Ok.... I've spent so much time/effort/money on the RSX lately, I've almost ignored the teener all summer.

What can I say? I've owed the car 1.5 years, and the only repair I've made was a battery. The only upgrades I've done have been stereo related, my side decals, or my front spoiler. I still drive it regularly (2 or 3 times a week), wash/clean it obsessively, and love it to death... but I've got an "itch" for a major change.

The 914 sits in the garage all winter.... and winter is coming. Perfect opportunity to do major changes. I'm actually contemplating flaring the car.

Call me crazy, but I kinda like the look of the bolt-on fenders better than the typical "molded-in" fenders. Plus, there's all kinds of advantages..... like the lack of a need for paint... among many others.

So.......... can we post some pictures of bolt-on flared cars? Procedures for doing it right? Will bolt-on flares interfere with my marker lights? Do the come in different sizes? Where can I buy them? How much do they cost?

As always.. this site rocks! Thanks!!

Matt

dude. dont do this to one of the finer examples of a 914. buy another one and start over, just MHO.

done.

skinny wheels in flares looks stupid, so are you going to do the full 5-lug conversion and wide 911 wheels, or are you going to use custom 4-lug wheels ?

there are no off-the-shelf bolt-on flares. you'll be starting (presumptively) with the standard glass flares and figuring out a way to make them permanently temporary.

why wouldn't they need paint ?

glass flares are cheap. everything else adds up in a hurry.

Strangely enough, I've actually considered selling this one (I've kept all the original parts). Although I appreciate the "trueness" of the teener, I find myself missing my previous hobby...... classic GM muscle.

I'm a Hot-Rodder by nature..... not a purist..... and I can't help but draw my self to the "racy" 914s. I love the wild/modified race car 914s.

I bought mine before I discovered e-bay, or even the 914 club. If I did it all over again, I would have gone with a flared, V-8 conversion car.

But I partially financed the car. Although it is worth WAY more than I owe on it.. I'm going to run into problems selling it on e-bay because of the lein.. that will turn off a lot of people.

What can I say... I'm a bit torn on what to do here.

If I flare the car, I'd go with a "normal" 5 lug conversion, so I had a wide variety of wheels to choose from.

I'd go with a 5x114 17 inch wheel

I've seen pics of cars with fenders bolted on, the flares were kept black, and the car was it's regular color.. it looked good. The flares actually had "molded" bolt-holes in them though. I know I saw it.. I'm not crazy--LOL

I think

I say get what makes you happy or keep what makes you happy. I have a buddy who has a Eagle Talon. He just loves that thing, I hate it. But I don't tell him that, what do I care? He likes the car and that is ALL that matters.

5 x 114 ?

"cars"? or 914's ?

934's used pop-rivet flares. lots of cars have screw-on flares. donno that i've seen commercially available off-the-shelf 'externally-attachable' 914 flares, but i don't claim to know every product available. lots of racer guys use Dzus or similar quarter-turn fasteners to secure flares and other body parts, but that's all custom fabrication...

it's your car, do what you want ...

I think Scott Schroeder's 'Martini' styled car is about the best example of bolt/rivet on flares I've seen. Looks like he made a wrong turn at LeMans and ended up on I-70.

AFAIK, there was only 1 company that made a true "bolt-on" flare and it was/is about the ugliest flare I've ever seen on a 914....it came from one of the Becks....son or father, cannot remember which one, it's been a long time since I've seen a picture of a car with them on

most of the flares that you've seen that appear to be bolted on are just 'glass flares that instead of blending them to the fenders, and covering up the pop-rivets or button head screws with a nut on the far side... they left them unfinished (you still want to paint or primer them depending on color and finish)

just do a search here for how to install 'glass flares...when it comes to the part about blending the flares to the fenders ...STOP and you pretty much have what you want.

you'll still have to cut the stock fender opening and trim the flare....i like the look depending on the car....Randal here in the Bay Area has these style flares

but randals are complementary colors on his car.

silver and blue.. but also its a TRACK CAR. where FUNCTION comes before FORM

Don't forget about costs. A 5 lug conversion done right (new pads, rotors, lines, etc) runs $1500. Big wide Fuchs, tires, and spacers to fit under the flares will run $2000+. That still doesn't include the cost of the flares.

Scott's car is one of the only flared cars that I like the look of -- primarily because his flares are bolt on.

scott's car rocks!

What am I chopped liver?

Due to the Nascar style wheels your submission has been disqualified
J/K, nice car and a great example for this discussion

OH I see how your gonna be. CCW.

At the time I liked the look at and they were 225 for 15x8 inch wheels that weighed 20 lbs each. Damn steel tarrifs have made those not such a good option right now. Might go to a 5 lug if I can get a set of 8-9 inch wheels that I think look good on the car. HAve thought about having a set of 9 inch Kodiak customs made but I am having a hard time swallowing 1200+ for a set of wheels. Although a 16 will be easier to find tires for.

Do a search for "GT flares".

I'm about to update my never ending thread showing me adding flares to my car.

I now have them both rear one mounted and the one primed. The fronts are done. ( )

Paul

Randal's

YEEEEAAAAAHHHHHHH.... now thats what I'm talking about!

Trekkor and Brett's cars ROCK! That's the look that I was talking about!

Ok.. so maybe I was a bit confused.... those are just regular fiberglass flares that have been bolted on? They aren't a "different" kind of flare?

Also..... to you "bolt-on" guys..... are the flares going to interfere with my marker lights?

Here's a recent pic of my car... I'm thinking leaving the flares black, would go well with the whole black/green theme of my car. Whattaya think?

914'er

I like the look as well, my car is the white one in my avatar.
I posted Randal's race car pic for you.
He has it attached with large pop rivets and black fender welting trim around the edges as it touches the painted surface.
Very clean install.
Side maker lights can stay if you like. Randal has large Koni stickers covering his openings.

Black on green...mean

KT

My marker lights are gone anyways so it is a non issue. I am going to add Beetle fender welting to mine when I repaint this winter.

Yes my flares are just standard AIR fender flares, I fitted them and drilled the bolt holes to the pattern that I liked.

The bolt on look looks cool, race look, but I prefer the molded look. Just a few shots of what it took to do.

Left about a 3/8 lip to bond from both sides to. Easy stuff.

The only part I didn't like about molding them into the rest of the fender was the feathering on both rear fenders, the front of both. That is just EverCoat and it is really thin, but look how far I had to go with it to be able to put a straight edge across the fender. Dang, I hope no one ever bumps those parts!

Front, just about done.

Done.

^ Optical Illusion ^

Find the car!

those are very nice looking flares... Took a lot to make them work, i see? I wonder, how much harder would it be to weld on steel flares? I know you can find them, but not as common as fiberglass...

Man.... those did come out nice... definately.

My regards to the wife/girlfriend in the pic.. very nice as well.

Man.. I tell ya... the more I think about diving into a huge project like this....... the more I think i want to just sell my teener and get something that "fits" me better. Considering some of the junk I see on e-bay, I think mine would do pretty well.

Any pics of the car AFTER the fenders were cut, but BEFORE the new ones were on? I'm curious to see how much needs to be cut away.

Matt

Here, check out the car I'm building for a customer. All the flare pics are there.

Ed

http://community.webshots.com/scripts/edit...bumID=111692488

" An error has occurred.

You do not appear to be the owner of this album.
Make sure you are logged in. "

Hi Matt -
Just stumbled across the thread. It's not that big of a project. A good body shop can match that green. Most of the time I spent was getting the flare flanges straight and the same from side to side. It took me probably a week after work to get everything lined up and correctly fit. I then had to do some repair work on one flare as it had some this spots - no big deal. I painted mine myself - but the car is white and hides lots. Still, they came out just fine. The body gaskets are cheap, and the hardware is a no brainer.
Wheels however are an issue and where the investment is. I wnet with a local guy who built me 4 bolt Fikse/Kinesis knock offs. I think I paid 125 each for them and I allready had the long lugs (as do you). They were heavy however. A buddy of mine had his wheels done by compomotive - they were beautiful! Both Panasport and Revolution can also make them for you. I think they are 200 to 250 per wheel. I would not hesitate to do what you are thinking. My only objection is having different color flairs. They come white or grey, so you will have to paint them any way. Here is a teaser - panasports and all.....

Oh.....

Go to my Webshots link in my signature and click on Nick Coles 914 album.

Ed

I have lots of pic's! Yeah, you cut away a pretty big chunk of the fender. I like the glass flares now. Steel is better by all means, but they are $1000 from AA and I don't like AA so I choose glass. Here are a few more. This part took me about 2 hours to cut all four and screw them on.

Thanks for the comments on my car... and my wife. Two of my most favorite things!

Well, there use to be a fender there!

Hmm, I didn't get any shots of the front fenders cut, just flares screwed on. Well, my cut line is only about 1/4-3/8 inch in from the flares, so you can see, you cut a lot out.

Also, you can sort of see in the pic above the rear cut out, I left the lower steel braces attatched. I glassed the flares onto those to add strength.

Some more POS dig camera shots.

Front.....

Then a few days later back from the paint shop.
I would say think about your 914 for a while. If you decide to sell, I would think you would get some decent $$$ for it, but trust me on this one, once it is gone, you WILL miss it. Gaurenteed.