coming out very sexy !!!! Keep us updated

 

OK so I took a pic of the underside of the hood. Didnt get the top painted though today. Im running out of paint so I am going to need to buy some more and use new paint for the first 2 coats and then the old stuff for the last coat so the paint will still match good.

I sprayed the rear bumper with the rocker guard and plan on spraying the sideskirts hopefully tomorrow.

Pics:

 

This is coming out great! I'm starting to like that kit alot, it's much more subtle than all the other ones out there. That white is going to look sweet with the black S4 moldings too. Can't wait to see more of it.

 

The subtleness is actually the reason we picked the kit. Most of the other ones are too crazy and "HEY LOOK AT ME OVER HERE" lol. Simple and adds some agressiveness to the looks.

Edit: The best part about painting the S4 moldings black is that they stay shiny, not turn dull and look faded like most do.

 

Ok people so this is the final update before the body kit starts getting mounted and ready for paint. Im gonna get the front bumper mounted and whatever cracks that are made will be fixed and then once the booth is available I will be spraying the top of the hood along with the sideskirts and rear bumper. Then the only thing left to spray would be the front bumper and the molding stripe on the rear bumper. Then it all gets buffed out and then the rear bumper (bodykit piece) along with the sideskirts and all molding/misc pieces will be installed. Lastly the brake calipers I powdercoated white will be installed. That reminds me I need to rebuild those.




Last pic is my tool box. Just showing off a bit. I previously purchased the top and bottom and for X-mas Angie let me buy the middle and side boxes. Forest green FTW. It stands ~5'6" with the lid closed.

 

Nice work! Is that you by the toolbox?

 

So your Christmas present was.... permission???? Yep.... you're ready for marriage! dude, jk. car looks great. I live in Springfield, IL and graduated from Iowa State. Let me know when I can drop my 88 SE off. Maybe on my way over to ISU homecoming game this fall

 

I have the exact same box minus the side cab.

 

lol, she actually lets me buy most stuff I want within reason. She knows it for my profession so its OK. Would have been better if you were coming to a UofI game though... Price may have to go up because of that lol...

New update and a warning - I will be taking a LOT of pics as this has been requested from quite a few people so they can see "how its done". I actually dont know if this is how its done as this is my first body kit Ive installed EVER.

So in previous pics you can see the front bumper has a "flap" to install the bumper to the car where the original bumper had the holes in between the headlights. Not sure if that made sense or not. When you see the pics you'll get the idea.

I cut said "flap" off as I decided to transfer the metal pieces from the original bumper cover to the bodykit bumper.

To start (try to stay with me here) I noticed that there are 3 alignment pins on the lower metal frame. The center one is simply in the center. I measured out where center is on the bodykit bumper and thats where the initial hole was drilled. From there I was able to mark out where the other holes were to be drilled. I then drilled the holes.





Next I installed the pieces to make sure that everything fits up correctly. I also test fitted the bumper one more time with the metal frame pieces installed. I did not take any pics of this. I can tell you this though - It fits VERY tight and we had to really pull hard to get it to fit in the right places. Also during this test fitment I realized that the brake ducts were in the way. I cut the openings off, roughly 3 inches. I understand that this may hinder "absolute all out performance" of the brakes but this car wont be beat on that hard.

Next set of pics is the frame pieces installed. Note that there is a inner and outer pieces. The outer pieces have the seals on them.





Now that the bumper has had its final test fitment the frame pieces were removed and the bumper will be jamb painted and then installed on the car and prepped for paint. In the next few days I plan on painting the top of hood, along with the sideskirts, and the rear bumper. Stay tuned for more pics and info.

 

Nice. Can't wait to see it all painted.

 

Ha. I'd probably pick it up and it would be painted yellow, black rally stripes, and big Hawkeye logo on the hood! Iowa/ISU game is in Ames this year, so no go on that. Iowa City would definitely be closer. Between all the Illini and Hawkeye fans, I think I'm the only Cyclone around here.

So how did you clean the underside of the hood before you painted it? I had a fire so there's a lot of soot, and the inusulation is pretty shot. Thinking of taking off the insulation and running it down to the car wash (I already have the hood off). Have to wait until the freakin temp gets above freezing.

 

I used a body shop approved (no petroleum solvents) car wash and HOT water and cleaned it all 3 times. I then used wax/grease remover (prep all - aka prep solvent) a couple times to get any remaining oils off. You really gotta clean the **** out of the underside of a hood. All those small spaces under the reinforcements trap alot of dirt/oil. Hot water is key also. Yes, I meant to mention it twice - its that important.

 

Why did you paint the hatch?

 

I always thought that a color matched hatch was nice looking on FCs. The paint on the hatch was all cracked and the clear was faded horribly. Either way it needed repainted so why not shoot it white?

 

Personally, I think you should've painted the hatch frame black and kept the tails black to go along with the black S4 molding, to give it a little more contrast. But it's your car, and it'll look really good either way.

 

Very nice, love white FCs can't wait to see it done.

 

Thanks for all the kind words btw. Also forgot to say that that is not me in the pic. Thats my goofy looking friend. Im a stupid looking person, not goofy.

 

I swear I thought I was going to here "I'm a good looking person, not goofy." heh

 

Are you going to do the wide fenders too?

 

Nice to see people actually painting FC's finally.. Cool.

 

No, in fact the bodykit bumper literally fits so tight if they made narrower fenders I would buy them just to make it easier to install the bumper lol. Not really, but it does fit that tight. The rear bumper also fits up pretty tight. Id honestly rather it fit a lil bit tight instead of being loose.

 

Oh ok, thats good to hear.

I was looking are the fenders, that's why I asked.

 

This thread is a familiar sight to me. Just finished doing a complete paint job on my FC. Yours is looking awesome. Just out of curiosity, what brand of paint are you using?

 

Using PPG Omni paint. Using AutoBody Master primers and clear. I know I know, youre not supposed to mix and match brands.

 

Looking good Ian. Can't wait to see the finale. I don't recall reading it, but did you encounter any rust at all with the FC?