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Home made wide body kit

24K views 133 replies 28 participants last post by  Sk8rmacity 
#1 · (Edited)
Someone asked me to create a topic on this project, so here it is.

This is just an appearance upgrade consisting mainly of 20 inch low profile rims, a straight back, sporty hood, supercar side scoops and a full interior makeover.

This is NOT to be confused with one of those look-alike replicas as they require chopping up the car; creating untold safety hazards and ultimately lead to a grotesque look as if a lion in a gorilla suit. On the contrary, I am taking what's already there and making it better.

When I first saw the 4th gen Camaro as a child I couldn't help but think it had a look similar to supercars of the recent past and wondered why they didn't go to a little extra trouble to make it REALLY pretty. As it turns out, the 4th gen Camaro is a step backword in the looks department from it's prototype IMO which bears striking resemblance to the Corvette Indy concept car. If you are a child of the 80s then you might remember that old model kit of the Corvette Indy and being in awe of how space age it looked.

Camaro Prototype
1989 Chevrolet California IROC Camaro Concept Car Development - HowStuffWorks

Corvette Indy:
Cars of Futures Past - 1986 Corvette Indy concept | Hemmings Daily

So I am basically just fixing the problem with the Camaro in the form of what I think looks right. I am going for a look somewhere in between the McLaren P1 and Arrinera Venocara. My neighbors say that what I am working on looks like a Lamborghini Batmobile. That suits me well as I am trying very hard to create a strong blend of 1980s nostalgia and next gen technology and appearance.

This is really just a dream car that doesn't cost much and gets over 30mpg highway. LOL.

Anyway, I have minor surgery the day after tomorrow and am expecting to have 10 days of nothing to do but work on the project. Photos coming soon. In the mien time you can check out an old thread about some of the innards:

http://www.camarozone.com/forum/f26/carbon-fiber-innards-first-attempt-187420/
 
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#2 ·
Haha, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel like you had to, I was just wondering. It's going to be a unique project and I'm curious to see how it goes. Glad you're chasing your dreams. Good luck with your build
 
#4 ·
I hope it goes well for you, I am still quite skeptical, just because I've yet to see anyone do anything worthwhile to make the cars look better. That isn't to say they can't be improved upon, but there is a distinct difference between a group of automotive designers and engineers and one or two guys in garages.

It is possible you break the mold and actually change it for the better, but there are plenty of areas where I already have red flags based on your thoughts of a mix of a Venocana and a P1.

The Camaro is not a good choice for that in my opinion. The height of the internals and chassis height are going to be near-impossible to fix, which is always what gives the "kit cars" built off of them a frumpy looking appearance. So when you are basing changes on two mid-engined exotics, you're going to have some major issues with the way the car is built up front.

Another thing that sticks out like a sore thumb on the 4th gens when modified this way, is the Windshield. You have to completely redo the frame around it, and the glass, or it is going to look so out of place.

I wish you luck, but I don't envy you trying to improve on this design without re-fabbing the entire chassis.
 
#5 · (Edited)
I hope it goes well for you, I am still quite skeptical, just because I've yet to see anyone do anything worthwhile to make the cars look better. That isn't to say they can't be improved upon, but there is a distinct difference between a group of automotive designers and engineers and one or two guys in garages.

It is possible you break the mold and actually change it for the better, but there are plenty of areas where I already have red flags based on your thoughts of a mix of a Venocana and a P1.

The Camaro is not a good choice for that in my opinion. The height of the internals and chassis height are going to be near-impossible to fix, which is always what gives the "kit cars" built off of them a frumpy looking appearance. So when you are basing changes on two mid-engined exotics, you're going to have some major issues with the way the car is built up front.

Another thing that sticks out like a sore thumb on the 4th gens when modified this way, is the Windshield. You have to completely redo the frame around it, and the glass, or it is going to look so out of place.

I wish you luck, but I don't envy you trying to improve on this design without re-fabbing the entire chassis.
Thanks for reserving judgement. Fortunately I am not making a cross between those. It's just the closest comparison I can think of. My goal is to make the Camaro look better and unique, not like something else.

I carefully planned and tested the front end idea. It works. There's a chance I may have MOST of that part in place by the end of next week but no promises. Seams every time I try to do something on it an emergency comes up.
 
#6 · (Edited)
Been running around like a chicken with my head cut off. That coupled with stitches in my hand highly limited my ability to get things done with fiberglass. None the less, I am happy to report that today I managed to get the basic profile of the hood raise together. It's not mounted on the car yet and probably won't be until I come up with the right glue for the job (I'm strongly looking at this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000PEW4MI/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER ) but I DID get it fitted on the car and it looks really good. Much better then the models I've used. It's amazing how much such a simple add-on changes the whole look of the car by it's self. I also compared it with other fittings and the like. It's strange that; the more of this stuff that gets put on the car, the smaller the car seams. It still needs allot of sanding and tuning ahead. I am running around all day today AGAIN and have to go out of town all day tomorrow. But hopefully this week end I'll get it cleaned up some and get a photo or 2 for you, or a video if photos don't do it enough justice.

Anyway, the raise in the hood is meant to very carefully compliment the windshield walls and vice versa, so I can't really call it done and ready to go until the windshield walls are as well. Simple as they may seam, I think I am dreading the windshield walls more then any other part of the car, so it'll be a HUGE relief when that part is done.

I don't know what the official name of those windshield walls is but if you don't know what I'm talking about, here's a picture of one on a Mercedes of a very similar design to what I'm making.



This part is critical to getting that sleek, super car look without moving the windshield around. Again, this has been cheaply tested prior to using serious materials and it works very well. This picture I shared before (on the bottom) shows a photo during one of those tests, where you can see how the hood raise and windshield walls compliment one and other to give it that sleek look/shape. The real hood raise looks/works even better so far.


This picture shows the area covered by the mailbox in the previous but it's a little deceiving because the hood raise fitting is incomplete (only meant for proof of concept, which only needed to be done on one side of the car), the real thing is shaped slightly different and is in a slightly different place and the real windshield walls go down to the area covered by the top of the mailbox in the photo.

 
#7 ·
The windshield part is the a pillar.

Sent from my Z796C using Camaro Zone mobile app
 
#8 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hay folks. Here's a quick update. Since my last post on this topic I've been working my tail off, dealing with crisis, family and friend issues etc. In total I've only had 3 days since my last post to work on this car project. And got some photos. Please read descriptions to understand what you're looking at.

The project to date has been creating the sloped nose illusion. Allot goes in to this but what's been done so far is the hood raise I've been going on about long before discussing the whole wide body project and basic reshaping of the fenders. I also chose to paint the entire car black. I chose to do this because the fiber glassing needs to be protected from sun rays, the black paint is cheap and up close it's great for exposing imperfections. So basically, at the end of each session I just repaint the area I've worked on black until the next session. Once everything is done I'm going to have the car painted dark metallic gray.

These first pics were taken at family's property during installation of the raised hood. Aluminum foil is just there to protect the innards from resin. It worked.




Taken today at home in the middle of the project. Yes, it's crusty. But if you do major fiberglass projects then you know that's only temporary.


Taken after all of today's work was done. Some patching that went on since the previous photo was taken leaves it looking slightly crustier despite being further along. Much of that crustyness won't get cleaned up till after the pillars are installed as there's a shortage of sanding materials available ATM and much of it is going to be redone or added to after the pillars are installed and I don't want to waste precious time and materials. Fortunately the pillars could be installed as soon as tomorrow.


That's it for now. Remember that this is just the tip of the iceberg, Almost everything outside the car is getting covered or replaced. Even the hood has more aesthetic changes ahead then it has behind it.
 
#13 ·
As before, I've been working my tail off to help pay for this project. But I DID manage to make one more visibly big but work wise small change to the front hood. I have been considering 3 different designs. I have them set up in stages, so that if I don't like one, I can make the next out of it. It looks like I hit the jackpot with the very first. Since I intend to ultimately do the under area in red pigmented carbon fiber, I decide to test the look with regular old red paint. It's obviously still rough and needing work in it's current condition but IMO still tells of a good design in the works and gives some sense of where this project is going overall.



 
#14 ·
BTW. I just found this concept Lamborghini the other day and noticed that the rear scoops and back hatch are already a very similar design overall to what I have in mind for my car, so I have been thinking about modifying the side scoop design on my car project to share some similarities with this concept car. ATM I have a few different side scoop designs and haven't decided on one definitively yet as I want to get a better look of them on the car after it's further along.

Lamborghini Indomable is a 2,000-hp Beast That Might Actually Be Produced | Concept Supercars
 
#16 ·
Only 3 weeks ago I would have agreed with you. And I can honestly say it was much easier to work it out on an LT then the LS. But; having worked it all out, I think they equally share as much potential, just in different ways. I'd still LOVE to get my hands on an earlier LT style Camaro some day.
 
#17 ·
It looks like it I coming along pretty well. Definitely and interesting and unique idea, in a good way of course. I'm looking forward to the finished product
 
#21 ·
I recently finished a job out of town that lasted for exactly 40 days!! Yes, I made some good money, but it's gone almost entirely towards paying bills and mechanical repairs to the Camaro, mainly the transmission and exhaust which got busted while I was working out of town.

If there's any money left when I am done with repairs, I'll be investing it in more resin and carbon fiber.

As it stands, I can afford to do allot with the interior but only a little on the outside. ATM, I am working on a carbon fiber part for a friend's 95 Camaro, which is eating up some of my time and resources, mostly resources.

Anyway, I expect to spend most; if not all the rest of this month on mechanical repairs. If anything, I may be able to squeeze in the A-pillars and maybe part of the dash.
 
#23 ·
WOW. It's been a while. Lately everyone else has had me customizing their cars at the cost of time to work on my own. What little time and $ I get to work on my car ends up going under the hood.

Anyway, there HAS been a little progress, though time and materials ran out in the thick of things, so it looks a little ugly. Still IMO the greatest single obstacle in the entire project. The A-pillar covers are on......sort of. These are actually skeletal portions. Eventually I am going to bolt fiberglass flats on these and the sloped back hatch (not installed yet) for a smooth "bow" shape before fiberglassing and permanently attaching it.

So it's currently ugly, but at leas the front has it's basic shape now. I am still going to flatten out the humps behind the lights in the hood, making it a little more downward slanted and obviously going to change the lights and bumper cover but otherwise the basic shape of the front is there.

Anyway, if you think the A-pillar covers are ugly, just remember that the hood once looked worse, and all of it still has a ways to go. They're a work in progress. Here you go.

 
#25 ·
Well, I have more materials now and all next week is going to be spent on car work. I have work to do for other people but I also get to work on my own stuff. I have enough to at least get the sloped back on. If I can get my hands on one more gallon of resin between now and then o may have the whole basic structure intact by this time next week. Don't get me wrong. The finer details and fine tuning will take at least until spring. But man, it's really looking promising. I am very glad I went with my own design in stead of a replica. When doing your own design, you have the freedom to give it the best look you can within your means.

Sent from my D6616 using Camaro Zone mobile app
 
#26 ·
I FINALLY got the sloped back hatch cover on. It's still crusty as I am short of the funds to clean it up, but at least it's there. I also redid the hood above the headlights, giving the nose more of a slope.

 
#27 ·
All throughout this project I have been trying to get pictures of what the car looks like if you were to see it in person mainly because people seam to like the look in person more then by looking at photos. As more details are added, the more photos have conflicted with the look in person, courtesy of 3D and lighting effects brought on by the camera.

Well, tonight my cousin and I decided to take pictures of where we were and what we were doing while talking. I happened to be coming out of a store, so I snapped a picture of my car while approaching it. Turned out to be the golden egg I've been looking for. If anything, the car looks more "top heavy" in person. Otherwise there's no noteworthy visual conflict between this picture and it's in person appearance.

 
#29 ·
Don't worry buddy. She's probably in her peak ugly moment and there's still a long way to go. The basic shape is there but none of the real details are. Remember she's still missing 6 scoops, several vents, a possible spoiler, 2 bumper covers, all external light replacements and 3+ inches in body width.The whole "wide body" part for which this topic was titled hasn't started yet, though that'll probably be the next step.

 
#30 ·
Stuff like this scares me. Looks like it's coming togther well tho. Im going to follow up on this thread I've got to see the end result
 
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