When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
those particular flares could be used if someone with a little bit of body shop experience installed them. I already see what the problem is... its the installer... that push out at the door is because the panel was not stretch from north to south.. that taper at the hatch rear is typical of someone not knowing what they are doing.. the gap between the panel and the rear fascia is because the installer did not alter the fascia bracing support to match the curve of the new panel...
Whoa, hold on here!!! Are you not reading any of my posts? I believe I've mentioned several times in this thread that an auto body professional is helping with these. He does this stuff for a living and I trust that he knows what he is doing. I'm also confident that these fenders can be used, and only posted this thread because I was surprised that it was going to take so much time to make them fit correctly.
Like I said earlier, the fender sticks out nearly 1/4" at the door...there's absolutely no room to "stretch from north to south" to make it sit more flush, and the fascia bracing support isn't going to reduce the gap at the rear. Have a closer look at that picture and you will see that the fascia is pulled so far toward the hatch that the gap between the hatch and fascia is very tight (maybe 1/16") and there is still 1/8" empty space between the fender and fascia.
So yes I understand that you, with your second-ever body work attempt, were able to get yours to fit perfectly by carefully measuring, drilling, and shimming. My point is that the fenders I have received will not fit without major work, period. What I gather from this is that either the tolerances of C5 body panels are +- 1/4" (doubtful) or that the fenders I received simply do not fit as well as yours did for whatever reason. Yours definitely sound like they fit relatively well out of the box, so now I wonder if mine came from an inferior mold or if some other factor has affected the production of these fenders since you bought them.
The bottom line is I started this thread to solicit feedback from other members who have experience with this product. With that, I thank you for yours, and look forward to hearing from others who have experience with the carbon fenders from Corvette Creationz.
Whoa, hold on here!!! Are you not reading any of my posts? I believe I've mentioned several times in this thread that an auto body professional is helping with these. He does this stuff for a living and I trust that he knows what he is doing. I'm also confident that these fenders can be used, and only posted this thread because I was surprised that it was going to take so much time to make them fit correctly.
Like I said earlier, the fender sticks out nearly 1/4" at the door...there's absolutely no room to "stretch from north to south" to make it sit more flush, and the fascia bracing support isn't going to reduce the gap at the rear. Have a closer look at that picture and you will see that the fascia is pulled so far toward the hatch that the gap between the hatch and fascia is very tight (maybe 1/16") and there is still 1/8" empty space between the fender and fascia.
So yes I understand that you, with your second-ever body work attempt, were able to get yours to fit perfectly by carefully measuring, drilling, and shimming. My point is that the fenders I have received will not fit without major work, period. What I gather from this is that either the tolerances of C5 body panels are +- 1/4" (doubtful) or that the fenders I received simply do not fit as well as yours did for whatever reason. Yours definitely sound like they fit relatively well out of the box, so now I wonder if mine came from an inferior mold or if some other factor has affected the production of these fenders since you bought them.
The bottom line is I started this thread to solicit feedback from other members who have experience with this product. With that, I thank you for yours, and look forward to hearing from others who have experience with the carbon fenders from Corvette Creationz.
I apologize for coming on strong.. it is one of my character flaws... the only thing I can say is that a professional should have been able to recognize a panel that was impossible to fit.. if that install was the best the professional could do then why did he install them with such a taper in the hatch seam.. you don't drill holes in a panel when the fit is tapered so badly.. you correct the taper before you drill the holes... Its either a bad panel or a bad install...with all the research I have done I could not find anyone with this issue... the pictures you offered showed poorly fitted panels that were finalized by drilling holes.. Not something a professional would do or should do..
I apologize for coming on strong.. it is one of my character flaws... the only thing I can say is that a professional should have been able to recognize a panel that was impossible to fit.. if that install was the best the professional could do then why did he install them with such a taper in the hatch seam.. you don't drill holes in a panel when the fit is tapered so badly.. you correct the taper before you drill the holes... Its either a bad panel or a bad install...with all the research I have done I could not find anyone with this issue... the pictures you offered showed poorly fitted panels that were finalized by drilling holes.. Not something a professional would do or should do..
Look, no offense, but you are admittedly not an auto body professional. By my understanding, drilling three holes in a panel in no way "finalizes" it. Holes can easily be filled. Before drilling the holes it was immediately realized that the fender wasn't going to fit right, and that's why only three were drilled in order to secure the panel to the car to take some pictures to illustrate the poor fit. Removing or re-drilling the holes won't make this thing fit any better.
Look, no offense, but you are admittedly not an auto body professional. By my understanding, drilling three holes in a panel in no way "finalizes" it. Holes can easily be filled. Before drilling the holes it was immediately realized that the fender wasn't going to fit right, and that's why only three were drilled in order to secure the panel to the car to take some pictures to illustrate the poor fit. Removing or re-drilling the holes won't make this thing fit any better.
It takes every screw to affix these panels. The screws at ground level, and the screws at the hatch, and the screws below the connection point below the tub vent.. the screws in the door jam. and the fascia brake all have to be used to mold the panel into shape. but you are right... Im talking to someone who cannot understand the mechanical aspect of fitting a body panel. Only those with the idea that they just have to bolt them up... thinking like this is why we have seen so many people bitch about spending 15 to 20 hours to get a hood to fit.. 20 hours at 60 an hour..1200 added to the cost of the hood... that's why I say I can not afford to buy anything too cheap.
I wont respond further. I hope you good luck with your isolated issue..
I've yet to see anyone in this thread, have similar issues.
if you hung the panel and only installed 3 screws, and it took me 5 hours to fit just one. how much time, and what did you do to correct the fit?
hanging a panel and putting in three screw takes 20 minutes.. what else did you do to make them fit. how much time did you invest.. Sorry.. I just have lots of questions that you don't have to answer... I already know the answer...
It takes every screw to affix these panels. The screws at ground level, and the screws at the hatch, and the screws below the connection point below the tub vent.. the screws in the door jam. and the fascia brake all have to be used to mold the panel into shape. but you are right... Im talking to someone who cannot understand the mechanical aspect of fitting a body panel. Only those with the idea that they just have to bolt them up... thinking like this is why we have seen so many people bitch about spending 15 to 20 hours to get a hood to fit.. 20 hours at 60 an hour..1200 added to the cost of the hood... that's why I say I can not afford to buy anything too cheap.
I wont respond further. I hope you good luck with your isolated issue..
I've yet to see anyone in this thread, have similar issues.
if you hung the panel and only installed 3 screws, and it took me 5 hours to fit just one. how much time, and what did you do to correct the fit?
hanging a panel and putting in three screw takes 20 minutes.. what else did you do to make them fit. how much time did you invest.. Sorry.. I just have lots of questions that you don't have to answer... I already know the answer...
If you would actually read my posts, you would know that my body guy spent a good amount of time working on the passenger side to get it to fit (even after close to day's work it's still not perfect). Before I had him proceed any further I asked that he test fit the driver's side to see if we were in for the same amount of work because honestly we were both a little surprised that these required so much time to make right. Having no experience with these fenders, I took to the forum to find out if this is the norm. If this truly is an isolated case, then it really sounds to me like I received a bad set of fenders from Corvette Creationz.
ET, please find another thread for your unconstructive, argumentative posts (maybe in the OT section). You've muddied up this thread enough. Thanks!
I would contact Pete and see if he would get another set out to you. May have just recieved a set that squeaked by quality control. Hope you get things straightened out. I have a set of the carbon ZR fenders and will need work on the headlight corner gaps and door line seams. Bought them from another member that only had them for a few months so I have to make the adjusments. Can't complain, got them at a fraction of what they would have cost new.
I would contact Pete and see if he would get another set out to you. May have just recieved a set that squeaked by quality control. Hope you get things straightened out. I have a set of the carbon ZR fenders and will need work on the headlight corner gaps and door line seams. Bought them from another member that only had them for a few months so I have to make the adjusments. Can't complain, got them at a fraction of what they would have cost new.
Yep, have a conversation going with Pete now. Those are cool fenders, would love to see them when done!
OK, here are a few more pics for those who are interested:
In this one, you can see that the fender is secured tightly at the front:
But it is not flush with the door:
Also, the bottom front edge warps away from the body:
At the rear, notice that the gap between the fascia and the hatch lid is pulled very tight (maybe 1/16") but the fender still doesn't meet up. The fender can't be adjusted rearward without opening up the gap at the door. It looks like it will need to be built up 1/4" to give a proper 3/16" gap between the lid and fascia:
As mentioned before, the passenger fender had the same issues but not quite as bad as this one. Keep in mind it will probably need another 4-5 hours of work to make it perfect and ready for paint, but here's what it's looking like now:
No updates yet, unfortunately. Still waiting to hear back from the vendor about possibly getting a new driver's side fender shipped to me. Hopefully will have it soon so I can get this project finished!
My L5's took an act of god (with a great body shop) to get to fit properly...and some sets seem to be better than others from L5, Carbon Creations, etc.
I believe I spent more to fit and paint the fenders, than I spent on the fenders themselves. (wrapped into a lot of work I had done)
If I knew they'd take so much work/$$ to fit, I might not have done it. However, in the end, I'm happy with the result.
My Carbon Creations hood, side skirts, and front splitter all took a TON of work as well. Some pieces were pretty terrible and took a lot of work to fit/look right.
My L5's took an act of god (with a great body shop) to get to fit properly...and some sets seem to be better than others from L5, Carbon Creations, etc.
I believe I spent more to fit and paint the fenders, than I spent on the fenders themselves. (wrapped into a lot of work I had done)
If I knew they'd take so much work/$$ to fit, I might not have done it. However, in the end, I'm happy with the result.
My Carbon Creations hood, side skirts, and front splitter all took a TON of work as well. Some pieces were pretty terrible and took a lot of work to fit/look right.
Lol, it's looking like I will be spending quite a bit more than the fenders themselves to get them to fit, too. The vendor is sending me a new driver's side, so hopefully it fits better.
Lol, it's looking like I will be spending quite a bit more than the fenders themselves to get them to fit, too. The vendor is sending me a new driver's side, so hopefully it fits better.
I wish I lived closer.. I love a challenge.
Good luck with the new quarter.. Sorry for all the grief... the end result will be worth the effort.
Bill aka ET
Yep typical crappy fitting corvette creationz parts/pieces. Glad to see nothing has changed. There's a laundry list a mile long of these issues yet people still continue to buy the parts...makes no sense.
Hope you get them squared up but I wouldn't hold your breath.
After reading this thread and other wide body threads I have decided to abandon my dream of a wide body mod. It seems ALL of the vendors are selling a shoddy product. Frankly all I see is pure junk that's going to cost $4K in the end. I understand the corvette tax but paying that amount for quarter panels is beyond stupid.
After reading this thread and other wide body threads I have decided to abandon my dream of a wide body mod. It seems ALL of the vendors are selling a shoddy product. Frankly all I see is pure junk that's going to cost $4K in the end. I understand the corvette tax but paying that amount for quarter panels is beyond stupid.
All the cars on this forum with flares are pure Junk? The most beautiful C5 in the country are on this forum and most of them have flares and they came from one of these three vendors.. Pure junk indeed. FRANKLY, lets face It, you expect to pay 500 dollars and they should bolt right on.. factory quarter panels are 1200 dollars. And that is from a high production SMC automated GM molding system. They also have to be individually fitted and shimmed.
You should not look at a 1500/2000 mod and expect to pay 500 dollars.. 13 years ago, I bought a carbon fiber hood. The absolute best C5 hood on the planet. Between the cost of the hood and shipping and paint it was 2000.00 and that was thirteen years ago.. I could sell it today for the same amount and have a dozen people fighting to get it.
My Carbon fiber fenders completely installed cost me less than one thousand dollars that's fenders shipping and paint.. and I'm no body man. 12 hours of my time. That's the real reality..
All the cars on this forum with flares are pure Junk? The most beautiful C5 in the country are on this forum and most of them have flares and they came from one of these three vendors.. Pure junk indeed. FRANKLY, lets face It, you expect to pay 500 dollars and they should bolt right on.. factory quarter panels are 1200 dollars. And that is from a high production SMC automated GM molding system. They also have to be individually fitted and shimmed.
You should not look at a 1500/2000 mod and expect to pay 500 dollars.. 13 years ago, I bought a carbon fiber hood. The absolute best C5 hood on the planet. Between the cost of the hood and shipping and paint it was 2000.00 and that was thirteen years ago.. I could sell it today for the same amount and have a dozen people fighting to get it.
My Carbon fiber fenders completely installed cost me less than one thousand dollars that's fenders shipping and paint.. and I'm no body man. 12 hours of my time. That's the real reality..
Pure junk indeed.
I stand by my statement be cause these examples of beautiful cars did not have any example of a fare that was worth a sh#t when it was bought. They ALL required extensive work to put them on and that's my point. Maybe you enjoy mediocrity in your life but I expect more. Yes pure junk indeed and that's a fact.
He was referring to the fenders themselves, not the cars that have them. Of course you didn't understand the statement and took it in a completely different direction. Of course the cars with them look great.
I will stand by his comments as well. To put that much time into a product to fit is retarded. For all these posts talking about how much time put into them is the reason why I won't buy any. And I can do body work.
You said you put 12 additional hours to fit your fenders. For those that don't have your abilities, and need a body shop to do it for them, that could be another 1200.00 in cost. So that would put the costs at 2100.00 just to get the fenders to fit.
Not to mention those wanting to leave it carbon fiber and not paint them. How do they get them to fit with out having to redo the carbon fiber?
Wonder if GM would have just dumped 12 hours into getting fenders to fit, or told the manufacturer to get their act together? You were on that team. I'm sure you would know that answer.
These vendors will continue to put out subpar products, so long as people will accept them.
Who knows, maybe the molds have shifted over the years. They won't know this until people start giving feedback
And looks like carbon creations took the input well and is sending another drivers fender. I applaud them for it.
It is not my intent to imply that one flared fender is better than another. Only my experience, opinion regarding the TPE T2's.... they fit VERY well right out of the box. I am NOT a body man, paint guy... But these were as close to a "bolt on" fender as you can get. You get what you pay for and for me, the TPE's were money well spent. Good luck to the OP.... sounds like you have some great help and will surely tackle this job. Keep us posted...
It is not my intent to imply that one flared fender is better than another. Only my experience, opinion regarding the TPE T2's.... they fit VERY well right out of the box. I am NOT a body man, paint guy... But these were as close to a "bolt on" fender as you can get. You get what you pay for and for me, the TPE's were money well spent. Good luck to the OP.... sounds like you have some great help and will surely tackle this job. Keep us posted...
Great looking!..Can you please post some more shots of the hood? What kind is it?
Thanks
12-01-2014, 01:27 AM
I believe I've mentioned several times in this thread that an auto body professional is helping with these. He does this stuff for a living and I trust that he knows what he is doing. I'm also confident that these fenders can be used, and only posted this thread because I was surprised that it was going to take so much time to make them fit correctly.
Those are cool fenders, would love to see them when done!
