romulus

Per Omicron’s encouragement, here are the steps that I took in order to make my own side strakes.
See thread for previous discussions.
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...5&pagenumber=1

1. Get some thin cardboard and cut it as close as the fender profile. It is ok if you have some gaps for now.

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2. With a technique use by carpenters, with your pencil lay as flat as possible to the fender and trace the profile. After that, you can cut the cardboard with scissors. It might still have some gaps so it might require some extra trimming it. This process is done twice for both upper and lower strakes, unless you wish to add a third or fourth strake per side. Make sure to label each profiles like Right upper, Right lower, etc. For the left side just flip them over.

romulus

3. Once you have the profiles, you can design the strakes as long and protruded as you want. I my case I wanted to have a close copy of the originals. Feel free to experiment! I tried several designs, even a serrated one but it will look like I came from Mad Max movie. Use the pencil so that you can erase the lines if you don’t like them.

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My patterns that I came with.

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4. The material of choice is 3/8” nylon 6/6. This can be purchase at an industrial supply company such as McMaster Carr http://www.mcmaster.com/ under raw material/plastic section. Aluminum is a bit harder to work with (you will find out soon). Lay your pattern on the nylon sheet and trace the pattern using a permanent marker. A nice thick line is fine. Again, for the other side of the vehicle, just flip the pattern and retrace it.

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additional picture

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5. Then proceed to cut the material with a jig saw or a band saw. While cutting out the strake, try following the thick line as long as you do not cut beyond the line. Repeat the steps for the rest of the strakes. The picture shows the strakes just cut. Those were the aluminum versions that I decided not to use. (too hard to manage for the next few steps.)

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6. Here is the most time consuming of the project. With a bench belt/disk sander,
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=34951
sand all the rough edges of the strakes until you don’t see any trace marks.
Trace a line lengthwise of the strake. This line will indicate how much you need to sand off to make a near perfect ellipse. Start sanding at about 45 degrees angle for both sides of the strake; just like sharpening a knife. Stop sanding as soon as you reach the middle line, otherwise you will end up with a sharp edge. Repeat the “sharpening knife” sanding with a 30 degree angle, then 15 degrees.

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additional pic

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another front view

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7. With a dremmel type tool start, to reshape the back profile to match the compound angles of the fender. Have a lot of patience.! Make sure that the strakes are horizontal. Once done, determine where you want to attach the strake. See DYI: Installing aluminum strakes for reference. Pre-drill a pilot hole about half inch deep with a 1/8” drill bit and use a #8, 1 1/4 “screw and washer.

romulus

8. Once all the strakes were fine tuned for their position, proceed to paint them with a color of your choice. Before paint the strakes, sand them with sanding paper to remove any marks left from the contouring process. Use 150, 400, 800 grid wet and dry sand paper. When done, wash the strakes with dish washer soap to remove any fine dust left behind from the process. Prime and paint the strakes at least two coats. Here is a picture with the strakes installed on the grill

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close up

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another close up

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another in an angle

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side view

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last one.... enjoy!:D

Omicron

Dang Romulus, not only did you do a good thing in making your own strakes, but this is one of the best DIY posts I've ever seen!!! WELL DONE!!! :D :D :D

Thanks to you, I will soon be making my own strakes. :D

D MENAC 7

And I finally gave in last week and ordered them from Rosenthal...sigh... I was going to make mine from acrylic plastic that I would have had to do exactly the same thing to. Hmmmm, and I have a lot left over from another project. Maybe I'll make a center strake...if I find time. :D

Very nice DIY thread, looks great!

romulus

thanks, I am glad that my instructions are clear to follow.
I was worried thinking that I missed a step in the process.

RX8FanMan

thats awesome. I bet red strakes would look good with red painted calipers

jinani4eva

Romulus, they look great!!
Fantastic DIY thread. Now I see u've done it, I think I'll try on my own. Is there a way u can post the cardboard cut? I wanna print that out and use :d wonder if I need to buy that sander though...

romulus

jinani4eva,
I did posted my cardboard patterns, is on the first page. Also the reason I included a measuring tape (both English and Metric system) so that when printing, you can adjust the scale to match it.
You don't need to buy a sander or that particular one. I posted that as a refference of a similar power tool that I used in the process. You can use a sanding block and sand the strakes by hand. BUT it will take a looooooooonnnng time to do it.

cheers,
romulus

Astor

jesus, I think I'll just shell out the money, my metal working skills are nil. At 1st I thought this was a joke and he was going to put the cardboard on his car, but damn, hat is off to you.