Alright, you'll have to excuse my inexperience here, but I have a couple questions regarding body kits. (I did do the pre-requisite search and didn't find any topics on this)

#1. I am not an incredibly handy guy. I put my strakes on and attached my clear side markers with the help of someone's DIY instructions on here. But when it comes to actually fitting a body kit...I won't even go there. Do shops regularly put these on for people? If so...even when it requires some modification to the body?(Some talk of cutting the rebar and drilling holes in places or even cutting the existing body material to fit the rear bumper.)

#2. When it comes to urethane vs. fiberglass, does on give a more true color and texture to the paint that matches the rest of the paint on the metal panels of the car than the other? This may seem like a remedial question...but please refer to the above disclaimer regarding my inexperience.

Thanks in advance for your help

 

My little insight:

1) Some kits require a ton of work to get them to fit. My friend bought one on e-bay and the store told him the quote they gave him before hand for fitment wasn't enough. What I mean is, sometimes, they are REALLY bad. Kits like the Mazdaspeed should work "out of the box" except the cutting needed on the back. One of the veilside kits is supposed to fit w/o modification. So, it really depends on the kit and who you buy it from. We won't really know the ins and outs until people start installing these kits. The JDM kits supposedly need the rebar removed, as there is no rebar in the JDM RX-8. So... most kits will need a body shop if you don't want to operate.

2) I have no knowledge, but the real debate on this subject is usually around strength. Fiber tends to break easier than urethane, I've heard. I think a good pint shop would be able to match the body texture (aka smooth).

Don't take any of that as fact, just what I've heard from others.

 

where are you located at? if you're close to Colorado Springs, I can install the kit for you. My prices range from a case of Guinness to a Big Mac Extra Value Meal (beer preferred) Takes about 3 hours, depending on how many smoke breaks I take.

 

Cool now i know when I get a body kit, who to come to. HAHA

 

the Guinness better be cold!

 

Arcane, let me know if you move to Florida

 

I'm moving to Fairfield, CA in 3 months. Sorry, I'm traveling in the wrong direction.

 

Is Fairfield anywhere near The OC or LA area?

 

Sure isn't...but its only about 35 miles from Stockton!

=)

Don't move anywhere in the next 6-8 months...until I get the money for whichever kit I decide to get!

 

LOL! ok.

Fairfield, CA is 40/50mins away from Sacramento/San Francisco.

Spazm, I'm not going anywhere for a while once I get to Fairfield. Except for TDY's and deployments. Other than that, I don't I'll be leaving for a while.

 

Here's my take on body kits since I've delt with almost every large name manufacture.

Fiberglass kits are usually cheaper and lighter than urethane though they are more brittle. Urethane kits are harder to modify or prep for fitment if the fitment needs adjusted, whare fiberglass is easier to sand, patch, repair. Urethane can be a pain in the a$$ and most shops will not repair urethane because of it if it does get damaged. But they will repair fiberglass no problem.

The bright side is that most of the larger brand name companies make the kits now adays with good fitments and stronger materials. In most cases small holes are required to be drilled to fit items like side skirts. Front and rear full bumpers usually fit into stock mounting locations while the basic lip kits will need to be drilled into the body to keep it attached.

As for paint, having fiberglass or urethane will not make a difference in matching the paint. The key here is to have the kit prepped correctly. IF the kit comes in a dark color like black and you have a bright colored car you want to use a bright primer color before you paint to give the maximum "pop" to the painted color. Other wize a dark primer will darken the color of the paint. Matching paint other wise is really up to the quality of the shop painting the kit. Hope this helps.

 

I bought the veilside body kit looks great

 

Thanks for the insight guys. I appreciate it.