Time to hack up some new sheet metal.

Fender flares do not provide extra room by themselves - they merely cover larger wheels and tires that have been provided extra room. To be able to fit bigger rubber in the first place, it's necessary to get rid of any part of the car body that could potentially interfere during suspension travel.

With our plans to run wide wheels and tires all the way around, we knew from the start that some arch trimming was going to be necessary. Since C2 told us they had no problem with us cutting up their new car we simply got out the cut-off wheel and went to work...

Using two of Shawn's 19x9.5 HREs with 245/35-19 tires on one side of the Rabbit, we got a good idea of how much trimming would be necessary. The wheels and tires we plan to use are actually wider than the HREs, so we made sure to leave a bit of extra room after cutting. After measuring it was a matter of slowly cutting off the extra metal, making sure not to overheat any part of the panels along the way. The front fenders were relatively simple as far as the procedure was concerned, but the rear arches, with their bonded outer and inner fender panels, took quite a while to trim.

With rear quarter panel strength enhanced by the two bonded panels, once we had trimmed what we needed we took the time to re-weld and seal the open wounds we'd left behind. Before the car is done we plan to fully rust-proof each inner wheel well and reconfigure the fender liners to fit.

We took a moment to tape up the flares and double-check our measurements. Looks like we're ready for some serious wheels and tires.

While waiting for fifteen52 clutch, exhaust and brake prototypes, we've been busy getting the car ready for the serious wheel and tire combo we intend to fit to this rather narrow Rabbit.

Many older Golfs and GTIs came from the factory with black plastic flares, and though most styles were mostly cosmetic in nature, we're working with that same retro theme but with our design we're looking to also gain some much needed wheel and tire clearance.

It's not been easy finding materials we can work with, since in addition to using them here we're also looking to make molds of the final pieces and offer them for sale to Mk5 GTI and Rabbit owners.

As you can see, we're almost ready to cut out the fenders and begin mounting the new flares. As soon as our wheels and tires arrive we'll be doing just that.

In this set of pictures you'll also notice a new front spoiler. We're not too fond of the stock Rabbit valence due to the fact it's too shallow and actually has a reverse rake from front to back. Even though it was never meant for this car, we like this item much better and in addition to looking good, it's more functional and able to take the beating it's inevitably going to get. Where did we find it? At our local Porsche dealer, of course, under the front of a 2008 997 Twin Turbo.