The_Bishop Posted December 12, 2009 Posted December 12, 2009 Gotta give credit where credit is due, so here is my inspiration: http://www.wrxtuners.com/forums/f121/who-needs-rally-armor-27362/ and here is a cliff notes version of my duplication and adaptation to the Leggy: In this first photo, I’m showing the cutting boards along with the card board patterns I made, the front one is on the lower left and the rear one is on the lower right. http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e256/Fullchat289/DSCF0001-2.jpg This next photo shows the cutting boards after I cut them out after tracing the patterns onto them and drilling slots for the attaching hardware. I used mostly M10 screws and clips that you can find at your favorite auto parts store: http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e256/Fullchat289/DSCF0007.jpg The front flap is pretty self explanatory as it attaches where the three most obvious poppits are in the front inner fender well. One of the compromises with using this low-cost DIY mudflap material is the handle cut-out in the cutting board only gives you so much material to play with on the upper edge, so for the rear, I had to drill another attaching hole in the lip of the bumper cover (represented here by the blue dot) that was a little bit lower than the pre-formed one supplied in the bumper cover. The other arrows are there just to show the other attachment point locations. I ended up not using the inside upper mounting hole location because I felt that the flap was rigid enough without it. http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e256/Fullchat289/DSCF0010.jpg These are the nylon spacers I picked up at Lowes to make up for the gap the flap makes to the inner fender after being secured to the wheel arch. This spacer is used on the inside lower mounting location…pretty self explanatory once you get into the process. http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e256/Fullchat289/DSCF0011-1.jpg And here is the end result. I was going to go black, but decided on red with a little persuasion from a friend (looks a bit orange here). http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e256/Fullchat289/DSCF0017.jpg With hardware, paint, and the cutting boards, I probably had around $35-40 in this project. I’m really happy with the outcome and as the originator of this idea in the link above indicated, you can paint them any color you want! If anyone is interested, I would be happy to trace out my patterns and send a paper copy of them to you so at least the hard part is over and done with for you. All you have to do is buy the materials, cut out the flaps, paint them, mount, and go. All I ask in return is for you to send me a self-addressed, stamped envelope, and update this thread with a pic of your end result. Just send me a PM and I’ll give you my mailing address. - Allen.
ink38 Posted December 12, 2009 Posted December 12, 2009 when i first saw this i have to admitt i thought you were an idiot for puttin cutting boards on your car. but the end result shut me up, nice job looks good man
Mega Users LieutenantDan Posted December 12, 2009 Mega Users Posted December 12, 2009 Holy Cow. Those look pretty awesome and are undoubtedly very stout. Looks like a great alternative to the Rally Armor Mudflaps that are $$spendy$$. Nice work. It's always great to see a successful DIY. I wonder how long that paint will hold up on the wheel facing side. repaint, repaint, repaint. My rally armor flaps are chewed up on the rear corners from parallel parking (they're like the curb scrapers of old). I may give this a try......
underground000 Posted December 12, 2009 Posted December 12, 2009 or you can do ikea dralla* cutting boards for ~$6 *dont know if i spelled it correctly. cutting the board was easy with shears, just didnt cut the back ones yet, lazy http://www.rs25.com/forums/f105/t99460-diy-gc-jdm-sti-mud-flaps.html 5eat downshift rev match:) Powder coated wheels: completed:)
E-Tank Posted December 12, 2009 Posted December 12, 2009 Damn son! That ish is hood. I think some flaps may be in my future. They just look so funky.
The_Bishop Posted December 12, 2009 Author Posted December 12, 2009 Thanks for the compliments - you guys are great. As far as the paint durabilty goes, you are right. I'm finding that some touch-up is required on the inside surface. This could be b/c either the quality of paint I chose wasn't up to snuff, I sprayed them at an ambient temperature that was below what was recommended on the can, or b/c that's just the way it is with painted flaps.. I'm leaning towards the latter on this one. They'll do the job during the winter season regardless. - Allen.
rlee429 Posted December 12, 2009 Posted December 12, 2009 At first I thought this was stupid, but it actually came out pretty good. I wonder how well this will hold up.... but for less then 40 dollars you can just remake it =) What kind of paint did you use? With almost all plastics it is hard for paint to properly adhere to it. Did you use plastic specific paint? If you did not, you would need a primer (made for plastics) before you paint it. For maximum adhesion of paint, I would rough up the "mudflaps" with 150 grit or so. Hit it with a self etching primer, or a plastic specific primer, then paint it. If you do that it's pretty much going to stick on very well
Vbelisle Posted December 12, 2009 Posted December 12, 2009 you do you know you can buy rallyarmor flaps that are universal for $16 and drill the holes yourself right? heres a link to the ones I have...http://www.fastwrx.com/unbamudfl.html But i will admit the cutting boards do look good for what they are.
naimouasta Posted December 12, 2009 Posted December 12, 2009 you do you know you can buy rallyarmor flaps that are universal for $16 and drill the holes yourself right? heres a link to the ones I have...http://www.fastwrx.com/unbamudfl.html But i will admit the cutting boards do look good for what they are. +1. not bad considering you still get the Rally Armor logo!
bigdadi Posted December 12, 2009 Posted December 12, 2009 www.partstrain.com http://www2.partstrain.com/store/index.php?VN=4294967170+4294964890+4294964552+4294963163+4294966803&Nr=AND(universal:0)&N=0&Ntt=Mud%20Guard set of 2. Includes corrosion-resistant mounting hardware. $14.99 Power Flow Mud Flaps - Front or Rear Power Flow Mud Flaps - Front or Rear $7.80 Power Flow Mud Flaps - Front or rear, driver and passenger side $12.66 Highland Mud Flaps - Front, driver and passenger side
BryanS Posted December 12, 2009 Posted December 12, 2009 I bet you could dye the material after you cut and drill. I've dyed nylon and other plastic components before. Used liquid black Rit dye and a bit of dark green liquid dye (I think 3 or 4 bottles of black and 1 bottle of dark green to keep it from looking purplish) mixed with a bit of boiling water in a styrofoam cooler to dye some green rifle handguards black and they came out very nice. The dye penetrates the material so it won't chip or show from minor scrapes. I can look for an article I wrote about dying H&K G3 handguards..... Okay, so I found the article I wrote, which describes how I dyed my polymer rifle handguards ---> http://bryansimms.com/how-to-dye-green-polymer-handguards-for-an-hk-g3-black/
johnAWD Posted December 12, 2009 Posted December 12, 2009 Why on earth would anyone do that to their otherwise nice looking car?
WheelsOfGlue Posted December 13, 2009 Posted December 13, 2009 PM Sent. I will soon be hard a work cutting up girl friends cutting boards!
The_Bishop Posted December 13, 2009 Author Posted December 13, 2009 I bet you could dye the material after you cut and drill. I've dyed nylon and other plastic components before. Used liquid black Rit dye and a bit of dark green liquid dye (I think 3 or 4 bottles of black and 1 bottle of dark green to keep it from looking purplish) mixed with a bit of boiling water in a styrofoam cooler to dye some green rifle handguards black and they came out very nice. The dye penetrates the material so it won't chip or show from minor scrapes. I can look for an article I wrote about dying H&K G3 handguards..... ^ Good thought on the dye! WheelsofGlue - PM replied! Don't forget to post up when you are finished! - Allen.
sabber Posted December 19, 2009 Posted December 19, 2009 As a side note, most car places have actual mudflaps you can buy for very cheap, I know Advanced has a set of 2 for around $5. May not be perfect for subarus, but Im sure it would take less customizing work than cutting up a cutting board. Just saying.
The_Bishop Posted December 20, 2009 Author Posted December 20, 2009 ^ yeah, that's likely true, but you can't go 'round saying you did this cool project where you used kitchen cutting boards and modified them to make an ultra cool and rigid mudflap. Just a note on that last point, my buddy has the lesser expensiver Rally Armor flaps on his STi and says he has to tweek them forward once a week to because they are so thin. ...then there's also the instance where you go camping and someone (not me) catches a few wonderful fish and you are just fixing to clean them and you figure out you forgot your camping cutting boards...if you're not sporting these gems, bro, you can't save the day, now can ya? ; ) - Allen.
bigdadi Posted December 20, 2009 Posted December 20, 2009 Cutting board outdoor is finding a flat stone, or pull your cargo liner out and cleanup behind the cuttings.
sabber Posted December 20, 2009 Posted December 20, 2009 ...then there's also the instance where you go camping and someone (not me) catches a few wonderful fish and you are just fixing to clean them and you figure out you forgot your camping cutting boards...if you're not sporting these gems, bro, you can't save the day, now can ya? ; ) - Allen. Haha, that sir, is an excellent point and one that I hadn't considered.
WheelsOfGlue Posted January 10, 2010 Posted January 10, 2010 Allen you have been waiting for an update ...... so here goes. Your diagram is right on the money, it saved me a lot of time. I went for the flexible cutting board approach. I was able to find 3 boards at WalMart for $4 but in white. If all works out I will shop at IKEA where it is said they sell black flex cutting boards. But back to the install, fronts installed very easy with the flexible sheets. But I see were you would need the spacer for one of the points of attachment if you used solid boards. All I did was reuse the stock fender plastic plugs but for the rear it looks like I will have to buy some types of plastic mounts.. So after the fronts I was about to install the rear flaps but my stock jack has crapped out. So now tomorrow I will be stopping by the Subaru dealer for a replacement jack. But once I am done I will post some pics. And before I get flamed for doing all this work when you can buy it for cash and be done with it. I have free time on my hands and like to do things my way.
The_Bishop Posted January 11, 2010 Author Posted January 11, 2010 ^..cool, can't wait to see the finished product. Really glad the templates worked out well for you! - Allen.
Victor Posted February 13, 2010 Posted February 13, 2010 Anyone sitting on the measurements for mudflaps to a BD chassis legacy? Just got cutting boards from Ikea which will be fitted.
The_Bishop Posted February 14, 2010 Author Posted February 14, 2010 I can send you a paper copy of my templates, but you may need to make some adjustments to the mounting hole locations. All I need is a self-addressed stamped envelope. PM me for my address if interested. -Allen.
F-WDC Spec B Posted February 14, 2010 Posted February 14, 2010 hey can you send it to me too... i wanted to get to do with some diy stuff from strauss
The_Bishop Posted February 14, 2010 Author Posted February 14, 2010 Victor / F-WDC Spec B, PM's sent! - Allen.
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