I had a little "mis-hap" and one of my fenders sustained some damage. I decided that it was the time to decide if I wanted to upgrade the fenders to the vented kind. A bit of research revealed only two aftermarket fenders - Sarona and VFiber. Second, the VFiber fenders seem to match the car's creases where it lines up with the door. Third, they are much cheaper than Sarona.

I located a VFiber dealer in Chino and they had a bunch in stock. I sorted through them to find the ones in the best shape. You have to realize that fiberglass parts don't just bolt on to the car. You MUST prepare the fenders before paint. I thought about using a body shop, but I decided to try my hand at preparing the fenders.

Here is a pic of the bare unprepared fender:



Ill give you the basics of how to prepare these from my research and by doing it. First, you use bondo to fill in the major valleys in the fiberglass. Then you do lots of sanding. I used a pro quality random orbiting air sander. Next phase is usiing a lighter filler, like Dophin to fill in and to put a skim coat on the fender and then sand. I also used a filler in a tube for pin holes. There is LOTS of sanding. I also repaired some minor cracks and I put some fiberglass resin on the inside of the fender to give it a bit more strength. Some of the vent openings required some shaping too as well as the edges. It a bit of work, but it pays off in the end.

After sanding and shaping, its time to prime, lightly sand and then paint and then clear and then wetsand and then polish it out. I want to give a HUGE thanks to Chulo from the org for his help in every phase of this project. He let me text him at various hours o the day and provided valuable advice.

You also have to drill mounting holes. The holes for attaching to the front bumper have to be square to allow the threaded plugs to fit. That took a bit of filing. These fenders are much lighter than the factory steel fenders too!

Here is the result:

 

They look out of place to me.

 

Looks great and it sounds like you went through hell to get this done. It fits well with the CF hood you got on there. Nice job man.

 

it's too aggressive from the rest of the car's side profile IMO. but i do respect the amount of prep work that went into it.

 

I actually have side skirts but I havent installed it yet on that side, so it will look more aggressive with them back on. Look at my signature to see the side skirts.

 

Looks good to me. a few month back, i saw an ad on CL for sanora fenders and side skirts for like 200 little damage but cold be fixed. I acutally liked it.

 

It can't be too aggressive when you are talking about Deus's Max- his whole theme is aggressive. From the racing seats, to the suspension set up and the entire exterior.
Nice work Deus.

 

I know, I've been on here long enough to literally see his car's transformation from day one

but from that profile shot, it looks stock (minus the drop and wheels). so the fenders are a bit loud.

but it will look better after he put his side skirts back on.

 

C'mon man.... stock? Dont forget the 2 wings, one on the window and one on the trunk, the LED tails, smoke front lights, front Z calipers, and black muffler.

 

looks weird doesn't really flow with the rest of the car...

 

Looks pretty good but need a in person view to tell you the truth so head out to the Next Maxima Meet and we can evaluate the car....

 

I noticed that. I was thinking what happened to the side skirts. Glad you still have your Max. Everyone else is jumping the wagon.

 

The difference between vfiber and sarona fenders. Pic shows my car and Don Omar's car.

 

I think the Sarona ones would've looked much better. Throw on your sideskirt and take a new pic. That'll be a better comparison.

 

now you need to shave the door guard rails. always wanted to do that.

 

Has anyone done this. Ive never liked the guardrail but it does offer some protection against ding dongs who swing their doors open.

 

+1 exactly!

And Deus...looks good, bro- nice work, as always, doing it yourself and making sure it's done right- gotta respect that.

I think it goes well w/the hood, too. I've considered these also, but like you, will wait until I HAVE to replace the fenders. Until the, extra $$$ will continue to go under the hood for me. I also never realized so much prep work would be involved with these. You saved yourself a chuck of change doing it yourself; I'm sure a good body shop would charge a lot to do what you did. WTG, D!

 

I dig it, needs some supporting final touches here and there...

 

I like the fenders on your car & Don Omar's, and would also agree w/ you that it will look better w/ the side skirts. Gotta give it to you for putting in your own work too.

 

needs a little touch up here and there ... looks good ...

 

Did you have to do a lot of modification? I know with the aftermarket stuff it never fits up perfect.

 

Well it seemed like a lot to me but Im not a body shop guy so I had to work after my day job on nights and weekends. If I had to do it again, I know what Im doing more but my ability is nothing compared to a guy who has been doing it for years. Mainly it was just smoothing out the surface and sharpening up the creases and then tons of sanding. I really like the look of the finished product.

 

Def respect all the time and work you put in, body shop would have charged you like crazy.

 

I like it.

 

I actually like the Vfiber' over the Saronas. The placement of the openings looks more ideal on theVfiber's. They flow much better.

 

I would of imagine that you spent a lot of time to get it to look smooth.That's the messed up things about the fiberglass.

My bodyman did alot of sanding on mine but there was still some uneven surface.Luckily someone rear ended me a week ago and the insurance is taking care of it.So come next year i'll have a freshly painted bumper

 

In all honesty, I prefer the Sarona ones over the VFiber, Sarona would be even better if the top part of the top vent was parallel with the car instead of sloping upwards. The thing I don't like about the VFiber ones is that the vents cut into the flat fender arch, making it look someone just added vents without designing around the fender. But I gotta hand it to you for doing all the prep work and getting them to look as good as they can.

 

sure some has. someone on here at least removed them once. But you would need to fill them and paint the doors. Why I never did it.

Mine have stopped maybe 1 of 8 door dings... paintless removal was cheaper than to try to replace the rail.

 

Thats a lot of work. I'll probably not shave my door guardrail even if it would look better since I use the car daily and need some protection from careless people

 

LOOKS LIKE ****!!! Those fenders belong a on a civic or a neon. All thats missing from this ricer movement is lambo doors and neon lighting.. The only thing that I can see saving this is some custom rear overfenders to give it a widebody look and that is not cheap..

 

I actually have a rear diffuser that extends the rear down some and that would probably help. Maybe Ill re-install it this weekend and see if you like it better.

 

I'm on the fence with it, but I get you a lot of props for all the DYI...!

 

That's some nice rims man. What the width and how low did you go?

 

Thanks! My wheels are staggered. 20x8.5 front and 20x10 rear. I have a static drop on coilovers and it's sitting pretty much, right at the tire height.

 

They look nice. The lines flow well IMO and the gap between the hood and the top of the fender looks like you took your time and fit it right. Congrats on the new look. I wish I could afford a nice body kit but even the halfway decent ones are expensive and the money is better spent on the motor in my case.

 

Clean look. So basically you're saying you rub when you have a full load?I gotta give it to you. You did it right

 

The kits aren't that expensive man.$600-700 shipped.The paint and install is another story. But it's all what you want to do with the ride and what you'll enjoy more

 

no problems rubbing on a full load (5 people), but drive way scrapping is a different story...! 4 people is fine.

 

Actually, I plan on doing some red LED lights in the hood vents, front grills, rear grill, fender vents and underneath!!

 

LED's in the front grilles and fender vents would be nice. IMO everything else would be overkill. The tail lights are already gonna have the rear taken care of in terms of lighting.