Now that I’ve graduated and moved back to my home town, I have more time for car activities and to get this blog back on track – consider this the JT-Culture revival!
Today I went to see my buddy Wayne to check out a long term project he’s been working on. His story starts a few years ago after purchasing a 180SX and a set of wide Work Emotion CR Kais. The wheels didn’t fit, and being that he worked in a bodyshop, he decided to cut the rear quarters and create himself some new wider panels from scratch.
This involved a fair amount of trial and error, first creating cardboard mock ups and then securing metal in place to create the panel shape. Wayne then created the metal panels by hand, a long and laborious project, using tin snips and pliers in his garage! As Wayne had already put so much work into the rear quarters, he decided to give the rest of the car the same treatment. Every panel and bodypart (bar the rear bumper) was recreated in metal to his own spec and design. All of this was done in his spare time outside of work hours. Regarding the rear bumper, Wayne redesigned and rebuilt his original rear fenders to work perfectly with the standard S13 rear bumper.
Eventually the car was completed and painted in Ford Imperial Blue (some of you may remember the magazine feature it had in Banzai). Since that point in 2005, Wayne has been working in his spare time to create moulds from his car to give him the ability to recreate fibreglass versions of his original metal panels.
The 180SX you see in these photos is the first car to wear Wayne’s fibreglass ‘Wagon Maker’ bodykit. Thanks to Wayne’s unique mix of fibreglass and resin, the quality is astounding, and each panel fits perfectly. The shut lines look factory, and the panel smoothness is unbelievable (this car is straight out of the paint booth, with no post-spray finishing).
Its really refreshing to see new products for the S13, and I’m especially fond of this one, due to the amount of time and hard work its taken Wayne to build it, and the fact that its been designed and built from scratch in the UK. Considering this kit was designed 5 years ago, I think it looks more up to date and contemporary than some of the kits currently being exported from Japan.
If you’d like to get in contact with Wayne about his Wagon Maker kit, add him to Facebook and drop him a message! Once this S13 is roadworthy, expect a full feature on Drifted.com, along with a feature of the original car.
Expect to see lots more from Wayne and the Wagon Maker kit in the very near future!
- Alex Quail (http://twitter.com/quailalex)
What's brought people to this page?
- wagon maker body kit
- wagon maker S13
- d-like 180sx
- wagon maker 180sx
- wagon maker kit
- 180sx tuned
- blue 180sx
- widebody 180sx
- 180sx wheels
- wide s13
This project is coming together very nicely. I can’t wait to see the finished product.
impressive…most impressive young Jedi!
Wow, six years you say? The results are awesome. I’m looking at doing something similar to a B210 coupe aka 160Z but the diagonal line from the bottom of the front scoop to the rear bumper is a bit of a challenge.
Love it, hope I can achieve a look like that with my 93. Great job Wayne.