TRD (or any) body kit - fitment process to follow

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?

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??

Here are some pics leading up to the "trim waggling", may give the issue a bit more context!!

use a deep socket

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.

duh - just realise I a typo

I meant to say coat the car , not the cat... ;)

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