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Hello, welcome all! This will be my official thread for everything I do in order to install the widebody kit, paint, ect. I plan to go really in depth on every method and product I use, just in the case someone would like to replicate on to their own 63. So first things first, I'll start by showing some of the kit and how it looks right out of the box!
Have two other cars to finish before I can seriously start on the widebody build but I couldn't help myself and just wanted to get a taste for what I've gotten myself into. Started by disassembling the front end and side skirts.
Attempted to mock up the front fenders in order to properly align the front bumper and quickly found out that the kit does not fit without some massaging. Which was expected from an all fiberglass kit. In order to get the bottom of the fenders to become flush with the door, i had to take out the two frame mounted bolts that secure the bottom portion of the fenders. The factory bolts hold the darwin fenders about an inch off the door which will absolutely not work. Will most likely end up using some different hardware with spacers/catches in order to get the depth needed. Least of my worries at this point. The door/fender gaps leave much to be desired and will definitely require some fiberglass filler and some elbow grease to achieve perfect fitment. As far as the front bumper goes.... I've decided to try and use the factory bumper guts and bond them to the darwin front bumper. There are absolutely zero mounting points/brackets to mount the darwin bumper. The bumper also comes with some abnormally large fiberglass tabs that extend off the bumper thay i can only assume has no purpose besides helping pull the bumper from the mold. With that being said, I cut them off because they interfered with my transferring guts plan. I had to trim the factory innards in order to compensate/clear the massive air vents on the darwin front bumper. I believe this method will be the best for achieving proper fitment but need to do a bit more before im fully convinced.
2012 P31 C63 Coupe Trackrat, 2019 GLE63S Coupe Beast
That’s exactly what I did for my Liberty Walk front bumper. Take that entire scaffolding out and attach to the new bumper skin with copious amounts of silicone adhesive and rivets. Came out great, fits like a glove. I also didn’t see any other way to do it so you’re on the right track.
Subbing for updates.
It looks like the front bumper doesn't have the hole for the orange side lights. I think you'll need resistors to prevent any errors from showing up, but that seems a common mod for people.
Can I ask your plans for the wheel arch liners? Will the OEM black series fit, is that your plan, or are you just going to mod something else in place?
Also, I'm trying to figure out about the DRL area. I see now you're PFL, so your fog lights are totally out, but the sales pics (seen here) have people add the FL's DRL back in?
This is, to me, the strangest part of the kit. I'm not sure whether I'd add in the DRL's or find a better way to mimic the black series grill, as seen here.
What are you planning?
@BHimself i haven't yet decided whether to do the DRLs up front or not. I think they look good but I kinda prefer the simplicity of not having them. Will put resistors on all the lights and such as I hate seeing the warning messages in my cluster. As far as the fender liners go I've already sourced a set of OEM blackseries liners that I want to try and see if they fit. If they don't, ill either trim them or make some custom liners. I'll probably add additional coolers up front so ill tackle the additional trim pieces for that when the time comes. Thanks for chiming in!
@Adi-Benz when I bought the car, the initial plan was to resell it...as you can see I couldn't come to terms with that lol. I rewired the harness to switch from bi-xenon over to halogens for the updated headlight look. I will be switching to facelift headlights before the build is complete. Never had any faults or issues. Ill do a write up of how its done when the time comes!
@Adi-Benz The plan is to order the "plexi-glass" see-through hood Darwin offers. It's a bit much/gaudy but I want to be able to tie in the bronze engine with the bronze accents I will be adding to the rest of the exterior. If it looks too much I can always just swap to a 507 lookalike.
Sorry guys, the reason why there hasn't been an update is because...there's no update to give. Car is in same stage as it was months ago. I said I needed to finish up a few other cars before I really poured it all into this one. I guess an update would be that I am done with the BMW I was working on and I have a bit left to do on my other W204. After those are complete and out of the way it will be full steam ahead on the 63. The kit wasn't supposed to arrive until late October-November but ended up coming in just 2 weeks so it really threw off my scheduling. This sub will be the first to get any update on progress of the build. Remember, I never plan on getting rid of this car so this will ultimately be a passion project that will be held to the highest of my standards. With that being said, I can't wait to begin and definitely have some new ideas for the build as I've had ample time to brainstorm the direction I want to take everything. Thanks for the interest, I'll be posting an actual update here real soon!
It's taken quite some time but I'm finally able to start on my build again. Brought it into shop to start getting some of the kit fitted. So far fitment has been as expected from a fiber glass kit but definitely manageable.
Biggest concern as of now is the trunk/bumper gap. Hoping once I bond original bumper support brackets that the gap will tighten up. If not, it's looking like quite a bit of molding will need to be done.
First step would be to remove wheels and fender liners. Until the kit is all set in stone, I opted to remove my exhaust until I'm ready to cut the quad tips off. In order to get the rear bumper on I had to remove the tail lights as well as the heatshields that sit in between the mufflers and the bumper. Tried to reinstall the heatshields after the bumper was installed but the heatshield bracket that bolts to the unibody will need some convincing before it sits nicely. The one that surprised me is that my rear crash/reinforcement bar will not fit with this kit. I looked online and found that the facelift crash bar seems to be different than the pre-facelift bar that I removed. I am wondering if the face-lift bar will fit under the bumper. Will be sourcing one in the next few days. Hoping I won't need to fabricate one but not really that big of a deal. I will be installing the rocker panels next and then will proceed with cutting the quarters. Hopefully will have another update next week!
Started on the rear arch installation this morning. This is how it went. Traced the edges of the arches with a sharpie to get an idea of where to sand. The panel bond i am using requires the mating surfaces to be free of paint. Used 80 grit paper on a DA. Removed the majority of the quarter panel arch with a 4 1/2in. cut off wheel. Made a more precise cut with my Dremel and a 2in wheel. Used my belt sander with 80 grit paper to finish off the arches and made a smooth concise edge. Included this picture just to show what the inside of the wheel arch looks like after making the cut. The panel is still seam sealed properly with no further work required. Used the belt sander with 80 grit to knock down some high spots on the arches in order to get the tightest fit possible. This arch actually fit very well and honestly did not need much to fit flush with the quarter. Bonded and clamped. Driver side is left to cure overnight.
It's been a hot minute since my last update so let's get yall caught up. Body gap is about where i want it on the driver side. Still have some block sanding to tend to. Also have to extend quarter panel arch where it meets rocker panel to match the door gap. After that i will primer and block again. Mock fitted rear bumper. Passenger side is 90% there. Still have a low spot in the quarter panel arch that needs taken care of but pleased with it so far. So i did a thing... Cut the roof skin off and removed sunroof frame. Separated panoramic frame from donor chassis.
The 63 has one extra bracket that is spot welded onto chassis which i will remove. I will not be installing the panoramic roof until after the chassis is painted in. Last hill to climb will be the coding/wiring and then I might have the 1st 63 Sedan panoramic. Any questions feel free to ask.
Not dead, just been preoccupied with another build. Hopefully back onto this one in the near future. Also a minor setback with the 63 build pushed me back a bit.
Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 S Is Extremely Rare Example Modified by McLaren
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