Burnout Front Fender FD's: Please Chime In...
 

Hey,

Well I had a question for anyone who has Burnout Front Fenders installed in their FD. The question is what are your impressions of fitment compared to stock fenders? What do you think about the quality of the product and particularly how well it fits with the stock lines of the car?


Basically, I'm deciding whether to make the Burnout Front fenders in metal. I've already done this with the rear fenders [https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.php?t=715058] and was considering doing the same for the front ones. I've had the front fenders on the car for about a couple years now. I don't drive the car much but ever since I purchased them I've had issues with the fitment. If anyone knows me they KNOW I'm just about as particular as it gets with my FD and especially with any kits that I put on it. I always expect the best quality and to be honest these NEVER lived up to that :wallbash: . The biggest issues I found were where they bolt up to the body and where they come together with the door. There's a very large gap and they seem to droop in at that point. I've contemplated swapping these out for another kit for a LONG time, but decided I love the Burnout kit so this wasn't an option.


Anyways, I'm seriously considering having a set made for me of the Burnout front fenders in metal. I wanted to see if anyone else had the same problems with fitment, etc. that I have and whether they'd be interested in something like this? I'm hoping to hear from anyone who actually has this kit or even another aftermarket widebody front fender setup that they're dissappointed with. Would you all be interested and do you think this is something worthwhile?



Thanks in Advance,
Rizwan

Riz,

I have the Shine Auto Burnout fenders on my FD. Myself and my friends 17 year old brother put them on in no time at all, it was just like replacing them with stock. It took a little adjusting around the door, but that was because they were too close and the door was hitting them when opening, not because there was too much gap.

The one spot where the fitment is less than desireable is at the top of the fender where it meets the a-pillar. On each side there is about a 1/2" gap. Otherwise, I think they are great (other than the flat wheel well arches).

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damnit riz your half the reason why im broke some times lol. i would soo be down for this if you got them in metal. I have been wanting a set to get for a little bit now.

I took a pic of one of the spots where I am not totally happy with the fitment. If I adjust so the fender meets the stock line here, the door hits it.

I figure some side skirts will cover this, but at the moment I don't have any that I want to put on the car :(

The passanger side has the a-pillar space issue.

I have the EXACT same problems with the fenders. I wanted to post this thread up to see whether it was my fenders alone or this was a general issue with these:Wconfused . These are actually the second set I've had so far and although they're better than the originals, that isn't saying much. The goal of this thread is NOT to bash any shop or manufacturer I just simply wanted to see if this was an ongoing problem and whether others like me were looking for a great, quality solution.


Mine too have gaps where the fender meets the A-pillar as well as hitting the door every time I open the door too far and then again when closing the door. It's started to chip the paint off both the fender and door every time they rub against each other :icon_no2: . I'll wait to see if others will chime in, but I'm already in talks to hopefully find a reasonably affordable quality solution to this problem. I basically want stock fitting, metal Burnout front fenders and I'm going to do my best to see that it happens...

LoL...Tom, that's my goal! :lol:


No, but seriously I just love the FD and as much as I enjoy modifying it, I can't justify aesthetics for quality or vice versa. I want both!!!

I'm not sure what to do about the A-Pillar problem, but FWIW, I was able to get them to stop rubbing the doors by loosening the two bolts on the bottom slightly and carefully pushing the fender foward while tightening the bolts. Like I showed in the picturem this creates a gap at the bottom where the body lines don't quite match up but some OEM sideskirts would cover that nicely :)

I'd buy a set of the metal front fenders (to match the rear ones I'm buying from you)

lol

I love the way you think Riz!

I suppose it depends on how picky one is. I have the Shine Burnout fenders as well, and see the same fitment. Some may be perfectly happy with the way it fits out of the box, while those that are anal may not be.

I'm using flexible, urethane filler (which cures to a hard rubber-like characteristic, not brittle like traditional filler) to fix the 'issues'. One of the things I also did was smooth the transition from the fender to the bumper, as illustrated in this post:

https://www.rx7club.com/showpost.php...&postcount=211

I'm doing some other things as well, such as reshaping the kidney vents and adding a bit more edge to the corners to modernize the design a bit.

Frankly, I don't expect perfection on a low volume, hand made/laid composite piece, and don't mind massaging it a bit. I am doing a bit more work than most, I'd guess. Likewise, my guess is the complete fender is likely too complex and expensive to reproduce in metal, at least consistently like an OEM piece.

Honestly, I think the best option for an 'all metal' fender is to reproduce only the flare portion (like the rear flares) and then weld it to the stock fender. You get the OEM fit, and the added benefit of the flare, and cost a lot less to boot.

I'm not a fan of the smoothed out look of the red FD.

then again my car is black, so it kinda hides things a little better than red.

I agree that some aren't as picky as others, but I know others do fall into the same category as myself. I wasn't expecting "perfection" either, but the fact is that these were replicated and claimed to be done so to provide better fitment and quality. Although, I have no way of confirming whether these actually fit better than the Original KS Fenders, I still think they're slightly better based on what I've seen in pictures.



You seem to have done quite a bit of work to the fenders you initially purchased and although that *may* work for you it doesn't work for all of us. Personally, I'd rather spend the money one time rather than have to work out the issues by other means. It seems like you have experience with bodywork, which I completely lack so I KNOW it would get costly to do any of the things you described.



Finally, another major point to consider is that since these are fiberglass at the end of the day they're prone to breaking, cracking, etc. So, if some of us took the route you did and one of our fenders got damaged we'd have to replace it, correct? Basically, leaving us to perform all that time-consuming, possibly costly bodywork a second, third, fourth time depending on how often we get into that predicament.

LoL...Thanks! Honestly, these are just things that have bothered me for sometime. It also probably has a lot to do with the fact that I started with a stock-bodied 7, then modified it to an OEM '99 spec one and now ended up with a custom mixture kit. I've been able to notice the large differences in fitment of the "other" kits compared to OEM. I've used it as a benchmark ever since and I just want something that fits as well as those.


Also, the fender hitting the door every time I open and close the door isn't acceptable to me. It keeps chipping off paint and annoys me to no end. If it was just one issue with these I would probably be able to work with it, but theres atleast 3-4 major issues I can point out, which is why I'm looking for a solution...

Uhmm that's not the a-pillar....thats the rocker panel....mine was tight there though has your car been wrecked?



Also the Shine auto burnout front fenders were great. they took no time at all to install and even less time to get the gaps right.

how come.. u didnt try to put them as close as you can.. and then sand/ fix them.. to match it?

thanks for reading my post. read it again.
For the same reason I don't push out the little dents on my rear 1/4 panels. I fucking HATE body work.

I would buy them if u made them i steel...:icon_tup:

The FRP burnout fenders I got, was like shit..

damn how did i miss that

Well, I've talked it over and we've decided to go ahead and start designing these in metal. We're just discussing the options right now and MOST importantly addressing the issues with fitment. I'll update this thread accordingly. Feel free to chime in though...

That`s good to hear...:icon_tup:

Will this be addon`s or the hole fender?

We're actually tryin' to determine that right now. Still in the planning stages as of right now. I'm hoping we can come up with a solution that would be as easy as possible to install = No additional bodywork or cost (Aside from painting, of course).

That`s nice...:icon_tup:

Keep us updated..:)

if u can make it. i would be interested in this.. ( both: front and rear )

will this project require "core" fender deposits, or are these going to be entirely made from scratch?

Jesse, that's actually one of the major details we're trying to figure out. The problem is that if we had the customer send in their "core" fenders, they would need to be in great condition. We'd also be concerned about customer shipping since I know first-hand that shipping front fenders is NOT the simplest task.


We're still in the process of determining the most efficient, cost-effective route to pursue and depending on what we determine, I'll provide further details. As of right now, we're in the planning stages and just trying to determine how to best address the issues with the plastic fenders.

I think everyone who is involved with this project should expect to pay for a brand new set of OEM fenders.

Possibly contact Ray Crowe for a GB on genuine OEM fenders

That's actually not a bad idea. The ONLY thing is that it might be cost prohibitive to go that route. I haven't checked with Ray, but I imagine much like other parts found on the FD that brand new OEM fenders will cost quite a bit even with a discount.


I want these to be a very high quality, but at the same time a somewhat affordable option. How that plays out considering that fitment will come FIRST and foremost on these, we'll just have to wait and see.

Bump?

ttt

im interested in an all metal version of this aswell as feed version!!!

These will be made, but to be honest I've made no progress as of yet. Been extremely busy with other priorities.


Only issue is that most people don't want to pay what it'll cost to make these properly. I will ONLY make these for other people (aside from you Sk8erpunk) if I'm paid upfront to do so. I don't want to be sitting on 5-6 sets of fenders when I only need a pair for myself.

UPDATE: I've decided to move forward with this project. Not sure of the details yet, but I'll list them in the appropriate place when the time comes. They will be adjusted to address the issues I laid out throughout this thread. Hopefully, if all goes well, we'll be able to run metal front widebody fenders very shortly ;).

I am in if you can make them in metal despite if you need a core of not. just keep us updated.

bump, any word on this and the details?

After discussing this with several members, manufacturers, etc. it appears that the *best* option to move forward would be to have the "fender" portion of the front fender replicated in metal.


Advantages:

1- Cost: Costs will substantially be reduced if we decide to go this route. Producing the entire fender in metal appears to be very costly and shipping on top of that will be a large expense.


2- Fitment: Although it's definitely possible, designing any aftermarket part to fit like OEM is no small task. Since one of the main purposes of producing this is to improve on fitment, I believe it makes sense to use our OEM fenders and weld the front flare in to place.



I'd like to hear from members still interested in this and see what you all have to say. The details are still being worked out as I'd like to do this once and do it right!


Thanks in advance,
Rizwan

Riz,
Thanks for staying on top of this. I would def be interested in them but, right now, timing is an issue for me personally. Warmer weather is coming up and Im sure alot of us are looking to get our cars out as soon as possible to enjoy it.

Personally I think this is the best option as, unike the rears, the front fenders are easy enough to replace should they get banged up.

What timeline are you looking at for these?