IFC Widebody Kit - WARNING! Parental discretion advised

Admin wrote:WHERE ARE THE PICTURES? I need pictures!

Aren't you done yet.....?

I want to see the finished car....

Sorry, not finished yet....school's started, and helping kids with homework and deprogramming
eats up most of my afternoon/evening. Don't worry, this weekend sparks will be flying as I and the newly purchased plasma cutter and I go to work on the rear tubs and get the rear part of the kit installed!

You got a plasma cutter , I want one as well just figuring out a way to justify getting one myself lol.

You'd think that this far into the conversion I'd be immune to this sort of thing. Heck! Just last week I was posting photos of the successful grafting of widebody quarterpanels on the front of my car. But up to now the cutting has been on parts that could be 'somewhat' easily replaced or restored.

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For the last week, I have been fighting trying to get the extended tubs to fit into the car and properly mate with the body. As you can see the initial cutting has been pretty conservative up to this point, and that the body is not matching up with the tub (that is temporarily installed in the right photo)

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After repeated test fittings and ever-increasingly deeper cuts into vintage steel, I still am not gaining any ground on getting the tub to fit up to the body.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Yeah - that's the inside of the car...

At this point I am looking at sections of the car that haven't seen the light of day since 1983 (cue up the Raiders of the Lost Ark music), and I am asking myself what have I gotten myself into. Up to this point my body work experience has been limited to bolt-on wings and stuff of ricer legend, but now I start to feel that I may have bitten off more than I could chew (despite the engine swap). After looking at the amount at the amount of cutting that I had done without success, I decided to just cut the fiberglass tub to fit the body.

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So after getting the tub into position and gluing the tub into place, I started work on closing up the gaps caused by the cutting.

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Then came fiberglass ....
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....and the final status of the drivers side tub....

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In this state the tub is closer to fitting the body, so I am going with this. Thing I wanted to say is that don't give up. When in doubt, take a break and go with what you know - panic is the enemy of many projects. Will work on the other side of the car over the week and see if I can get the widebody shell on. Stay tuned!! As always, comments/critiques are welcome!!

I hate/want your plasma cutter.
that is all.
also second what you said earlier, sometimes it takes the right tool for the right job, other times it takes the tenacity for the wrong job.

Just feel good about what you have accomplished. Even I have times like you have had and i have been doing this kind of thing for over 30 years. Things don't always work out like you expect.

I kept the complete inner wheel wells on my car and cut the 924 1/4 panels to fit around them figuring that they would come close to fitting the 924 Carrera GT rear flares. It turns out that the 944 inner wheel wells are a little too tall and they don't fit the GT flares even close. I still haven't figured out exactly how to mate these.

But sometimes you just need to walk away for a while. (take a break as you said) I have so many other things to do on my car so I just go and work on something else.

Nice job on your car so far!

While working on this kit, I've found these products to be indispensable. The
body panel adhesive holds like steel, and the flexible foam, is great for filling gaps
between parts and preventing rattles - both are pricey, but well worth the
investment
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I just bought some 08115 with mixing tips and the gun for $89 on E-bay.

Here is a shot of what I used the foam for. Being concerned about leaks and moisture getting into the interior panels and causing rust, I sealed off all the openings with fiberglass matting
(thanks to Mike [87-944S] for turning me on to that stuff), then I shot 3M 8463 foam into the gaps between the body part and the area sealed off by the fiberglass. Coming out of the gun, it has the same consistency as the panel adhesive, but within 15 seconds, it foamed like crazy! You need to work quick with this stuff because the tip mixes the compound and you will have a unusable tip within 30 seconds of stopping. I trimmed of the excess, I then glassed the work with more matting - essentially sealing it off.

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I blended the tubs into the body and must admit, look pretty good by themselves. My wife thinks I wasted a whole bunch of time and effort trying to make something look good that is only going to be covered by the shell of the bodykit.... I just wanted make sure I didn't any issues with leaks down the road - no pun intended. I have some minor work to finish on the passenger side, but should have the shell on later this week.

Hey sky, your project looks more menacing than a V8 swap

My question... how does the 8115 adhesive harden-up......solid, like fiberglass resin, or does it have some softness/give to it where it can be indented with your fingernail?

I am watching closely because I have the AllPorsche Racing Bumper delete and I want to smooth it into the rear fenderwell so It doesn't look like an Add-on....

Impressive skills and patience there.....

xschop wrote:Hey sky, your project looks more menacing than a V8 swap

My question... how does the 8115 adhesive harden-up......solid, like fiberglass resin, or does it have some softness/give to it where it can be indented with your fingernail?

I am watching closely because I have the AllPorsche Racing Bumper delete and I want to smooth it into the rear fenderwell so It doesn't look like an Add-on....

Impressive skills and patience there.....

8115 hardens like a fiberglass resin, but it's way stronger! A thin dime-like application is next to impossible to break - no give at all! AllPorsche Racing is the same company as IFC - I have the delete kit also, so you'll be seeing it here!! I couldn't believe how simple a solution it was. With a kit as costly (and embarrasing should it go wrong), patience is a must! Thank you for the compliments!

cool, someone else can be the guniea pig on a mod
I will be watching. Does 8115 sand very well, like fiberglass resin?
It sounds like an acrylic resin, the polyurethanes have a touch of softness to them. How about the foam, is it rubbery or does it tear like plumber's foam?

xschop wrote:cool, someone else can be the guniea pig on a mod
I will be watching. Does 8115 sand very well, like fiberglass resin?
It sounds like an acrylic resin, the polyurethanes have a touch of softness to them. How about the foam, is it rubbery or does it tear like plumber's foam?

Don't quite know the technical terms, but it sands well (and you don't have to worry about pocekts of air), so if your surface and sanding block is flat - it will sand flat. As for the foam, I thought about that stuff that you would find in the spray can at the hardware store. This is nothing like that - it stays flexible and does not get all 'crumbly'. You really have to work at it to tear - but at 40 bucks per applicator, I don't think you would not expect any less.

I bought the delete bumper off tha bay and I don't think it will arrive with instructions. From the pics it looks like the stock rear bumper shocks have to go or be modded. Do you have an idea?

Basically you remove the stock shocks and put the part on, (BTW - Tetzoue, when are you coming over, man?) then bolt the old bumper on (trying to see if you need to leave the rubber on or not). Really low-tech solution - makes you smack your head and say "Why couldn't I have come up with that!?"

The 4th row of pics down is the bumper I will install. I hope this is the same one you're talking about. I want to flow the side area right into the side marker lights where it doesn't look like an add-on.


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ga! sorry! Ive been building my brake setup, and buying a broken plasma cutter... off fleabay..

the car will look so much more finished (than it deserves to) with a bumper.. just need to locate a fender too

xschop wrote:The 4th row of pics down is the bumper I will install. I hope this is the same one you're talking about. I want to flow the side area right into the side marker lights where it doesn't look like an add-on.


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Did you get the bumper cover?? This is the actual part

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Tetzuoe wrote:ga! sorry! Ive been building my brake setup, and buying a broken plasma cutter... off fleabay..

the car will look so much more finished (than it deserves to) with a bumper.. just need to locate a fender too

Well had I not hacked mine all up, I could have hooked you up with those. Mike (87-944S) may have one ..... depending on which side

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I just asked the guy if it came with brackets or not. are those alloy or steel and can you take the mount measurements for me? I can make some on the hand mill real quick. Thanks

xschop wrote:[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I just asked the guy if it came with brackets or not. are those alloy or steel and can you take the mount measurements for me? I can make some on the hand mill real quick. Thanks

They are steel - as a matter of fact, they had the Tru Value sticker on them. That's why I said it's a pretty low tech solution and you just mount the bumper to that, then put the bumper cover over the bumper.

can the bumper just be left off? I mean if the shock is tossed there is no impact deadening/resistance anyway. Also if the bumper stays, does the cover get glued to it?

xschop wrote:can the bumper just be left off? I mean if the shock is tossed there is no impact deadening/resistance anyway. Also if the bumper stays, does the cover get glued to it?

Don't think it's a good idea to leave it off without 'support'. But that's about it - bond it to the bumper/rear of the car and you're done! I was sorta scared to not have additional steel back there (especially here in MD). May not be NHTSA/DOT certified to 5MPH, but it's more than nothing.

O.k. Then. I will follow your steps then. I'm not sure if those shock delete brackets will come with that bumper tho. Can you get me the exact measurement in mm from the center hole to the 944 body, the rest I can figure from my end. Thanks and good work. That'll be a sick mofo body fo sho.

xschop wrote:O.k. Then. I will follow your steps then. I'm not sure if those shock delete brackets will come with that bumper tho. Can you get me the exact measurement in mm from the center hole to the 944 body, the rest I can figure from my end. Thanks and good work. That'll be a sick mofo body fo sho.

Guess I'll go out and get a caliper. But all it is, is two pieces of angle iron with a 1" piece of square stock sandwiched between. I'll get you the dims.

skywalker01 wrote:

Tetzuoe wrote:ga! sorry! Ive been building my brake setup, and buying a broken plasma cutter... off fleabay..

the car will look so much more finished (than it deserves to) with a bumper.. just need to locate a fender too

Well had I not hacked mine all up, I could have hooked you up with those. Mike (87-944S) may have one ..... depending on which side

I shall be PMing its a drivers side, remember the car was so excited to get on the road it broke off the trailer and careened into an onramp