Just wondering how people went fitting their urethane body kits. Especially those that bought the wings west kits in the group buy. Any problems at all?Ive taken my car into the bodyshop to get it fitted and painted and my painter seems to think its going to be pritty hard. My main problem is at the front because of my front mount, the intercooler pipes wont fit behind without cutting a lot out of the side openings which I think will make it look stupid. I might have to end up selling my kit and getting something in fibreglass so it can be better cut and moulded. Any suggestions?
Problems I know in the crash trade that we glue and repair urethane bars so it can be done. However I usually find you can see where the repair was very easily. Also when we join sections you normally get a hairline crack once you bump them again. Where as you pointed out in fibeglass you can make any shape you want. But dam they break easily once you touch a kerbGene [image]http://www.users.on.net/gene/P0003372.JPG[/image]
i reakon you should get a fibreglass copy made and sell the urethane bar, this way the copy will be modfieds to suit the fmic with out cutting etc.... Else get something similar that complements the wwest kit like bomex, 2000spec etc....
It took me 1 and a half years before my fibre glass bar cracked. It had many scrapes and hits befoe then.When I felt under the front bar, the fibreglass there was VERY thin, but still managed to hold up against quite a bit of punishement. You can get the shop to add more glass to it to make it thicker. When you hit a kerb something has to give. And I'm guessing its not the kerb. It depends on how low the car is. Lowest mines been is around 12cm off the ground, which I guess is pretty 'high' compared to todays 'lowered' car standardsGood thing with fibreglass I guess is that there are many more options to choose from, and is pretty cheap to repair. Costed me $480 to repair mine (was a hideous crack that almost took a whole chunk of the front bar) and thats including respraying the whole bar and getting new mesh. (and front bars look like they need a respray every so often from all the bugs and stones it runs into)!
only real problems I had when test fitting.. mine was I hadn't taken the intercooler guides off which stopped it from sitting right. And i'll have to grind the front edges off the centre panel. to get it to sit down correctly.Mines still in the box though
F1 Smash Repairs in Melbourne >>> have had plenty of practice with Zeds, and have done a few front bars, mostly Stillen. Apparently Frank wasn't too complimentary about the WW kit from a fitment perspective - he did one around the same time as my front bar and bonnet. I don't know what the specific issues were; I don't know if the car in question had an FMIC or sidemounts; and I don't know if the problems were all round, or just on the front bar.Maybe if you phone Frank on 03-9852-3700 he can fill in the gaps.I am still keen on getting the WW sideskirts and rear bar, would like to have peoples feedback on fitting of those when you can.
I had problems fitting WW kit............. The fibreglass side skirts and rear valance were a bit nuisance to fit. It took us 3 hours to fit one side skirt, as reshaping of the skirt and adjustments were needed to the front guards to get it to fit. The overall length of the skirt seemed to be a little short. I also had to grind down my front centre panel to get it to sit down properly. Other than that, everything fitted easily. I replaced the mesh with a medium mesh as I prefer it over the original course mesh supplied. Overall, I'm happy with then end result.<IMG SRC=http://users.tpg.com.au/debraos/Re-spray8.jpg
Zisluv! I also purchased the wings west kit and have installed mine! Yes it looks great but no the fitting isn't that great or easy. The kit itself is very unfinished and alot of sanding, preparation etc prior to numerous coats of paint were required. Also a number of parts had to be removed to fit the front bar such as the two intercoller ducts and the front impact bar (i think it's called) that under the instructions say should fit, but we had to remove it. This causes the front panel to be only held by the bolts on the bottom and is more loose than before. In hindsight the kit was much cheaper but is very good quality but the installation process comes at a cost. Cheaper kit but more to install! Frank at F1 smash repairs did mine and spent a whole lot of time on it which he did a great job. He hadn't done a wings west kit before and we both had a learning experience with it. There are a few photo's under my profile to have a look at but not one from behind unfortunately. Hope you can sort it out Nathan!Hayden
Nathan, If you want to sell your kit please let me know, as I might be interested.Otherwise, good luck with fitment...should be worth it in the end.cheersPete
