where to get info for installing front fenders
10-12-2008, 04:06 PM
#1
where to get info for installing front fenders
I already shearched, this section and could not find how to take the front feft and right fenders out so I can install the G Spec braces behind it. Can some one please give me a link.
thank you in advance
thank you in advance
10-13-2008, 10:26 AM
#2
I haven't done it yet, but given how much of the Z I've already taken apart, this is my guess:
- Remove 2 bolts that attach fender to front bumper (I believe it's 2)
- Remove fender bolts located under hood
- Get long socket extension and open door and remove bolts (may want to tape off sheetmetal on either side)
10-13-2008, 10:47 AM
#4
It wouldn't surprise me if the front bumper had to come off, but that's an easy task. I'll be installing the fender braces in the next few weeks and should be able to provide you with more info whenever I get the time to do so.
Subb'd.
Subb'd.
Last edited by Done Deal DR; 10-13-2008 at 10:53 AM.
11-02-2008, 12:09 PM
#6
DIY GT Spec Fender Braces Install
Roadster,
Here's somewhat of a DIY for installing the GT Spec fender braces. I completed the install yesterday, and it is a bit more involved than I thought it would be. The front bumper does indeed have to come off, but that is the least of your worries. Proceed carefully. Sorry for the squares that look like they were drawn by a 4 year old, Photobucket apparently doesn't have a square tool.
Install took roughly 6 hours.
My estimations of this project:
Degree of Difficulty - 6/10
Frustration involved with putting bolts in - 8/10
Tools Required:
On to the work required and pictures:
1.) Start off by jacking the car up. Get it up on jack stands. If your car isn't lowered, you may not have to do this if you can complete step 2 without your car lifted.
2.) Remove the under diffuser. If you change your own oil, this surely doesn't need a picture.
3.) Remove the 4 clips on the front bumper, under the hood. Use a flathead screwdriver or something similar. Duh.
4.) Remove the 10 MM bolts holding the front bumper on each side. I believe there is two on each side.
You should now be able to remove the front bumper.
5.) Remove the brake fluid and battery covers by removing all of the plastic clips with a flathead screwdriver or something similar.
6.) Remove the bolts that hold the fender in place with a 10 MM socket, and a 12 MM socket on the 2 bolts that hold both the fender and headlight in place.
7.) Pop the door open, and use a 10 MM wrench to take off the bolt holding the fender in place.
8.) Get below the car and remove 6 (I believe) 10 MM bolts holding the rocker panel/side skirts in place.
9.) Remove the screws on each side of the rocker panels using a phillips screwdriver.
10.)
CAREFULLY pull on the rocker panel outwards to pop out the clips that hold the rocker panel in place. Try to keep your hands as close as possible to the next clip and gently pull. I managed to remove all of them and not break any. 
I started in the back and popped out 2, then moved to the front and worked my way back. I think there is a total of maybe 6 or 7 on each side.
11.) Once you have removed the rocker panels, you can clearly see the last 2 bolts holding the fender in place. Remove these with a 10 MM socket.
12.) At this point, you should have a bare, torn down car with no fluid/battery covers, front bumper, fenders, or rocker panels. If you still have one or more of the above, you missed a step.
This is where things get a bit more interesting. Loosen and remove the 4 bolts that hold the door, YES, THE DOOR, in place. This is where your friend and bribery beer comes into play. 
You will need your friend to hold the door in place, lifting upwards and applying a gentle but constant inwards force on the door, trying to keep it in place.
13.) As soon as you have the bolts out and your friend is griping about holding the door in place, quickly swap the GT Spec fender braces in and use the included (cheap *** bolts!
) in place. I managed to break one of the supplied GT Spec supplied bolts when I was torquing it at maybe around 45-50 foot pounds during a later step. I used one of the factory door bolts in its place and it seemed to do the job just fine. Once you have the 4 12 MM bolts in place and torqued down, test your work by opening and closing the door. If the door doesn't close properly, you will need to loosen the 4 bolts, have your friend work HARDER on lifting the door, again bribe with the promise of more beer, and re-torque the 12 MM bolts back down. Test again and repeat as necessary. My passenger side was factory perfect, and the driver side took a couple of adjustments to get it to close perfectly. Don't skimp on this part, you don't want to close your door for the following years and not have it be perfect and have to completely tear the car down again just to adjust the door. It's a pain in the ***, just do it right the first time.
14.) Installing the braces will require that you break a clip on each side that holds hoses in place. On the passenger side I zip tied the hoses so they wouldn't fall into contact with the tire. The driver side was fine.
15.) Break out the drill!!!
This is what was left of my bit.
16.) I didn't know I was going to be doing this step when I purchased these braces, however you need to drill through the unibody at 2 locations on each side, and you need to widen the holes on the top right box shown below. I don't believe there is anything inside the unibody chassis as all the lines are run outside of it. Drill away until your heart is content.
If it doesn't, you missed a step... or you don't own a PPW.
18.) Reinstall the body panels in reverse order, duh. Steps 11 through 1.
Hopefully this is helpful. If you don't feel comfortable drilling into your chassis this may not be the mod for you. After I had the braces installed, I took a quick spin around the neighborhood, mostly obeying posted speed limits.
My car is still torn down, waiting for some parts, so I really haven't had a good opportunity to test these at highway speeds and mountain runs, but I will say that car felt more solid with these installed. Since all of the body panels are still removed, please let me know if you need pictures of anything else. I will update the thread once I have had more time with them and can give a better assessment. If you're like me, you'll enjoy tearing the car down as you get to know the car better with each piece you uninstall. This definitely wasn't the first time I've taken the front bumper off, but it was the first time I've taken off the fenders and side skirts. The Z looks pretty funny rolling down the road in torn down status...but thats what being a car guy is all about. 
Here's somewhat of a DIY for installing the GT Spec fender braces. I completed the install yesterday, and it is a bit more involved than I thought it would be. The front bumper does indeed have to come off, but that is the least of your worries. Proceed carefully. Sorry for the squares that look like they were drawn by a 4 year old, Photobucket apparently doesn't have a square tool.
Install took roughly 6 hours.
My estimations of this project:
Degree of Difficulty - 6/10
Frustration involved with putting bolts in - 8/10
Tools Required:
- Flathead Screwdriver
- Phillips Screwdriver
- Drill
- Nice bits
- Rachet
- 10 MM socket
- 12 MM socket
- 10 MM wrench
- Jack
- Friend
- Beer (I guess optional
) - Sack of *****
On to the work required and pictures:
1.) Start off by jacking the car up. Get it up on jack stands. If your car isn't lowered, you may not have to do this if you can complete step 2 without your car lifted.
2.) Remove the under diffuser. If you change your own oil, this surely doesn't need a picture.
3.) Remove the 4 clips on the front bumper, under the hood. Use a flathead screwdriver or something similar. Duh.
4.) Remove the 10 MM bolts holding the front bumper on each side. I believe there is two on each side.
You should now be able to remove the front bumper.
5.) Remove the brake fluid and battery covers by removing all of the plastic clips with a flathead screwdriver or something similar.
6.) Remove the bolts that hold the fender in place with a 10 MM socket, and a 12 MM socket on the 2 bolts that hold both the fender and headlight in place.
7.) Pop the door open, and use a 10 MM wrench to take off the bolt holding the fender in place.
8.) Get below the car and remove 6 (I believe) 10 MM bolts holding the rocker panel/side skirts in place.
9.) Remove the screws on each side of the rocker panels using a phillips screwdriver.
10.)
CAREFULLY pull on the rocker panel outwards to pop out the clips that hold the rocker panel in place. Try to keep your hands as close as possible to the next clip and gently pull. I managed to remove all of them and not break any. I started in the back and popped out 2, then moved to the front and worked my way back. I think there is a total of maybe 6 or 7 on each side.11.) Once you have removed the rocker panels, you can clearly see the last 2 bolts holding the fender in place. Remove these with a 10 MM socket.
12.) At this point, you should have a bare, torn down car with no fluid/battery covers, front bumper, fenders, or rocker panels. If you still have one or more of the above, you missed a step.
This is where things get a bit more interesting. Loosen and remove the 4 bolts that hold the door, YES, THE DOOR, in place. This is where your friend and bribery beer comes into play. You will need your friend to hold the door in place, lifting upwards and applying a gentle but constant inwards force on the door, trying to keep it in place.13.) As soon as you have the bolts out and your friend is griping about holding the door in place, quickly swap the GT Spec fender braces in and use the included (cheap *** bolts!
) in place. I managed to break one of the supplied GT Spec supplied bolts when I was torquing it at maybe around 45-50 foot pounds during a later step. I used one of the factory door bolts in its place and it seemed to do the job just fine. Once you have the 4 12 MM bolts in place and torqued down, test your work by opening and closing the door. If the door doesn't close properly, you will need to loosen the 4 bolts, have your friend work HARDER on lifting the door, again bribe with the promise of more beer, and re-torque the 12 MM bolts back down. Test again and repeat as necessary. My passenger side was factory perfect, and the driver side took a couple of adjustments to get it to close perfectly. Don't skimp on this part, you don't want to close your door for the following years and not have it be perfect and have to completely tear the car down again just to adjust the door. It's a pain in the ***, just do it right the first time.14.) Installing the braces will require that you break a clip on each side that holds hoses in place. On the passenger side I zip tied the hoses so they wouldn't fall into contact with the tire. The driver side was fine.
15.) Break out the drill!!!
This is what was left of my bit.
16.) I didn't know I was going to be doing this step when I purchased these braces, however you need to drill through the unibody at 2 locations on each side, and you need to widen the holes on the top right box shown below. I don't believe there is anything inside the unibody chassis as all the lines are run outside of it. Drill away until your heart is content.
This step took the majority of the time, so I'll try to expand on exactly what was required. If you look at what is supplied, they include 4 nuts with metal brackets connected. When I was first looking at these, I had no clue why they were like that. Once you have completed step 13, you will definitely understand why they are designed the way they are. To drill through the chassis, I started with a smaller bit to get a pilot hole in place for the large bit that is shown in step 15. The bottom right red square has a preexisting hole (that of course doesn't line up to the GT Spec brace hole (
), which can make it sort of a pain to drill the hole that you need to get the bolt through. I have a Dewalt drill (shown in step 15) and luckily I had 2 batteries. I probably swapped batteries 10-15 times, at least, during the course of drilling these holes. An air compressor would have been AWWWESOME during this step. If you have one, I envy you. Lock your garage. 
You will basically have to drill, try to fit the bolt and nut, fail, then drill out more of the chassis, test fit, again...again...and unfortunately again. 
You use the nut with attached angled bracket to go through the factory holes in the unibody on the far left (no red square), and top right. As you do that, you try to line it up to the bolt you are putting through the holes you drilled on the top left red square and bottom right. This was a very frustrating process, if you have a better drill or bits, it may be easier, I really don't know. It was just a lot of going back, drilling more and more metal out of the unibody chassis, and trying the bolt and nuts again. This is the step where I broke one of the supplied GT Spec bolts. Best of luck, don't forget the beer!
17.) Once you have completed step 16, your car should look like this:), which can make it sort of a pain to drill the hole that you need to get the bolt through. I have a Dewalt drill (shown in step 15) and luckily I had 2 batteries. I probably swapped batteries 10-15 times, at least, during the course of drilling these holes. An air compressor would have been AWWWESOME during this step. If you have one, I envy you. Lock your garage. You will basically have to drill, try to fit the bolt and nut, fail, then drill out more of the chassis, test fit, again...again...and unfortunately again. You use the nut with attached angled bracket to go through the factory holes in the unibody on the far left (no red square), and top right. As you do that, you try to line it up to the bolt you are putting through the holes you drilled on the top left red square and bottom right. This was a very frustrating process, if you have a better drill or bits, it may be easier, I really don't know. It was just a lot of going back, drilling more and more metal out of the unibody chassis, and trying the bolt and nuts again. This is the step where I broke one of the supplied GT Spec bolts. Best of luck, don't forget the beer! If it doesn't, you missed a step...
or you don't own a PPW. 18.) Reinstall the body panels in reverse order, duh. Steps 11 through 1.
Hopefully this is helpful. If you don't feel comfortable drilling into your chassis this may not be the mod for you. After I had the braces installed, I took a quick spin around the neighborhood, mostly obeying posted speed limits.
My car is still torn down, waiting for some parts, so I really haven't had a good opportunity to test these at highway speeds and mountain runs, but I will say that car felt more solid with these installed. Since all of the body panels are still removed, please let me know if you need pictures of anything else. I will update the thread once I have had more time with them and can give a better assessment. If you're like me, you'll enjoy tearing the car down as you get to know the car better with each piece you uninstall. This definitely wasn't the first time I've taken the front bumper off, but it was the first time I've taken off the fenders and side skirts. The Z looks pretty funny rolling down the road in torn down status...but thats what being a car guy is all about.
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