ALPINA 2002 update ..... (front wings)

[Guest Anonymous]

I unexpected found myself with some spare time as of late (don't ask) so I decided to dig in and make some progress on the ALPINA front fenders/wings. I had essentially made the RF probably 6-8 months ago, of course prior to gettiing all the factory photographs of the car from ALPINA AND before having the suspension more or less permenantly installed (or at least having it set up). Of course after receiving the photo's and having the time to study them I was able to pick up all the little nuances that I had misssed. The problem is that foam is easy to work with when it is still foam, once its coated the shape is essentially locked in. Basically what I have done here is take two used OE steel fenders, I then cut a substantial amount of material away from the wheel arch, then basically build a "bathtub" (vertical formwork) around the perimeter of the fender, the fill the bathtub with 2lb expanding foam. After the foam expands and sets, it essentially gets carved/trimmed to rough shape, then with a sure form/sand paper taken to the final shape. Best tool for the carving I found to be my wife's very sharp cutco serrated bread knife (ask the end of my thumb and the two or three stitches I should have taken how sharp the f'ing thing is). Once you have the final shape it is then coated with polyester finishing resin and micro-spheres-this basically makes a hard shell out of the exterior layer of the foam. From there, that layer is sanded then everything is coated with filler (bondo) and sanded to the final perfect shape. At that point once its primed and painted then it is the male plug to make the mold off of. Its a hell of a lot of work. I still have a bunch of work to do on both the RF as well as the LF that is still in foam before I lock in the shape. I have to say that I am really happy with where they are so far and am pretty confident that they will be about as close to what was as possible. My plan is to get these finished get the molds made and then the parts (fenders) made before I start to tackle the rears.

Factory photo-

Frontal-

Right Front-

Right Front-

Left Front (in foam)-

Left Front (in foam)-

[Mike_R]

Wow that is some real art work!

That is going to be so nice.

[madjurgen]

Ive asked you before but youve never responded. Do you plan on giving the molds to a shop to lay the fenders for you or are you going to do that yourself as well? If the former applies, would you consider allowing the shop to make fenders for others?

[Guest Anonymous]

I haven't decided what I am going to do on that yet. I may do the molds myself and then have the part made by someone else. My original intention was to take the plug to +95% complete, then have someone do the finishing touches to the plug, then make the molds and then the part(s). I really need to see how good the part comes out first. It might be that I could end up making up a few sets, really just haven't crossed that bridge.

[www.bmw2002.co.uk]

Don't forget I want this as a COTM please. Richard.

[beast02er]

Mark, looks like you are shaping spray insulation foam (great stuff), is this right? You can source a higher density, composite type application foam from places like fiberlay, tap plastics etc.

How is the process going? How are you handing contour matching from side to side? that is the tough part!!!

Bryan

red73

[Guest Anonymous]

Mark, looks like you are shaping spray insulation foam (great stuff), is this right? You can source a higher density, composite type application foam from places like fiberlay, tap plastics etc.

How is the process going? How are you handing contour matching from side to side? that is the tough part!!!

Bryan

red73

The "spray" foam insulation stuff doesn't work, I experimented with a can of that before I started - not rigid enough. I am using Tap Plastics 2lb (2-part) expanding foam-its pretty easy to shape/carve, not brutally expensive and so far is working out well. Matching from side to side is really hard and as I mentioned above I made the mistake of sealing the RF with the resin/micro-spheres so making changes is much more difficult. Right now there are parts of each that are correct but neither one 100% right. Actually one of the biggest PIA's is with the ride height set the car is about 2.25" off the ground and my "sears" floor jack starts off at about 3.5" or so - so I have had to be very creative just to jack the freaking think up.

[dubois]

looks like a lot of work, very rewarding though... one panel at a time, there is a finite number, one day you will wake up and say: done!

[Guest Anonymous]

that you told me (you may not) that when you have a monster project like this to take bites at it otherwise it is easy to get side tracked where you get bits and pieces completed but because you never finish a task completely you dont feel like you get anything really done (if that makes sense). So with that in mind I have been applying it to my project. Because it has been so freaking hot in the SFBay Area this week (fiberglass/resin/foam particles on sweaty skin sucks), I spent time stripping the countless layers of paint off the hood, 2x2 section, by 2x2 section and so on, about 75% done at this point. By the end of this weekend I expect to have both of the fenders (plug mold) pretty much wrapped up - in terms of final shape with essentially just the detail sanding / priming and painting left to do.