Daz
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TRD (or any) body kit - fitment process to follow
Hi All,
So, my base car is a (red) 1990 MR2 turbo, and I have purchased a Japanese imported TRD body kit. Having no previous body work experience, and reading a steady stream of nightmare stories regards bad fittig kits, poor parts, (WA) minimum $8k fitment fees (prior to re-spray cost?!) and generally bad press for all things TRD kit, I have decided to head bravely into the matter and test fit my own kit. I have never fitted fibreglass body panels, nor ever being conversant with the techniques used by body shop workers, but in true enthusiast style I have decided to have a go and see what happens...
I began by searching youtube for fibreglass panel installation and repair - I was amazed at how many videos were available?!! And using keepvid.com I have saved the knowledge for reference when it is needed! I can send these to interested MR2 forum peeps if requeted [;^)]
What I need to understand, and what I am asking our learned forum readership for is, essentially a few questions about staging of an MR2 SW20 respray following a body kit install. I am aware that a lot of time must be taken to pre-fit, sand/prep, modify, re-fit and repeatedly visually test an install to even contemplate a respray. But what about the extent of the respray...
I have read the preceding posts regarding respray cost, (including the excellent ongoing post by DrDarkMatter regarding he and his wife's self install - great work guys :) ); I live in Perth WA and to be honest I have heard some ridiculous fees mentioned - one guy (posts as "Hollow", the guy I bought the TRD kit from) said he had a quote from a fellow from Cannington to "fit" his TRD kit for $12kl; Go figure... So to being this post, a few pertinent questions;
What is required if you wish to properly change the colour of the eniter vehicle?
In reference to the fibreglass body panels, does each panel need to be professionally sprayed before fitment??
How long should a body shop reasonably take to fully respray a car i.e. back to the bare metal frame, removing ALL rubber (or otherwise) elements??
Have bought 4 axle stands and a jack, intend to buy a big brake conversion kit from Wolfkatz this week; body work will begin once she's up on the stands - pics to follow, but need the advice first - THanks for your time to read the post,
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zentari
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RE: TRD (or any) body kit - fitment process to follow
Thursday, June 03, 2010 5:33 AM
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big job! good luck with it, hey correct me if i am wrong but dosent the trd kit have to be bonded into the original panels of the car?
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Daz
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RE: TRD (or any) body kit - fitment process to follow
Thursday, June 03, 2010 6:40 AM
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Some parts do require bonding yes, specifically the rear quarter 'hips' as i seem to have started calling them.
So you say "big job" - does this mean you have some knowledge and/or experience of the processes involved? if so can you please enlighten me regards some of my questions on the post you replied to?!!
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Daz
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RE: TRD (or any) body kit - fitment process to follow
Thursday, June 03, 2010 7:25 AM
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Hi, may as well make this my build questions and progress thread so not knowing where to start, I'll start here...  After printing out the factory manuals, and receiving all 20 copies of MR2only magazine from UK, I removed the existing (aftermarket) side skirts and factory intake cover on the passenger side. It seemed a good idea to remove the door from the chassis, but am not sure how to uncouple the electrical harness to remove the door completely - I will search/post this elsewhere and search imoc forums in the meantime... So, panels 99% removed, I hit a snag - there is a long bolt hidden behind the "twin cam 16 turbo" factory black trim - how on earth are you meant to get this off without damage?!! See image below:  To get the image I removed the seat belt cover and shone a head torch into the area. The problem seems to be this long bolt, which on my car was bonded to the trim from the outside. The nut also holds on the factory vent cover. From the inside of the car you can see (in the image) the bolt is only partially threaded, the rest is smooth. And mine is now a bit bent now from waggling the trim from the outside in trying to see what was holding it on!!. I could get a long neck socket on it but ratcheted for ages and the nut worked loose only a touch - do i just persevere with the ratcheting until the nut comes off it's thread and slides off the un-threaded portion of the bolt neck??
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EA99
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RE: TRD (or any) body kit - fitment process to follow
Thursday, June 03, 2010 8:09 AM
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Whats this... you want to sell me those side skirts now :p hahaha
Good luck with it! Hope to see a V6 wide body 2 soon :)
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Daz
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RE: TRD (or any) body kit - fitment process to follow
Thursday, June 03, 2010 8:14 AM
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Daz
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RE: TRD (or any) body kit - fitment process to follow
Thursday, June 03, 2010 8:17 AM
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quote: Whats this... you want to sell me those side skirts now :p hahaha
Yes mate - I will sell you them soon! Just gotta get these one's fitted and sprayed; Seeing a spray bloke tomorrow, (friend of a friend), regards how much prep work to do before i give the job to him to finish, could still be a few months pal - hopefully less, but we'll see how it goes  PM me with how much you want to spend on them
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5SGTE
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RE: TRD (or any) body kit - fitment process to follow
Saturday, July 03, 2010 0:44 PM
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Firthy
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RE: TRD (or any) body kit - fitment process to follow
Saturday, July 03, 2010 1:42 AM
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+1. I had to get them off when my respray was done.. it does eventually come loose. It's just a bugger to get in there and get it out.
Good luck.
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Lim@
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RE: TRD (or any) body kit - fitment process to follow
Monday, March 15, 2010 8:51 AM
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as someone who's doing it right now, and who has been doing it for quite some time now (not by choice) all i can say is good luck. Doing it yourself has some big advantages/disadvantages over a shop doing it. ads: cost attention to detail choose how much body filler you use dis: cost :P time effort effort sanding sanding moulding fibreglassing itchiness sleepless itchy nights cutting to fit the two reasons i chose to do it myself is the cost, and also the fact i can blend the panels using fibreglass ratcher than bog. you will always need to skim over the panels with body filler as fibreglass won't provide a smooth enough finish, but if you take it to a panel shop, you can almost guarentte they will just use filler to merge the panels, which might look fine at the start, but you can 90% guarentee yourself you will get cracks down the seams int he long run. as far as spraying before fitting.. don't even bother. if they were a direct bolt on item, sure. they're not even close. i did it in this order (not necessairly necessary, only a few are) front guards front bar rear guards (hips as u call them) rear bar side skirts boot lip fuel cap as long as the front guards go on before the front bar the rear guards go on before the rear bar the skirts go on after the front and rear guards definately buy these items Heat gun, fibreglass has a LITTLE bit of maluability (is that a word?) when heated up. but very little in that, and can still crack guards when you do it. but for minor adjustments, or widening gaps like front indicator gaps heating and remoulding is a better choice than cutting and refibreglassing. electric/air sander you will have to do SOOOO much fibreglassing, don't even bother just doing it by hand. sikaflex & self tappers. you will need to heat and remould the panels till they are pretty well spot on, then sikaflex all around the panels that are sticking to the body, and use self tappers to hold the panel in place while it dries. lots of paint to make sure holes won't rust lots of prepsol/wax & grease remover Here is a bit of an insight into how I've done. ive fitted all panels buyt fuel cap, still a bit of sanding and straighting of the boot lip before i skim over everything with body filler, then do a high fill to check all is even.     Be prepared for things like this. (only one side was wrong on mine lol.
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Daz
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RE: TRD (or any) body kit - fitment process to follow
Tuesday, March 16, 2010 3:35 AM
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Mate, thanks for your post - we must keep in touch! I am just putting the finishing touches to renting an industrial/exhibition space in E Perth where the project will live, but I have never before attempted anything like this, so your input is very gratefully received :) I plan on getting the car jigged up on axle stands this week, remove the wheels (to sell) and all of the existing panels, basically take the car off the road and spend 2-3 months getting the fit 'right' in my project space. I was concerned about the order of the spray cos even given a sweet fit (which sounds like trouble?!!), how does t he paint get into all the gaps?? (I must admit I'm a bit of a perfectionist, and can imagine myself getting pretty "lively" if it comes back looking rubbish once sprayed?!!
I'm defo in for the hell of it though, looking froward to seeing the finished article - how long have you been at it?? And when you say "skim" does that mean you basically coat the cat with a thin layer of body filler and smooth it back with a sander? (as I'm imagining it?) Can the skim be sprayed on? how do you get a uniform coat thickness?! - Sorry if these are daft questions, like I said - never attempted anything like this before, but keen to make it a success ;)
Malleability is defo a word - and if it isn't it should be!
Where did you get your kit from by the way??
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Daz
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RE: TRD (or any) body kit - fitment process to follow
Tuesday, March 16, 2010 3:38 AM
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duh - just realise I a typo
I meant to say coat the car , not the cat... ;)
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DVSTurbo2
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RE: TRD (or any) body kit - fitment process to follow
Tuesday, March 16, 2010 4:54 AM
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Good Luck guys! Love the wide body
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Lim@
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RE: TRD (or any) body kit - fitment process to follow
Tuesday, March 16, 2010 7:06 AM
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i got my kit from a shop in Melbourne. was their only one though.
once the panels are stuck firmly in place, you don't need to take them off for respraying. thinkof them as your new metals panels. eg you wouldn't remove your rear quarters to paint them.
you still remove doors bonnet, boot lid, fuel cap etc when spraying, but the panels and skirts stay on, this shouldn't cause any issues in the long run. the only place i can possibly think off is where the front quarters join the body under the bonnet, sou would be possible to remove.
what you will find is that it's impossible to get rid of all imperfections with fibreglass, so when you got to spray it, they will show through. when i say skim, its a light coat of body filler that you then sand back, which fills all the little imperfections in the fibreglass. body filler is bog, putty, bondo or whatever you want to call it.
you basically spatula it on, wait for it to dry, then sand it back.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwA2CzTGrU8&feature=related
this video shold givew you a slight idea.
don't get too wrapped up with that stuff yet... you're miles away :P
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Daz
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RE: TRD (or any) body kit - fitment process to follow
Tuesday, March 16, 2010 1:04 PM
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Hahah - yeh cheers mate! Those videos were classic, the guy was so laid back..
Thanks for the advice about the panels, one of the areas I was concerned about was where the skirts meet the door shelf and the body work - what I am interpreting from your post is the way to see to these areas is to sand and finish the panels how I want them to sit, then sand back the skimmed/primer'd panel and the existing paint work on the solid part of the car chassis with the various graded sand papers, then spray as a single item - makes sense. The American guy on the youtube videos gives a good account of how to begin - 100 paper to rough up dents, fill and sand back, then use a 180 to get down to a nice feathered finish - then rough up the whole area to be painted. Then primer, sand and have another look at it. The little car he resprayed was priceless like :)
Today I bought 4 1200kg axle stands and a 2ton trolley jack with enough lift to get my car up onto the stands, so hopefully it will be less back breaking bending down to get at the various screw fixings and stuff. I'm glad someone else is on their way with a TRD too. I'll prob hit you up with a couple more questions, as and when I find the issues for myself - if you don't mind mate?!
I love the TRD's shape and wider looks class - a lot more muscular, though it's only am matter of personal taste at the end of the day, and some of the Border kits also look pretty good. I am keen to get the right offset wheels to fill those flared arches - am thinking of going 17" or 18" (prob 17 on the fronts at least) with offsets around +45 at the back and maybe +40 on the front; Looking for a wide solid stance to accentuate the fatter arse the car will have ;)
So cheers for now, hopefully I'll keep updating as I go!
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