My exterior styling project thread, A look at me do up my car thread... Options

[Mangozac]

Well I finally received the rest of my kit on Friday and fitted it yesterday. I thought I'd start a project thread too so that I could make some notes along the way and show off when it's all done

Fitting was an interesting exercise. I drove the car up on some makeshift ramps and jacked up the rear side that I was working on in turn. The best thing we have for when working on the car is a foam 'camping mattress'. I'd hate to ever sleep on it but it makes lying under the car soo much more comfortable

Oh yeah also notice the black stainless steel mesh I put in the front vents a couple of weeks ago!






Yeah I know that there's big gaps. They have been moulded using a heat gun but until they are taped everything still bends back out 5-10mm.

So here's the notes/questions:
The front lip is kind of nasty to put on. It has these fibreglass brackets underneath that have to be bent whilst the lip is squeezed into place. I wouldn't want to mount/remove it too many times. Also it tends to gouge bits of paint from the front bumper where the lip piece comes up and into the main front vent.


This pic is showing where the skirt meets the front wheel well. The other skirt was a much tighter fit and needed a bit of filing and heating to get it on. I did as suggested here and cut up the mud flaps but I think it looks a bit dodge. I'll investigate getting a pair of the correct parts to go there (anyone got some they want to part with?).
Also, there's a bit of a mark left from where the mudguards wrap onto the side panel. I'll have a go at polishing it out today - may have to give it a go with a buffer...


Last picture. These are DCW OEM rears and needed a fair amount of work (compared to the Topmix parts). I've just got the one screw that you can see on the inside of the well holding them on. I reckon that once it's taped up it should hold on OK but if anyone wants to advise otherwise I'm happy to listen
That wheel arch is looking really nasty - I swiped a post there early in the year and although it didn't bare any metal, it took off a lot of the top coat of paint (the car had been resprayed so it's the original coat that shows through). I'm thinking of getting some touch up guys to attack the area and get it looking better than it currently is...


Hopefully I'll get the kit painted this week. I was thinking about getting the painters to do the final fitting too (they do a lot of this stuff) but we'll see what happens.

It's so great to finally have it all coming together! I'll definitely get some pics posted as soon as it's all finished.

Zac

[Mangozac]

It's all done!

It took a few hours to do but it's finally all on. Comments after the pics:







OK I'm not 100% happy with the way it turned out but here's some of the things I discovered:

1. Double sided tape doesn't stick to the fibreglass unless you sand it down really smooth first.

2. You can still hit the parts with a heat gun to aid in the moulding but don't be overzealous or you'll damage the paint.

3. Get GOOD tape. I bought some no name brand stuff that was crap. Dad had some expensive stuff handy (I don't know what brand) and that worked a lot better!

Unfortunately, the colour didn't match perfectly. It's close enough, but it will forever irritate me

Also, the spots where the top of the skirt curves down to clear the door will not stay stuck on. The tape keeps coming off and the skirt sits about 10mm away from the panel at that spot. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to remedy it? I hit it with a heat gun and then left some braces holding it in place but sill no luck

As I said before I'll do a proper photo shoot next weekend. I washed the car before fitting the parts but it's already filthy again. And there's a big white bird crap on the spoiler!

Oh and in case anybody's wondering....... IT'S NOT A 404 KIT!