Going widebody

[Paul Woods]

well ive made a big decision,ive got to increase lilys rear track width by 2" each side,thats moving the struts outboard and also the suspension brackets so that i have sufficient room for this V8 engine.

Now in doing that it would mean 2" extensions on top of my already humungous 3" rear arches and i just think its going to look too "archy".

Months ago driftin posted up his sketches of a widebody plan and i immediately loved the idea...after all TRD made a widebody for the mk2 so why shouldnt we have a similar styled idea for the mk1?

So ive started thinking this is the way to go to house my big fat rims rather than pushing the arches out even further.To add it will give me some pretty cool air intakes into the engine bay for cooling and induction,just what a V8 needs.

I have been working on some mock up drawings,last time i did this the finished car ended up looking remarkably similar to the sketches,i tend to design something in paintshop and then make it happen on the car,that way you get to play about on paint until you are happy with the look.

So here are my first rough drafts...honest opinions please,or ideas on how to improve it welcomed,or if you think the fat arches design is better?

Doing it this way will also mean extensions to both front and rear bumpers which is fairly easy and moving the rear lights outboard as well so that it looks correct and not some bodykit glued on the side.

Note the rear spoiler in the first pic has also been extended but i probably wont go with this spoiler idea...





Also ignore the exhaust system,adam has suggested a nice 4 tail exit jobbie for the V8 which sounds spot on.

What do you think fellas,go for this design or not?

[Gary Symons]

Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it!

:thumbsup:

[GaryA]

I think that looks spot on ! Mind you when i see an old Audi quattro or escort cossie i go all misty eyed . Arches = power - do it

[Jiff Lemon]

Although might I suggest some vents in the back near the lights a la Renault 5 turbo 2?

Not too sure on the front though - Integrale style arches perhaps?

[Paul Woods]

vents in the back,thats something i hadnt considered,that would work well for getting rid of v8 heat. :thumbsup:

The front wings are a direct copy of the mk2 TRD style,not sure if it works,i think from certain angles it would look awesome and from others crap if you know what i mean.

[adamh]

i think the front and the rear look excellent. i think other points on the picture are failing to show it off. like the dim rear alloy compared to bright front, the lack of paint job lol obviously. the rear wheel looks smaller somehow in comparison to the front. the front looks great flat albeit a little curve, i think the rear looks a little too flat and perhaps a little convex effect (tiny!) might set it off better. maybe its just the angle of the shots that make the wheel look smaller.

all in all though, a good base to work from and the front is now my fav :mrgreen: with the flat almost standard arches pushed out :drool:

[Jiff Lemon]

The infamous tubby 2 - Front wings were a tad wider than the standard car, but looked almost the same;

Also, you could borrow the fuel filler cap idea and get it back into the top of the wing!

[Paul Woods]

lol now that you mention it mate the rear wheel does look very small in that pic! must be the colour of it?

[Paul Woods]

ah no need to worry about the fuel filler cap jiffster...

[adamh]

ah!... but when you look at the back from the rear they look well. and when you look at the rear from the rear it looks well too, and looking at thr front from the fornt looks well!. i guess it looks good to me!
cannot decide on the spoliers, the shorter one looks ace from the front, and the wide one looks great from the rear :banghead: