how hard would this be to do?

clutchdust

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i've been wanting to do this on *a* c3 for years, and i may have finally worked up the courage to do it on this one. so how hard would it be to split the rear fenders right at the door jamb and pull them out at the rear, effectively widening the rear by 2" on either side? i figure i'm going to use fiberglass front and rear bumpers anyway so i'd like to add about 4" to the rear of a c3 ala ZR-1. FWIW, i'm still learning how to work with fiberglass and i have a long way to go.
[EDIT]
adding for a visual reference a really rough drawing done in windows paint. it's just the rear clip with no rear bumper. the light grey shaded areas are the points i'm thinking of widening out.
vetterear.jpg
 
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Don't know by hart, but my guess is that the floor panel and the top inner reinforcements will make things difficult. However you could seperate the rear clip completly from the bottom (see one of my previous posts regarding bird cage transplant). Then you would have much better acces.

Then it would still give problems to bond it back onto the floor part.

My guess is that it would be easier to just make the enlarged fender out of fiberglass and glue it onto the existing rear clip.
 
It would be doable but you would also have to change the rear of the door to mate with the wider panel. Probably a lot of work.

I don't see how the floor would be a problem, that entire panel is completely separate from the floor, all you need is to widen the door striker panel so it mates up with the wider rear section.

I think it would be easier to flare out the rear by taking the existing [anel, cutting the wheel arch and bringing it out and then with modeling clay create a whole new contour for the quarter that bulges out more to give that wider rear that you want. Like how Geiger used to do it for C3s,4s and 5s.
 
You mean the rear compartment area? modifying the bonding strip there would be easy, and it doesn't have to be pretty, you won't see it anyway.
 
I think you could do this but the fender would have to bulge out quickly after the door to make the 2" at the tire.

I remember a guy building a C2 and he had some fenders that were pretty flexible (thin) that he pulled out a couple of inches and then backed up with glass. It looked good in primer, never saw the car finished.
 
Read thru Glen's "Building Love is Blue" thread in projects. He modified every panel extensively.:thumbs:
 
I think you could do this but the fender would have to bulge out quickly after the door to make the 2" at the tire.

not really interested in gaining 2" at the rear wheels. it's not really about widening the fenders but getting that wide stance in the rear, especially in the bumper. like i said, like the ZR-1.
i've always liked the coke bottle shape, but always thought the rear could stand to be a little wider. i think it would just make the car sexier.
i also never really liked the wide-body conversion by greenwood and the boys. they altered the original lines. think more about the mako shark 2 concept.
 
so right behind the door it would basically be the same as stock and then taper out 2" to the rear? i think it would look a little funny
 
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