My S2000... one year later..

Gabeasher, any particular paint cleaner you would recommend? I'm guessing in order for the cleaners to be able to wash them away they would have to be pretty abrasive? any long term negative effects?

FIY, it wasn't my intention to have "matching cars" with my sister, just that there simply wasn't any other cars that offer the same driving experience (as well as reliability) as the S2000. The Elise was out of my price range. :p
 
I have a strange respect for people taking meticulously good care of their car's appearance. Not to say James May is a bit odd with his vent-cleaning brushes, but this is just fantastic work. Short of a naked woman, I'd stare at a shining white Honda S2000 all day if they'd let me.

And a huge respect on the car choice. Although my money's probably going to fall into the pink sleeved hands of the M Coupe-owner, I'll always secretly want one of these.

..And to be honest, I'll probably drive the Beamer for a couple of months, get bored and try a Honda anyway. :)
 
Thank you for you compliment frankiess. :thumbup:

As some of you might remember, I love to build absolutely useless stuffs to kill time and it's about to happen again, but this time I figured I might as well try something new, something for my car.

Well here they are, a pair of spare OEM fenders:
IMG_2483.jpg

IMG_2494.jpg

IMG_2485.jpg

IMG_2492.jpg


They are pretty beat up. First of all they are not in OEM color. Second, the fender lips are really messed up as they've been caught and pulled completely out of shape from previous owner's lowered car ridding on much beefier tires. On the bright side, I got them at a great price and I think they are perfect for what I have in mind.

I am a huge fan of the aggressive look of non-staggered, low-offset wheels on the S2000. However, the cost and hassle to modify the stock fender to have enough clearance is a major annoyance that turns many people away from the idea.

62.jpg

The car's build thread <1> <2>

Simply put: I love to build things, I've always wanted to try out fiber glassing and metal shaping (especially having watched pretty much all of American Chopper and American Hotrod), I got the time, I got friends (who are also car nuts) who are willing to help, I have connection to a paint shop, and now I have a spare pair of fenders. Why not?

After considering many different approaches to fender flaring, I have decided to go with this approach on the bases that:
1. to untrained eyes it looks very OEM-like.
2. gives additional ~.5" of tire clearance.
3. only requires modifications (repaint) to the fenders.
4. removes the body line around the wheel walls.
5. can be easily reversed by switching back to my stock fenders.
6. appears to be something I could possibly accomplish (with time and patience of course :mrgreen: )
IMG_1242.jpg

This car's build thread.

Here's my plain: (keep in mind this is going to be a long-term project, not something I want to finish in a few week or so)
- Order a set of dolly kit (similar to this one), carefully flare out the fender lip (mostly likely with the assist of a fender roller), remove the fender line, and also take care of any dings/misalignments.
- Smooth out the body work, test fit, if it turns out good it could go either:

A. Prep, paint, and fit them on my car.

or

B. Make an inverse mold from the finished fender, replicate myself a set of fiberglass fenders, than prep, paint, and fit which ever set I desire

If it all goes well, I might be interested to make a set of carbon fiber (depending on material cost of course) from the same mold.

I have done tons of research and built a collection of links on constructing the plug, mold, and part cloning with fiberglass as reference, if anyone has any experience/information/link to composite construction or metal shaping, please feel free to put in your 2 cents as I would greatly appreciate any information on this subject.

Whats keeping me from starting this project tomorrow:
On top of balancing my free time, in order to have a good idea on how much to flare out on the fenders, I would need to first lower my car to the ideal height and order/fit the size of wheel/tire of choice. All these would cost a big chunk of money and I would much rather take my time to plan everything out.

What do you guys think?
Brandon.
 
Last edited:
UPDATE: 12/23/09. TONS of pictures.

UPDATE: 12/23/09. TONS of pictures.

***12/23/09 UPDATE

It's been more than a year since my last update in this thread. In the past year I had slowly modded my car exactly as planned. Most of the mods involved some level of DIY fabrication simply because I love to try new stuff and build things with my own hands. The S is my first car so I had learn tons throughout the build. I've took many pictures documenting my build, below are tons of pictures so bare with me. :)

When I first got the car it was completely stock as pictured previously.
IMG_2280.jpg


Being a long time S2000 addict, I knew exactly how I wanted my car to end up from the very beginning. So the very first part I picked up was actually a pair of beat up OEM fenders. These would come in handy later on...
Fender_006.jpg


One of the main complain about the car is heat-soaking on hot days. Didn't felt the need to alter the stock intake airbox (which is very well designed in terms of engine performance by the way) I've decided to go with a intake snorkel to draw in cold air from the front grill.

However I was very unhappy with the choices of aftermarket snorkels available, so I decided to make my own. I've always wanted to try out working with composites, what a perfect opportunity. After countless hours of googling, I got the supplies ready and went at it.

Snorkle_2445.jpg


Initial cardboard mock up
Snorkle_2489.jpg


Foam shaping
Snorkle_2660.jpg


Snorkle_2675.jpg


Didn't want to cut my original radiator air guide, so I replicated one out of fiberglass.
Snorkle_2518.jpg


After a few failed attempts, this was the end result:

Snorkel_1411.jpg


Snorkel_1412.jpg


Snorkel_1414.jpg


Snorkel_1415.jpg


Snorkel_1416.jpg


Was very happy with it as it satisfied all my criteria. Couldn't have picked a more difficult shape as my first fiberglass project but it was a great learning experience.


Next up was a set of new sticky rubber. Once again planning ahead but maybe a little too far ahead as they were not the right sizes for my stock wheels. They sat in the garage for a long while.
S2k_003.jpg


Then I picked up some adjustable coilovers.
S2k_023.jpg


First major install on the car, never done this before. Exciting!
S2k_017.jpg


S2k_024.jpg


S2k_031.jpg


After lowering the car, the plastic air dam in front of front tires started scrapping on steep driveways and parking lot entrances.

So I took them off..
Wind_deflector_01.jpg


and made my own carbon fiber replicas, same shape as OEM but 1" shorter
Wind_deflector_49.jpg

Wind_deflector_51.jpg

No more scraping afterward.

Nothing went on with my car for a while, got bored so I started working on the fenders I picked up earlier.

Basically I wanted more aggressive wheels/tires front and rear. After seeing many people mess up their front fenders I decided very early on to do it right the first time, reshape OEM metal fenders for more tire clearance.

The wheels size/specs I wanted were very hard to find and usually require many months of wait time for special order. Figured I had lots of time to play with these fenders I started with nothing to check for fitment.

When I first picked them up
Fender_006-1.jpg


The wheel wall had already been chewed up from previous owner from fitting more aggressive wheels/tires. They had to be straighten first.
Fender_003.jpg

Fender_005.jpg


Initial shaping with dolly hammers. Have never done this before but after years of watching American Chopper fabbing custom gas tanks from raw sheet metal, I was just doing what I've seen on TV.

Not bad, already much wider than stock.
Fender_067.jpg


Other side, this side was a million times worse. :?
Fender_163.jpg


While my sister was out of the country, I used her car to make sure they line up.:p
Fender_276.jpg


Fender_301.jpg


After shaping:
Fender_308-1.jpg


My original plan was to make molds and make my own carbon fiber widened fenders...

Fender_615.jpg

Fender_626.jpg

Fender_637.jpg

Fender_645.jpg


Left mold was as far as I got... The plan was taking way too long, way to messy and wayy too ambitious. Due to school work, they sat for a few weeks.

Which wasn't too bad. By shear luck, I've finally located a new set of Volk CE28, 17x9 +35, exactly the size/specs I wanted without the wait time!
Look at the size compare to OEM front behind it!:mrgreen:
S2k_053.jpg


Couldn't wait to see how they would look on the car
S2k_042.jpg


YUP! They're aggressive alright :lol::mrgreen:
S2k_046.jpg

S2k_043.jpg


Tracked down some hard-to-fine flat center caps
S2k_082.jpg

and some lug nuts
S2k_079.jpg
 
Last edited:
Thanks to my friends' connections, we mounted the tires ourselves. First time mounting tires, it was pretty fun.

First test fit on stock fenders.
:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:
S2K_054.jpg


Of course there would be no way I could drive like that, which explains the fenders I worked on earlier.

Hope they fit

Left side on
S2K_126.jpg


Right side on
S2K_177.jpg


Looking good so far!
S2K_124.jpg


OMG YES! First time everything on the car! PERFECT FIT!
S2K_091.jpg

S2K_169.jpg


Left fender got some surface damage during molding process, needed some repair.
S2K_151.jpg


With help of a friend, we primed the fenders... You guessed it, never done it before. LOTS of sanding.
S2K_219.jpg


This is how they turned out:

IMG_3866.jpg

IMG_3876.jpg

IMG_3879.jpg

IMG_3882.jpg

IMG_3864.jpg


Then I had the fenders painted by a local shop, to save some cash I only had them spray, would cut, color sand, and polish myself. Thought about spraying them myself but was lacking some confidence especially for such large panels... Maybe next time...

Like all straight-off-the-booth paint jobs, there were lots of orange peel that needed to be sanded out...
IMG_6309.jpg

Gross
IMG_6312.jpg


First time color sand, wasn't easy to take sandpaper to a brand new paint job... but it was ugly and had to be done. Sorry I didn't take too many pictures, just wanted it done ASAP
IMG_6316.jpg


After a whole day, this was the end result....

IMG_4035.jpg

IMG_4041.jpg

IMG_4042.jpg

<3<3

I was super excited that everything was finally on. But only after a short period of time I felt something was missing, because how wide the wheels/tires were, it needed something in the middle to even out the side profile.

Once again I wasn't very satisfy with what were already available, so once again I decided to take matter into my own hands and create my own side splitter.

The shape I came up with from scratch.
Side_diffuser_072.jpg


Fresh off the mold
Side_diffuser_097.jpg


initial test fit
Side_diffuser_110.jpg


trimmed
Side_diffuser_111.jpg


more test fit
Side_diffuser_115.jpg

Side_diffuser_118.jpg


Second one for the other side
Side_diffuser_162.jpg


of course cant forget the details :p
Side_diffuser_254.jpg


End result:

Side_diffuser_196.jpg

Side_diffuser_208.jpg

Side_diffuser_206.jpg

Side_diffuser_198.jpg

Side_diffuser_214.jpg

:lol::heart:

Few months went by...

New toy:
IMG_4699.jpg

IMG_4694.jpg

IMG_4697.jpg


Love the single exhaust, but the left hole is an eye sore.... back to the garage!

Initial idea was to make a half-sphere shapped cover that blends into the existing curves of the rear bumper, but sometimes an idea should only stay as an idea, and once it has been in your head for soo long that, you end up not being able to realize why the idea wasn't a very good one to begin with.

Which was what happened,
AP2-exhaustcap_230.jpg

AP2-exhaustcap_236.jpg

AP2-exhaustcap_156.jpg

AP2-exhaustcap_165.jpg


Well... After a few egg comments, it was back to the drawing board.:lol::lol:


Based on some very helpful suggestion on the S2000 forum, I sacrificed an egg for version 2.
AP2-exhaustcap_242.jpg

AP2-exhaustcap_260.jpg

AP2-exhaustcap_268.jpg

AP2-exhaustcap_273.jpg

AP2-exhaustcap_295.jpg

AP2-exhaustcap_301.jpg

AP2-exhaustcap_350.jpg


:p
AP2-exhaustcap_214.jpg


IMG_7594.jpg


Who would have though my earlier experience color sanding would come in handy this fast, painting it myself with friend this time. :lol:
AP2-exhaustcap_385.jpg


This is pretty much where I'm at the moment. You're probably pretty tired after all this scrolling, any comments/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Oh ya... the other "car" I built during this time. :p
GTIMG_7437.JPG


[edit]
Oh! Almost forgot...
IMG_4935.jpg
 
Last edited:
that is some nice work sir!

very well done

how did you make the carbon fibre parts? simply suck them vaccuum, or did you bake them?
 
Phew! Just finished uploading/updating previous post, took a while!

bone, I used wet-lay, vacuum bagging method as it does not require baking with autoclave (wish I have access to one of those). From what I understand, as long as it's done right (proper pressure, correct fiber/resin ratio) the end result should be very very close to dry carbon in terms of weight/strength ratio.
 
Wow, excellent work! When I saw the car you were starting with and talking about mods, I got worried. :lol: But you did a very impressive job. Very subtle and badass. :cool:
 
Massive respect man!
You've done some excellent work there :)
Your skills would come in handy for my rust spots. Just make a non rustable piece myself :p
 
Very nice build and car! Keep up the good work! I like it when people DIY and it turns out so stunning as your car. Have some rep for good work.
 
nice seeing people do things themselves, and with a great result as well.

i'm plotting some work like that on a old Hyundai Pony myself :p
though... it helps that i work at a paintshop :p

reading through that though, made my hands itch for starting on my Hyundai... good inspiration really ^^ not extreme work, but subtle details, i like.
I especially love that air duct, and how ya made it look like it was stock on the car.
 
lol @ fender testing on your sister's car. Obviously, she doesn't know. :p

I am envious of you, having the technical know-how and the tech to manufacture your own parts and repair them as needed. Modding a car by oneself is still a long ways away for me. I'm still trying to work up the courage to clay bar & wax (I don't want to mess it up) - something I see in your first post is second nature to you. So you can imagine how daunting removing panels may seem to me. Think I could contact you by PM some questions I have about detailing?

Regardless, that is all excellent work. Hope to see more glamour shots of it in some abandoned shopping mall at night sometime soon. Have you considered an aftermarket spoiler?

(Irvine. You ain't that far away.~)
 
Pardon my language, but you are a fuckin genius. As a lot of people have mentioned, or know, and notice, you have ''mad skillz yo''
Seriously, u did all that yourself. so much fuckin respect for that. and it looks sweet and clean. A damn nice ride at that.

I am seriously jealous. hahah. One of the nicest cars on this forums, for me. and great build.
 
Now you just need a front splitter :yes:
 
HOLY SHIT!

You rolled fenders off of what you've seen on American Chopper? LOL, that's awesome! They look perfect. I wouldn't have the balls to try that with out practicing, A LOT, on some scrap metal.

Great fiberglass work as well.

The car is great as well. The S2000 is one of the few convertibles I would consider buying.
 
Top