A great alternative to ZG fender flares!
 

I had a set of ZG flares that I was planning on install on my FB. As many others have reported, they take work to get to look right. The curvature of the flares didn't really match the wheel wells as much as I'd have liked. I'm sure they'd look amazing on a Z-car, and with work, would look good on my FB, but I wasn't really prepared to spend the time and money to get the look I wanted.

I decided to look for a set of generic flares and found a set of them on eBay. Yes, eBay. There's a guy there that sells the same flares marketed as "Miata flares", "240sx flares", "MR2 flares", and "universal flares". They're all the same flares. I asked him what the distance between the inside of the two ends was, and he quickly replied "26 inches". This sounded like it was exactly what I needed. I ordered a set for $150 and waited about a week.

Today they arrived. I ran them over to the body shop and test fit them. All I have to say is, "WOW!" These things fit like they were made for the first gen. The curvature of the wheel well was spot on! I have side skirts already installed on the car, so these will only need a little notching to get to fit over those nicely. They're going to look way better than the ZG flares would ever have for 1/10th the effort. I couldn't be happier. Here's a pic of the flare mocked up on the car. Keep in mind the plastic wrap is still on the flare.

http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/5338/lp0q.jpg

I'll be honest...I wasn't crazy about trying generic eBay flares on the car. I figured fitment would be bad, quality would be dicey, or the seller would be shady, but this set is really spot on for our cars. I won't post links to the auctions, but you all can search for seller ontheroad_93 on eBay. For the record, I have no affiliation with this person...just a really happy customer trying to help other 1st gen owners out.

I'll post pics of the completed job once paint has been applied.

fm

Damn, those do look nice and for $150 the price is right! Can't wait to see some finished pics.

Me too.

What wheels are those!?

Sweet flares..price is reasonable also.

It just takes a little heating and shaping to make the zg flares wrap perfectly around the wheel arch of a first gen... Also, the zg flares have a slight taper on one end that makes them flow very nicely with the body lines of the car... When done cleanly, the zg flares look like they could have (should have) been there from the factory

And your still going to have to do the same metalwork underneath the flares for them to be functional..

Maybe I'm missing something.. But ebay flares? Or the same flares the classic Z cars and Rx7s have adorned for decades? Easy call for me

Good luck, hope it turns out to your liking!

fm, those look good. i think i replied to another thread of urs but if not, just want to say that i love those wheels! i was looking for a set similar to those for my old 1974 bmw 2002 but never was able to get a hold of them. looks great on the FB as well.

My understanding is that fiberglass isn't really meant to be shaped by heating. It's not like a vacuformed plastic. While I imagine you can move it to some extent, the arch of the flares and the curvature of my wheel arches were off enough that I didn't think heating them and attempting to bend them that much would be a good idea.

Of course...that's not an issue. The issue was having fender flares that didn't follow the arch of the wheels. Particularly problematic was the last 2 inches of the rear arches. Maybe they could have been safely heated to conform to my wheel arches, but I wasn't willing to take a chance of f*cking up a set of $250 flares to find out I was wrong.

I think we'll agree to disagree on this one. I've done extensive searches online attempting to find ZG flares fitted on first gen RX-7s. I found several, but I wasn't completely bowled over. They looked decent, but not perfect. Many of the pics I saw didn't show all angles, so it wasn't possible to see some of the weird fitment issues. I'm not saying that with work they can't be made to look as good as factory. But it was going to take a lot more time that my body guy would have had to put in. Believe me, we tried to get the ZG flares to work, but it was going to take too much time. The eBay flares get me 90% of the way there. The ZG flares got me maybe 50% of the way there.

I already stated how I felt that springing for the eBay flares was a gamble, but having seen the initial fitment in person, I'm certain I made the right choice.

Thanks...I'm pretty sure I'm going to be quite satisfied. Will update after paint.

fm

wankle=awesome!, craaaazzy,
I have no idea who made the wheels. I found them on CL for $150. 14x7 4x114.3 wheels. They kind of have that 70s hot rod look, which is why I like them. I have a set of 13x8 SSR MK III's I'll be putting Hoosiers on...these are my "daily" wheels. That is, wheels I'll wear when I drive this to wherever I'm going to track it.

fm

well you best get cracking edd!

Right...you make the tea, Mike.

edd

Look forward to seeing the finished product! Get your wheels back yet?

You and me both. :)

Yeah, i got the wheels back. They look amazing. Like brand-new. I posted them up a few pages back.

fm

I just found one in my friends junk pile. FoMoCo is stamped on the underside, 14x7x114.3

Im assuming it came from an early 4 lug mustang...

Wouldn't surprise me if these were old Mustang wheels. I don't remember seeing any markings on the wheels. I'll have to take a closer look the next time I have the wheels off.

fm

How do fronts look?

I didn't take pics of the front, but they look every bit as good on the front as on the back.

fm

Can't wait to see this thing in its finished glory - nice alternative to widebody kits! :egrin:

^ I agree...it's good compromise between the standard ZG flares I've seen and a balls-out wide body. Not too over the top, doesn't require installing a fuel cell and relocating the gas filler. And then tossing in a 13BT with lots of boost to keep up with the looks. I think it'll be the perfect look for a nice bridge port 13B (when the time comes). In the meantime, the 12A w/ header & 48IDA will do.

fm

Nice spoiler fm. I kinda miss it.

So when are you going to unwrap them and show us what they vaguely look like on the car?

It only took 1-1/2 years to finally put the spoiler on. I'm really loving it now that it's on.

Wank,
It's still in the hands of my body guy. I don't trust myself to cut fenders. Only one chance and if I screw it up, I'll be hating myself. Plus I can't weld the seams anyway, so is still have to have someone do that.

My body guy said that preliminary fitting and mods to the flairs look very promising. In fact "should be perfect" was the phrase he used. Will update when I have something to show. Hopefully by the end of the week.

fm

FM, what size tires are you running on your DD and autocross setups respectively? Are you planning on using any spacers? I am looking forward to see how this turns out as I may order a set as well. I have some old 13th western mesh rims and I am interested to see how the flares look with your 13's

Hawk,
I'm running 14x7 on the rims shown...those are my "dailys". My autocross setup is a set of 13x8 SSR MkIIIs but I haven't put rubber on them yet. The plan is for Hoosier A6s in a 225/45/13, but I'm still recovering from the wheel refurb. :)

My body guy is tantallzing me. Here are the fronts, notched out for the body kit.

http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/7380/0tl0v.jpg

http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/7472/xy23.jpg

fm

Hawk, with the offsets in running, spacers are not necessary.

fm