XDEEDUBBX

hahah sorry but that was some pathetic slagging..if your raggin on the optional equipment you rag on about more than half the members cars on this forum...hahaha...FYI...I bought it like that...hahaha..too funny...just end it here before i get myself banned...haha

Gord96BRG

I know - I suck at being mean! :p

My point was just that your car is NOT stock (whether you bought it like that or not, it's still got the optional appearance package, which some people don't like), despite your claim!

Regards,
Gordon

Omicron

Ok PA BATMOBILE, that's really helpful info! Kinda what I figured too, although it's nice to confirm it. So down the road a bit I will probably blend my sideskirts AND my front lip spoiler (funny I never thought of this till Orbist mentioned it above) and maybe even my rear flares. We'll see.

Omicron

LOL... :D Good idea, quit while you're ahead.

PA BATMOBILE

Cool Omicron, A tastefully molded kit can make a car look all of one piece if done correctly. Of course there is always someone who will over-do-it and turn people away from such things.

orbist

Thanks for the info PA.

Don't blame me if it goes wrong Omicron! LOL

Glad the slagging match is over XD

---

I'm not to worried about blending the whole thing, although its got me thinking too, I was more just concerned about the bigger gaps, and actually blending the lines on the side skirts themselves. So if the replacements onces are the same, I'll fill the gap as shown on the red blob below, and then file down the excess at (b), while making (a) a bit thinner and this should make the rear fit much better.

Also thinning out the same bit as (a) on the fron edge, so that the front section fits closer.

PA, any advice on trying to thin down the fibre-glass, these are on non-visible bits and so i realise the fibres may show through, but its on internal surfaces, and may actually help the bonding!

Omicron

I think you can just sand it, but be sure not to breath in the dust. Wear eye protection and a "surgical" breathing mask.

orbist

thats what i was hoping, thx, will def use a mask, got some for the mdf home diy projects!

PUR NRG

Do a search for Bob the Eskimo's DIY subwoofer project. Lots of good fiberglass safety tips there.
________
Isuzu elf

PA BATMOBILE

I would do would Omicron said. You can use an orbital sander, but go really slow. Hand sanding will take longer, but as any body man will tell you, the best finish is always from hand sanding. Good luck, let me know how it came out and if you need any more help or questions.

orbist

Thanks PA. Was planning to do it by hand!

Will let you know if I have any more queries, and will take some before and after shots.

mdekkers

Or as someone else recently said here: "Nothing beats a hand job"

BlueAngel

HEY! i just ordered the D1 Veilside GT Bumper, how does it fit???pls, pls tell me. thanx

orbist

Only got the side skirts from the Veilside, I'd imagine the front is easier to clone, as its going to mount at the same points as the stock one.

Hopefully mine was just a particularly bad batch! Will know more next week if they have spare set from their new stocks.

orbist

LOL Martijn

Krayzie8

hope you have patience, ive been waiting for my kit for a month.

orbist

An update on my side skirts.

The UK distributer kindly refunded the paint spraying costs for the first set and sent me a replacement set out the following week.

Finally had a chance to test the fit at the weekend, and these ones were MUCH MUCH better. Still required a fair bit of tweaking to get a good fit. The drivers side wasn't too bad, just needed some cut from the door sill area to allow the front to fit snuggly. The rear needed a fair bit sanded off the section behind the back door. After all the cutting and sanding no filling was needed and on to the passenger side.

Passenger side needed much more work, had several areas where the mould was wrong, or probably for strength in the mould had extra flanges at the rear. Cut them and sanded down so we could at least get the two ends on - and eeek, this one was as bad as the first set. However, after some investigation a 2 inch section was cut from the rear of the door sill area and about 1/4 inch sanded from the rear section (behind the rear door again) and the fit was much better. The front area had a bad mould just where it goes into the door sill which required some filler, but a simple job to do.

Took them down to my dealer and the guys from the bodyshop were much happier with the fit. Still concerned that the under section does not have any fixing at all, so I'm going to get some galvanized braces to screw into the underside of the car and skirt, probably 3 or 4 on each side to hold the skirts steady - concerned that under high wind / fast driving the forces on the hollow inside of the skirts could cause some cracking / bending of the skirts.

Anyway, they are off with the bodyshop getting sprayed now, so in a week or two will finally be fitted to the car!

Anyone else with D1 GT side skirts added extra brackets to the underside?

PA BATMOBILE

orbist, another way to reinforce your sideskirts as i have done with some of my friends skirts is go to a autobody supplier and get some glass mat and resin and apply it to the inside of the skirt to reinforce. I have used this method and this way you can make them as strong as you want. i would also then use the extra brackets. you could even integrate the brackets into the fiberglass as you reinforce. That combo would make those skirts mega strong and durable.

orbist

Thanks PA, may well just do that - like the idea of embedding the brackets...

PA BATMOBILE

Cool, let me know what ya decide to do and how ya do it.

orbist

OK, so the skirts are finally on the car.

Took them down to my dealers and showed them prior to painting and they said they'd have a think about how best to do it.

I bought some zinc plated brackets, and bolts and took them with me today.

They ended up using some rubber cotton reel shaped bungs they had lying around screwed one end of the zinc brackets (two bolts) into the underside of the car and the other side of the bracket into the rubber bungs and down through the skirts with bolts. So if necessary the bolts can be removed from the skirts.

Anyway, they are rock solid, no give whatsoever and they are solidly stuck along the door sills and where the front and rear touch the bodywork. Very happy with the job they did and the 4+ hours of sanding, tweaking and filling has made the fitment perfect.

Attached are a few photos, I'll get a bunch more taken when the INGs bumper is fitted next week - and after a clean and wax!

WARNING: 56k ppl, the last pic is 200K

mikeb

looks very nice
what rear are you getting?

orbist

At the moment I'm going to see how I like it with just the standard mazda rear spats (under deflectors) Although it isn't quite as low at the rear, it ties in quite nicely. Maybe down the line will get something, but as yet other than the INGs rear spats, I don't like anything that is available.

PA BATMOBILE

very nice fitment

mikeb

your car is really nice
and you are the only one to mix and match body kit pieces
I wanted to but I couldn't pass on the aerowerks deal for ms replica

I really think you should get a rear to match the rest of the car IMO