Last question about body kits.....I hope!!!!!
Thread Starter
Hey, where did my $$$ go?
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 4,413
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From: Bimingham, AL
Last question about body kits.....I hope!!!!!
Ok, most of you know I'm looking for a new front bumper cover for my car. I have a couple questions.
i heard that Urethane is the best and that fiberglass eventually cracks and the paint can crack because its not flexable. The problem is that the ONLY urethane bumper I can find are the Mazda oem bumpers, 93-95 and the 99 Jspec. ALL the aftermarket bumpers I've found are fiberglass. What are people opinions on this??? Is fiberglass ok??? I dont want another 93-95 and I dont want the JSpec because it has the tag holder build in and we dont use front tags in AL.
My second question is about the re-enforcement bar, is it needed??? What are the potential probs with not having one. The stock bumper has one and the OEM 99 Spec comes with a new one. NON of the aftermarket bumpers have on and from what I've been told the stock one doesnt work with most of them either. Whats up with that???? Is it really needed for anything??? My understanding is that its fiberglass and hard foam and is actually the bumper.
I've basically narrowed it down to 2 bumpers, they are both fiberglass since thats all I can find. Neither comes with fog lights which I'll miss but I guess I can buy those later. They are also within $50 of eachother so price doesnt matter......which do you guys like better????
The Pettit 99 Spec copy..... http://www.jsgroup18.com/1993_custom_rx7.htm
or
The Feed bumper.....
http://www.rxecret7.com/feed-02.html
Oh yea, I'd be getting more for my $$$ with the Pettit since it comes with new turn light and the Feed uses my old 93-95 lights but even with the old lights the Feed looks pretty damn sweet
Thanks for the advise and help!!!!!
i heard that Urethane is the best and that fiberglass eventually cracks and the paint can crack because its not flexable. The problem is that the ONLY urethane bumper I can find are the Mazda oem bumpers, 93-95 and the 99 Jspec. ALL the aftermarket bumpers I've found are fiberglass. What are people opinions on this??? Is fiberglass ok??? I dont want another 93-95 and I dont want the JSpec because it has the tag holder build in and we dont use front tags in AL.
My second question is about the re-enforcement bar, is it needed??? What are the potential probs with not having one. The stock bumper has one and the OEM 99 Spec comes with a new one. NON of the aftermarket bumpers have on and from what I've been told the stock one doesnt work with most of them either. Whats up with that???? Is it really needed for anything??? My understanding is that its fiberglass and hard foam and is actually the bumper.
I've basically narrowed it down to 2 bumpers, they are both fiberglass since thats all I can find. Neither comes with fog lights which I'll miss but I guess I can buy those later. They are also within $50 of eachother so price doesnt matter......which do you guys like better????
The Pettit 99 Spec copy..... http://www.jsgroup18.com/1993_custom_rx7.htm
or
The Feed bumper.....
http://www.rxecret7.com/feed-02.html
Oh yea, I'd be getting more for my $$$ with the Pettit since it comes with new turn light and the Feed uses my old 93-95 lights but even with the old lights the Feed looks pretty damn sweet
Thanks for the advise and help!!!!!
Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 568
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From: New York, NY
i don't know any of the answers to your questions but i say go with the pettit. it looks better in my opinion and the feed looks too close to stock. the silver and red rx-7's w/ the pettit bumper look ok and the fit looks fine.
unless you bump into something i doubt you'll have a problem with the bumper cracking. anyway, look at it this way. you can get the 99 bumper and make your car look "almost" perfect. or you can get the 99 bumper and get the license plate holder taken out and it'll be as brittle as the fiberglass one because of all the bondo it took.
the only concern w/ the pettit bumper i'd have is that i heard on another post it doesn't exactly duplicate the real '99 shape...looks good enough though.
unless you bump into something i doubt you'll have a problem with the bumper cracking. anyway, look at it this way. you can get the 99 bumper and make your car look "almost" perfect. or you can get the 99 bumper and get the license plate holder taken out and it'll be as brittle as the fiberglass one because of all the bondo it took.
the only concern w/ the pettit bumper i'd have is that i heard on another post it doesn't exactly duplicate the real '99 shape...looks good enough though.
Stephen,
The fiberglass cracking thing is primarily a concern with lower quality fiberglass fronts. If you bought something from a great Japanese company like Fujita (FEED), RE Amemiya, R-Magic, etc. you will likely not run into problems. I do not know how high-quality the Pettit copy is, nor who manufactures it for them. Word of warning -- most body kit parts sold by US-based companies under their own name are made in Taiwan and are inferior quality. I do not know if this applies to Pettit or not.
As far as the bumper reinforcment goes, it is a pretty thick piece of fiberglass with a styrofoam wedge atop it to maintain shape of the OE bumper. The OE bumper is urethane (as you know) and would flex and sag significantly without it. Since the fronts you are looking at are rigid fiberglass, not having the reinforcement isn't really an issue.
OK?
The fiberglass cracking thing is primarily a concern with lower quality fiberglass fronts. If you bought something from a great Japanese company like Fujita (FEED), RE Amemiya, R-Magic, etc. you will likely not run into problems. I do not know how high-quality the Pettit copy is, nor who manufactures it for them. Word of warning -- most body kit parts sold by US-based companies under their own name are made in Taiwan and are inferior quality. I do not know if this applies to Pettit or not.
As far as the bumper reinforcment goes, it is a pretty thick piece of fiberglass with a styrofoam wedge atop it to maintain shape of the OE bumper. The OE bumper is urethane (as you know) and would flex and sag significantly without it. Since the fronts you are looking at are rigid fiberglass, not having the reinforcement isn't really an issue.
OK?
Full Member
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 92
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From: ATL, GA
If anything, you can always trim the styrofoam to help give more support to the new front bumper cover? Afterall, it is styrofoam! :p
But I would take the Pettit over the Feed. The Feed looks kinda like a Veilside front, doesn't it? Well, to me it does anyways...
But I would take the Pettit over the Feed. The Feed looks kinda like a Veilside front, doesn't it? Well, to me it does anyways...
Originally posted by RX7_RCR
If anything, you can always trim the styrofoam to help give more support to the new front bumper cover? Afterall, it is styrofoam! :p
But I would take the Pettit over the Feed. The Feed looks kinda like a Veilside front, doesn't it? Well, to me it does anyways...
If anything, you can always trim the styrofoam to help give more support to the new front bumper cover? Afterall, it is styrofoam! :p
But I would take the Pettit over the Feed. The Feed looks kinda like a Veilside front, doesn't it? Well, to me it does anyways...
There are a few FEED fronts and I don't think they really look anything like the VeilSide bumpers. If I had to chose one, I would go with an Amemiya or a BN Sports, personally. I don't like elaborate stuff.
As far as the "waviness" goes, I haven't ever experienced that BUT I have a guess as to why it might happen. Basically it's from urethane exposure to heat. I cut holes in my urethane front and I noticed that it melts very easily. I'm guessing that shape disfiguring could come from that (sun exposure, probably not much heat gets there from the motor?). That's just a guess ... and a good fiberglass front should not do that because fiberglass is rigid.
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Passenger
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The only comments that I can give is to say the Japanese FG and US FG are night and day.
1. Strength- Japanese FG though thinner is alot stonger than US. I have seen my friend hit driveways with his FEED bumper. Nothing but a scratch. I rear ended someone in my KnightSports bumper and even though there is a crack it is nothing to what i thought it would be. I am getting it repaired easily.
2. Weight- I held up a real KnightSports Type III bumper and a Wings West copy(4 beam). First the WW FG was thick as hell while the real one was thin. The weight difference was huge. I couldn't believe that these two bumpers looked so similar yet were so different in weight.
3. Quality- Lots of US FG kit i have seen have fitment issues or waves in the FG, various thickness of FG through out the bumper and sometimes flaws.
I say if the prices are close go with the FEED bumper
There is no substitution for the real thing.
1. Strength- Japanese FG though thinner is alot stonger than US. I have seen my friend hit driveways with his FEED bumper. Nothing but a scratch. I rear ended someone in my KnightSports bumper and even though there is a crack it is nothing to what i thought it would be. I am getting it repaired easily.
2. Weight- I held up a real KnightSports Type III bumper and a Wings West copy(4 beam). First the WW FG was thick as hell while the real one was thin. The weight difference was huge. I couldn't believe that these two bumpers looked so similar yet were so different in weight.
3. Quality- Lots of US FG kit i have seen have fitment issues or waves in the FG, various thickness of FG through out the bumper and sometimes flaws.
I say if the prices are close go with the FEED bumper
There is no substitution for the real thing.
John
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 1,393
Likes: 0
From: Oregon
wings west makes a knightsports copy with 4 foglights that is made of urethane. I think they go for $550 shipped, I can get you a hook up price. You will need 4 4" lights that I can get for under $50 for all 4. PM me for more info
Thread Starter
Hey, where did my $$$ go?
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 4,413
Likes: 0
From: Bimingham, AL
Originally posted by Donovan
Hey Quit worrying about your own car and get to work on my intercooler
Hey Quit worrying about your own car and get to work on my intercooler
Stay tuned!!!!
Passenger
Posts: n/a
Wings West does not make a urethane KnightSports copy from what i know of. Also have fun finding lights that will actually fit nicley in that kit. The kit was designed for IPF lights that cannot be purchased directly from IPF.
If you notice that the Rx-7 used in their ads is a right hand drive car wich is actually the real KnightSports car. In their ads now Wings West had to remove the KnightSports logos because of problems with the companies.
Originally KnightSports was looking for a US FG shop...they chose Wings West. But, problems accured and KnightSports and Wings West had a big fall out.
The problem with the Wings West copy is that their mold was taken off a KnightSports kit and not the original mold. That's why fitment is a little off.
If you notice that the Rx-7 used in their ads is a right hand drive car wich is actually the real KnightSports car. In their ads now Wings West had to remove the KnightSports logos because of problems with the companies.
Originally KnightSports was looking for a US FG shop...they chose Wings West. But, problems accured and KnightSports and Wings West had a big fall out.
The problem with the Wings West copy is that their mold was taken off a KnightSports kit and not the original mold. That's why fitment is a little off.
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