Royalworks 77 280 Z widebody
 

This is a project we have going on the side currently, it is going to be a completely custom car. It is a 77 280 z datsun that plans are, getting the whole body widened 5 inches, flush mounted glass, custom quarter glass made, delete bumpers, extend tail pain, make our own body lines in the tail pan, custom rear lights, custom cowl hood, corvette style door handles, and im sure more

the start of the cutting and widening each side out 2.5 inches.

http://i953.photobucket.com/albums/a.../kodak0025.jpg
http://i953.photobucket.com/albums/a.../kodak0024.jpg
http://i953.photobucket.com/albums/a.../kodak0023.jpg
http://i953.photobucket.com/albums/a...Z/CIMG3318.jpg
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http://i953.photobucket.com/albums/a...Z/CIMG3320.jpg
http://i953.photobucket.com/albums/a...Z/CIMG3321.jpg
http://i953.photobucket.com/albums/a...Z/CIMG3322.jpg
http://i953.photobucket.com/albums/a...Z/CIMG3323.jpg

this is to give us an idea where/how everything will sit so we can start adjusting the panels and do more cutting and moving

This looks like a fun one to watch :thumbsup:

Great project! Good to see people thinking outside the box, these little cars have so much potential!

Very cool!

How do you plan to widen the door frames? I was thinking you might use a second set of doors?

Shiny Side Up!
Bill

that car is going to look like a Ferrari. Always though these cars were too narrow to begin with. Nice work so far, looking forward to more pictures.

Very excited to watch this build progress. Should be awesome!

Different, cool.

You may need to relocate the door hinges outward the same amount that you widened the doors. The arc that the door needs to swing (if you don't move the hinges) might be too great for the door-to-fender clearance. Let us know how it works out!

Looks like a fun project. Keep the pic coming!


--Eric

This should be a great build. Do you have a rendering that you are going to follow?

As far as the hinges go I won't need to move them. I just cut the door shell before the hinges. It does go in father since the distance is greater for the skin to swing in. The only part it hits is the fender brace that also acts as the dust shield. Cut that out and make a new one. Problem solved. Widening a car this way also makes the car longer. I have a lot of different ideas I want. I showed them to Ben Hermance a while ago. When I get the body closer I'll have a rendering done with all the details. I've worked with Ben quite a bit. I have also worked with Sean Smith once.

Johnny

YES!!! Love these body styles.

That is interesting project.I had a customer come in recently ,he wants to widen old Mini Cooper ,but literally cutting it in half to widen it.I was just wondering why widen rear same as front and not more in the rear?

Because when it is done it will still have most of the factory look and be really "clean" looking. And with doing this we can still fit atleast a 10 inch wheel without modding anything or mini tub. I dont think we need a whole lot more. But one thing, dont go down the middle unless you want to pay more and deal with more trouble because then you are looking at new glass and everything inside the car being changed. Find a good body line or flat spot to follow

I saw this car at a recent private track day I attended
 

Someone still makes the wide body stuff in glass, but I cannot for the life of me remember who he said. This car has an LS6. Good luck on your project!

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/...g/18099072.jpg

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/...g/18099074.jpg

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/...g/18099073.jpg

^ I like that

You were correct with relocating the hinges out. I put on the fender and it definitely rubs. [/B]

Yeah I just found this out the hard way too. I kind of anticipated it but after some discussion on another thread figured I could get away with it. And you could if you were cheesy but now I need to go back in and space the door hinges out after all.

Widening cars is the new trend. I am doing mine because I too have never really liked the giant fender flare thing. I tried hard for many years but it just always looked ludicrous even going with a race car vibe. Some cars work well to "bubble" ie "coke bottle" the car but my vehicle, '67 Mustang, has too many straight body character lines I don't want to bubble it. Its amazing how much just 2" on each side helps cover the tire. One nice thing about those straight lines though is that it definitely has a nice flat spot along the top fo the doors you can barely tell its widened. I was surprised how easy it was really to split the doors. Yeah a lot of work but didn't take me that long.

[QUOTE=Payton King;420772]Someone still makes the wide body stuff in glass, but I cannot for the life of me remember who he said. This car has an LS6. Good luck on your project!

That body kit looks like it could have come from these guys:

http://www.zccjdm.com/catalog.php/az...SE_TO_FENDERS_

However, there are others.

Hood Update

body update

BTW I know the top of the fender is off. I put tabs on all the panels to align them and when I cut them off the fender popped up. I kinda expected something to happen like that. The biggest thing with it right now is fixing the hinges.

No problem..... I was just trying to help out before you got too far into it.

The project is really coming along!



--Eric

I had a 76 Z for several years and always wanted to drop in an LS and do the YZ body kit. One of my riding buddies in the bay did the YZ on his 240 and it came out awesome. The way you're doing it should look a lot more like a street car. I'm looking forward to following your progress. :thumbsup:

We are getting a rendering do for this car. In the mean time here are more pictures.

The green tape around the back hatch is where new glass is going. No more frame for the window. I think I have the windshield picked out I need to use. Just gotta make some templates of the hatch and try them on the glass. If it is close then its time to cut it to size and fit the roof or whatever slight difference curve there will be. I just go around to dealerships and check the curves and lengths of glass. Its the easiest and fastest way.

I shaved the drip rail already. The only frame that will be on the seen is the drivers window which will be painted black. If i had my way I would find a way to get rid of the frame completely. The new quarter glass will go right up to the the door window frames. Those will be cut out of a windshield too.

I like the rear glass idea. Will it still be a hatch back design or...?

Yes. It will still function just like before just all glass. I got the idea from my buddies RSX in the shop. The glass seam to the hatch will be covered by the spoiler.

Sorry its so messy everywhere. We have yet to build our office and storage area and we moved two months ago. All the parts are in a few cars we dont have racks for yet.

:thumbsup: Sounds even better.

Im hoping it looks like a brand new car when its done and super sleek. When i shaved the drip rails it made the cabin look even skinner which made the sides wider as well. I can't wait for this one. :)

The windshield challenge intrigues me. I was in auto glass for many many years.

Is this a large challenge on a job like this?

What model car/truck would withstand the same curvature, or what car will the shield be coming out of?

Good stuff...

The sidelites and back glass aren't such a challenge ( there flatter and easier to cut/grind/polish/install/trim, also to clarify, you can only do this to laminated glass, tempered has to have all fabrication done to it before its tempered) . But not the shield...

Sorry i didnt clarify. For the front windshield im just adding metal around the channel to bring the gaps closer. Stock windsheild. As for the quarter glass and rear hatch glass im using different windshields out of other cars. The RSX windshield almost worked except it was to short. Had the same curve both ways. Oh well. Im sure a honda fit or a honda civic one will work. They are quite long. I know about the tempering. Once they get a nick the implode...

Had a little time to do some work today. Lots more left on the rear part and welding. It was fun working on it. Nobody in the shop and all I did was work.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8381/8...713e1a78_c.jpg
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That rear valence looks very good!

I actually think i might raise the rear valence up because i think there is to much dead space between the lights and that first body line. I wanna keep the wheel well opening at its lowest point where it sits now. I know its gonna bother me if i don't change it.

nice skills

The engine bay. Its now time to build the engine covers and intake. Gonna be fun. More has been done to the rear of the car but Ill save that till later. A lot is going to happen in the next few months.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.n...20282938_n.jpg

Any updates on this project?

Actually yes. I'll post up some more pics of what I have done. It took a back seat for a while but were getting back at it.

Whoa, that was fast! Awesome, can't wait!

I get notified when someone posts on here. ;)