I've just had a load of work done on my car by a paintshop, to make a short story long:

here's what I had done:

Bonnet repaired (few dents, one large) and fully sprayed
Front bumper repaired (2 scuffs) and fully sprayed
Rear bumper repaired (1 small scuff) and fully sprayed
LE front lips (fibreglass copies) sprayed and fitted
LE Sideskirts (fibreglass copies) sprayed and fitted

The job took one week. The paint job is great, no complaints about that. The bonnet has been well repaired, the rear bumper is also fine, the colour match isnt 100% perfect (I'd say about 85%) but the original paint is faded, so it'll do.

Few problems with the kit though: one of the LE lips is not attached closely to the bumper at the front edge (the bit nearest to the numberplate). There is a gap where the bonding agent has not fully stuck the lip to the bumper, and so the lip comes away a little bit. I know that these lips arent a perfect fit, but thought a reputable bodyshop will still be able to adjust them to fit somehow. I say Marius's guide on his site, and his technique was good - fitted them flush no problemo. I'm not too bothered about this, as the kit isnt original it's half my fault for using a crap kit, bit annoying but I can live with it for now (may get ads plastic lips, or a full LE bumper in the future).

The big problem: both the doors on the car dont close without using a fair bit of force. When opening them they 'ping' open, like some pressure was being put on them - and releasing the catch lets releases the pressure. I had a good look at why this was happening, and it seems that the skirts meet the black plastic kick plates above the sills (normal on an LE, I checked), and the door is actually rubbing the skirts as it closes, hence the skirt has been damaged by the opening and closing of the door (paint has actually come off). It looks like the doors may have dropped over time, and found a resting position where the skirts now sit, so they should have been re-alighned.

The skirts are also not fitted very well. They have been bonded on along the tops of the skirts, but are completely loose at the bottom. You can actually move the skirts around by lifting them up and down, and they've been screwed in at both ends of the sills (1 screw on 3 of the sills, 3 screws on one sill???). These screws are basically holding the damn thing in place, with the small amount of bonding helping keeping them on the car.

I called them to tell them I was happy with X, and unhappy with Y. They were a little reluctant to help at first, but after being pushed they said for me to bring the car back for them to sort out. This garage had cars like Skylines/TT's being done when I dropped the car off, and is used by a huge german manufactured car dealership to fit OE bodykits. They should know what they're doing TBH, but I think only having the car for 1 week they were rushed. I told them if they needed it for longer they should've said so, but its all water under the bridge now.

So, I'll give them another chance to fix the skirts/doors, but wanted to ask you chaps what techniques are best to fix these skirts on solid. Where should it be bonded, how much should be used, and do you need those unsightly screws (cant you get screws with covers to hide them?).

What would be great is if you guys could post pics up of your skirts, where they attach to the sill from the bottom/sides (by the arches)/top etc.... and what was used to attach the bottoms to the underside of the car.

I want to go back fully armed and tell them exactly what needs to be done, they can do the work - but I think they rushed it. I havent seen anywhere else that has sprayed a bonnet like mine, really is top class - shame they couldnt do a perfect job on the rest - but hey, thats life sometimes.

All help and pics appreciated. Cheers all.

S1MMA.

Can't help with the specifics of your query but I am sure I have seen pics showing skirts that have been fitted and how it was done on the old forum - if memory serves I believe that someone has used pop rivets in the piece that wraps around the wheel arch which looks very neat. What I wondered is how much that little lot set you back?

the doors need re-hanging to allow for the skirts.

ask the bodyshop to do it.

if its not done the doors will wear away the paint on the skirts, and may cause them to crack over long term.

Simma,

I would of happily taking pics but unfortunately my cars in the garage at the moment..

Sorry

I made some brackets to fit the under the skirts so they met with the sill.

This stops any flex full stop

The brackets don't need to be fancy. You could make some with a pair of tin-snips. Then mount them to the tabs on the skirts and to the sill.

i fibreglassed my skirts to the sills just ran it along the top edge of the skirt. easy fit

Hello mate,

Just fitted Joy Tuning skirts to mine and to be honest I DIDNT TRUST the bodyshop to fit them so I did it myself. I know this doesnt help you now but if your that unhappy, for the sake of 45 quid you could always get another pair. Judging by what ive read before its pot luck on how well the skirts initially fit to the car. Mine wernt bad but in my opinion they will always need a few hours work with a Dremmel to get them to fit just right. The body shop WILL NOT do this.

I reshaped the front ends where they go inside the arch to fit in line with the metal thats already there. I trimmed down the backs aswell as they seemed to go into the arch space too far and catch the eye. I also just cut off all the tabs on the underside as they do nothing.

I predrilled and pot riveted 3no on each wheel arch end and used a thin bead of silka flex along the upper edge by the door. The bottoms are unsupported but this doesnt seem to be a problem so far.

I also used the silkaflex to seal the gaps between the skirt and front/back wings and smoothe of with my finger.

Only then did I take it to the body shop!!

THe only really diffcult bit was judging whet angle to set them at as you can lean them in or out to suit your self really as they are not fixed underneath. I ended up with the rear bottom corners lining up about 10mm inside the outer tyre line of the back wheel when you look down the side of the car.

Sorry if this makes no sense, I would post some pictures if I knew how.

Hope this helps.

James.

cheers for the above all.

Jamesyboy, if you want to send me some pics - send them to farhad9@yahoo.com and I'll put them up for you no problem. I use photobucket.com to put up my pics by the way - check them out, free site for hosting pics.

Marius, I bought them from one of the ebay guys, think he was in poland but I forget the name of the firm. Wasnt joy tuning though.

I took a pic on my phone in the dark of the front end, looks pretty mean without a numberplate:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v187/S1MMA/Fiat/Image002.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v187/S1MMA/Fiat/Image006.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v187/S1MMA/Fiat/Image001.jpg

looks good in pics, hopefully the details will get sorted soon

I actually bought the kit mid last year - before I knew of AutoDS - otherwise I would have bought them from you!

So the underside tabs are useless, can the underside not be bonded on solid?

hi i take it u got a fibre glass body kit they r a pain at the best of times jap kits on corsas and saxos . i have worked in bodyshops and will be going back soon hopefully and in my opion the only good bodykits for fit is the irmscher for vauxhall they say its factory fitted but it done by the dealer bodyshops usually. even audi and vw is cheaply made ms design stuff not the fit but finish of plastic

but not is all the kits fault

i have original fiat le bumper and skirts , i found one problem to be the fact that there is so much stone chip on the sills, if u look at a le or plus the side skirts fit in the gap between the sill and wings more flush then on 20vt. i belive they dont have as much if any stone chip that high up th sills

with the underneath on the le and plus there are captive nuts in the sill. u could rivet some anchor nuts in correct place lined up with hole in bottom skirt tabs ,making sure u seal any holes or seal the lot once riveted, under seal will do but no gaps get it covered.

the type of anchor nuts r the one with the flanged bottoms 2 holes for rivets with the nut protruding out the top .

the side will still have to be riveted/screwed/bonded on same as the top edge

hope that is of some help

You can make some "legs" for the tabs, but.. there is no need.

I had pics of my skirt install which I think Tartandude hosted for me on the old forum...

Tartandude do you still have them or am I going barmy?

Ooh yeah..2 secs..

Iamholman,

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y43/tartandude/new_coupe_side_small.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y43/tartandude/coupe_skirt004.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y43/tartandude/coupe_skirt003.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y43/tartandude/coupe_skirt001.jpg

You can add the comments

Thanks Tartandude:

Basically I think my skirts were bonded on the top edge and held my a screw or bolt near the top of the skirt (as in skirt001 pic)

The front of the skirt was painted in a rubbery substance to protect it from stones coming off the front wheel which seems a good idea.

I too think that my drivers door has dropped a little as the corner of the door has scraped a small hole where it has come in contact with the skirt but hope to get this fixed the next time I take it to a garage. (door is fine on the passenger side)

Hope that helps!

excellent, cheers for that guys - the screws/bolts that are holding your skirts on really do look a lot better than the ones they used on mine.

Anyone got pics of the underside of the skirts, and the way they attach to the car?

if your kit is fibre glass u wont need to fix it underneath as it is riddged, but if worried u could do as i suggested before

@ Iamholam - skirts looking good. I remember you buying them off me last year. They are Joy tuning jobbies.

I have just changed my mind about the skirts again and have just bought a full painted kit from AutoDS!

I might contact you for some fitting advice - they look very neatly done.

Mariusz

I have been looking at your site and would be interested in the LE skirts and lips

What price would shipping to the UK be ?

Is the price for spraying per item ie I would have to multiply by 4 ?

Thank for any help ..

no.. no.. no..

LE kit: 90 GBP
Painting: 79 GBP
Insured shipping cost: 26GBP

ok ok ok :-)

I guess I will be ordering some of them in the next few weeks then

Cheers for the quick reply..

Where is the fitting guide on the AutoDS site?

Here..

dont use silicone on your kits, use either sikflex to bond and if u want to paint over the bond use sealer(not underseal but stuff in tubes for sealer guns) as the paint can start to flake off the sikflex in time, and wont stick to silicone

never use silicone

also u should always trial fit the kit without the sealer before painting. to align up and make screw/rivet holes if needed

i allways fit take off prep paint fit ,thats is the way every bodyshop i worked in does it

dont worry if sealer goes up the bumper or out the skirts in the door shut have a mutton cloth soaked in thinners/degreaser and wipe away ,worth noting the more sealer u put on the more mess it makes so use as little as needed

u can use masking tape to hold parts down and keep them tight to the bumper just hold the tape tight on edges and push it down on to the bumper. u can use panel clamps but use a bit of cardboard between the clamp and panel

also making sure where u r bonding/sealing is clean dry degreased and keyed up