://photobucket.com/albums/b345/a...t=DSC00831.jpg

if you have any questions about attaching eurothane to fibreglass pm me, (its not easy)

also id like to say that i didnt just do it for looks i also saved "a ton" of wieght by removing my stock front bumper and skin,

i like! it came out pretty good, and it's a good alternative if you don't like that bullet look :bigthumb:

i love it!....i really do.

its funny you said you ended up using the civic skin rather than the miata skin......because it really reminds me of a miata front end.

i personally would probably have to follow your instructions and make my own for my car if i hadn't already found an original 3 piece urethane air dam already....

nick

It looks alot like a miata front end. I like it as well.

Nice bit of fab work
 

Nice piece of fabrication work there Auto Paul. How well do you think the Urethane to metal to fiberglass junction will hold together with vibration and all?

If it holds together well it definitely opens up doors for those who don't like the bullet nose look, (me I prefer the IMSA front dam style).

I think you did an outstanding job of being creative, and useing your head for something other than a place to hang a hat :D

cheers

kenn

Same here,looks Miataish, which at least keeps you in the Mazda family.I think it looks great,very original and very nice finished product.

Looks great, best looking non-standard front spoiler I've seen to date!! :bigthumb:

the front looks really good....im impressed with the sanding work to make it look like it was actually made for the fb....its hard finding a front end for the car that doesnt make it stand out like a ricer and ur choice of front ends was a good one....gives me a little bit more of an idea for finishing my 3rd gen front end on my fb.....once again great work......Parker

Thats awesome! I really like it. I'm not really good at bodywork, but if I was I'd definately go with this. How much do you have into it this far cost wise? Also is it removeable like the stock pieces.
Grant

i absolutely love it, I wish I could afford to do that to mine

i like it, would like to see a pic from directly infront tho

kudos on the work!

Looks good.

Looks like the love child of an FB and FD. I like it.

Odd, Unique, Interesting, Original, Different, and good looking, all at the same time.
Nice fab work there.

kinda looks like a porsche 914 bumper........
i like it!
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y21...E/IMG_0106.jpg

Thanks!! turbo se... well cost total so far in the front bumper alone has been about 30$$, 20 for fibreglass and 10 for paint and misc sandpaper or whatever. thanks for all the posetive feedback i actually really wanted to do an fd front bumper but this was free and i liked the style. and im sure its unique so im very pleased with it.
oh and the motegi wheels are gonna go im just borrowing those from my brothers prelude because i did an fc subframe swap aswell. so ive got 4x114.5 on the front and 4x110 on the back, looks bad, thats how come i left the back wheels out of the pic

i like it a lot, but there is something about the stock front end of a 1st gen that I cant seem to part with

so are u gonna sell these? build more?
How much? I'm in! :bigthumb:

I agree...:( But it is awsome work my friend!:)
Well it only costed him 30bux...so I would say a 50% increase and make it 60dollars :P

haha,
it would cost so much to make a mold, maybe ill try making a few limited production, and ill burn the mold after, so nobody can copy it
haha
i was considering cutting the middle vent lager later, for an intercooler, how do you think thatd look?

cool! enlarge the front and let's see an fmic in there! awesome job!

I think that's enough air flow 4 an I/C

why did you opt ot use fiberglass instead of polyester resin?? which is often used in body work. It adheres to paint, plastic, and urethanes.
Just curious.......

haha

i guess i just didnt know of the stuff, ive never done anything like this before, but its holding really good, and its fibreglassed on both sides of the joint, so now i know what to do next time
thanks turbo11guy

Maybe I'm wrong, but isn't the polyester resin used to keep the fibreglass together? Like using fibreglass cloth to form and polyester resin to "glue" the stuff together (don't know a better way to describe).

Anyway, I like the job, but would prefer somewhat different turn signals with that shape. Good work nevertheless.

Awesome!!!!!!!!!!!, that is all I have to say about that. :D

Can you do anything for the back end?

looks great. definately a positive change for a fb front, and kind of original also

i love it, looks like a miata on steroids

that honestly looks like the sunfire front to me...just that triangular point reminds me so much of a sunfire I can't get over it...

I agree- that is a Great piece of work. If you can't do the molding yourself to make copies, maybe you could patten the design and sell it to one of the body kit manufactures... I'd definately get one. Again, very good work!!

Later,
Bill

That turned out very excellent... I am in the process of designing a front end for mine as well as a possible rear end mod. Oh yeah what did you do for the replacement bumper... after removing the factory bumper?

Actually I am leaning toward an RX8 inspired design. BTW with the FC subframe swap did you use the FC suspention components or the FB? Just wondering as I am about to do the swap myself and have my rear hubs drilled to the 5x114.5 pattern so they match all around...

BTW I believe it was manntis who first posted the pics that inspired me to lean toward the RX8 styling.

Toxic_d

i like it alot, now all you have to do is flush mount the corner markers so they don't look glued on, and you've got youself a sexy new front end.

you would have to hook me up i dont live that far

Artistic Genius at Work
 

I have always said the best custom work most of us can do is to make the right choice of parts and integrate them into the original design. Your front end in my opinion is better looking than any of the aftermarket airdams and other nonsense that is out there. Very well done!

I have been driving past a body shop every week near Seattle, looking at all those plastic bumpers, and thinking of the same thing, not knowing if any of them will fit well. You have saved me the trouble of doing a lot of guess work. I may just give it a try. I have been thinking a different front end would look good on my V8 car, shown here:

www.cardomain.com/ride/646433

I would be inclined to use epoxy resin as that bonds chemically to the metal. Whatever the guys use who sell the body kits, such as the GTO body for the 240Z, etc.

I have done some cutting and pasting of body parts myself, but mostly in steel. I used the rear section from an RX-2 to create a 60s Italian look, chrome bumpers, etc. You may have seen this, on a 1984 RX-7:

[QUOTE=toxic_d]That turned out very excellent... I am in the process of designing a front end for mine as well as a possible rear end mod. Oh yeah what did you do for the replacement bumper... after removing the factory bumper?

Actually I am leaning toward an RX8 inspired design. BTW with the FC subframe swap did you use the FC suspention components or the FB? Just wondering as I am about to do the swap myself and have my rear hubs drilled to the 5x114.5 pattern so they match all around...

i used the fc suspension up front, with fb springs, and fb top mount, its temporary, i will be getting an fc camber/caster plate and re drilling the holes for fc pattern, i got the 86 gx or whatever style front subframe with 4x114.5 bolt pattern, so it will match the gsl se bolt pattern rear ending im building up (mines an 83)

for the replacing the factory bumper with something, simpley i dindt, i just left nothing behind there, it saves wieght, and this way i can swap the old bumper back on if i ever get a VI, remember this is not just for looks im saving about 40 lbs

im getting to the back first it was subframe and body kit in front, then it will be re designed, rear suspension and body kit in rear,

You and IanS should become partners and make your own custom kits. :bigthumb:

That looks awesome man, nice job.

So basically you have no front bumper? Not sure I'd run around like that for long... sounds too chancy to me. The weight loss sounds nice but not at the price of safety at least not for me... I have two kids to worry about and provide for.

Like I said before nice work.

Toxic_d

thats the first thing i said wheni saw the pic...don't get me wrong it looks great ...but i personally would not do it...i think it takes away from the 7's design...

I would gladly pay in excess of $150 for that in a kit. Not something that would have to be bonded to the pre-existing body. A straight up bumper swap would be awesome.

Very nice, looks more modern.

so would it be safe to say that an aftermarket 05 civic bumper would also be a close fit?

I LOVE it !!!!!!!! mazda should have done it in the factory

Looks nice, but not very practical.

looks good, a bit of work on placement of the signals would look even better! I'd buy it if it was for sale! ;]

3rd gen...
 

I have comtemplated a 3rd gen bumper. The rear skin that is on the 3rd gens has mounting holes that line up with the bumper shocks and appear to fit. If you are looking for a little more structure this might be a more viable option. The length looks litke it will also fit with a small amount of trimming.

Nice job! Not the look I'm after but a good one none the less.

So the obvious steps for this would be to remove the stock bumper, match up custom bumper for correct fit, sand down and whatnot... ? I'm really interested in doing this but I'm a 16 year old with no clue where to start. ANY info to help me out with what to do first and throughout the project would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

AWESOME look btw.

great fab job man, do a rear end and some fenders and you got a kit thatll sell, thats some dedication there that you wont forget, again excellent look man kudos

I agree. It looks too much like a 914 for me. I mean, I love the 914 and would take one in a heartbeat, but I don't want a 914 kit car.

I admire the time and dedication, though. It takes a lot to make a very nice piece like that.

1G Miata turn signal lights would look at home in that bumper skin.