chunbelievable

iTrader: (5)

Hey Fellas,

I am having a replica mazdaspeed front bumper installed and to no surprise the fit isn't perfect but aside form a little shaving around the side markers, I am pretty damn happy of how she is coming out.

I do have a question however. On the car, immediately behind the stock bumper is a good chunk of styrofoam to pad some of the impact in the event of a head on collision. The pad however is impeding the fit a little. My question is should I try to shave the stryrofoam a little to help the fit or if I just lose the stryrofoam all together am I screwing with my safety all that much?

If anyone has had this issue with replica bumpers, any input would be helpful. Also, how have people attached the plastic sheet on the bottom of the car to the replica bumper? I don't know how the authentic bumper connects but could use some advise here too.

Here are some pics of the car and kit. Can't wait til she is done.

chunbelievable

iTrader: (5)

That's a decent amount of views but no insight yet. Anyone?

Phantom RX

iTrader: (26)

wow kit looks good. As for the stryrofoam.... When I put my grill in i had to paint the stryrofoam black so i wouldn't see the white stryrofoam, but as far as removing it I would not do it I would just make it fix. Then paint it black.

If you do take it out you will be able to see the reinforcement bar.



BTW... Where did you get that kit? I have been wanting to get the mazdaspeed front bumper for a long time.

chunbelievable

iTrader: (5)

Thanks for the input Phantom. We're actually going to put a piece of sheet metal or rubber across the top of the mesh to hide the styrofoam or reinforcement bar. I was told that painting the pad itself black wouldn't translate well because the paint would melt off. Did you have success painting the styrofoam?

I was more wondering if people just got rid of the pad but it sounds like keeping it is more important. We will just shave it a little then.

Also, how did you connect the bottom sheet of plastic on the bottom of the car to the bumper? Did you fabricate a bracket or did the piece reach your bumper to where you could just fasten it directly?

Phantom RX

iTrader: (26)

First of all I did have to make 2 little Y brackets to hold the plastic bottom up to keep it from draging the ground.

Here is pic of the front end of my car you can see the styrofoam.
I've had it on there for about 3 months now and it looks ok still.

chunbelievable

iTrader: (5)

Thanks for the pics Phant. I am glad the paint is working but I think I am going to try to emulate the authentic bumper a little and put a sheet along the top of the mesh. I think will be just a little cleaner of a look but I appreciate seeing what it would like if I did paint the styrofoam black.

And definitely good info on the y brackets, I will try those FO SHO! Thanks man.

chunbelievable

iTrader: (5)

Oh whoops I never answered you on the kit. I got it the bumper and the skirts from the forums here. Bumper cost me $150 and the skirts $100 from people who just never got around to putting them on their cars. I would keep track of the parts for sale section, when these deals popped up (which is pretty often) I jumped on them. Areo flares I got from Mazda, the dealership had a pair around and wanted to get rid of them. $50 already painted, I couldn't say no to that.

Keep in mind there was some work that had to be done for the bumper to fit but it isn't terrible, just some shaving down here and there. We are working on the side markers now but once that is done along with the styrofoam we should be good. Definitely isn't the same as the 15 min it would take to install an authentic but I saved about a grand and the bumper is urethane so I am not as worried about cracking like other replica fiberglass bumpers do.

Phantom RX

iTrader: (26)

ya i wanted to ditch the styrofoam and make a custom chrome cover for the bumper bar but... maybe when i get the mazdaspeed bumper.

BTW Where did you get that at?
or is it a secret.

chunbelievable

iTrader: (5)

LOL, it's no secret, see above post right before your last. I didn't mention specific members I purchased from because I bought the bumper and skirts about a year ago and I honestly don't remember the dudes names. They were just a couple of forum guys like us who had them but didn't want them anymore.

leavitt

i just took the styrofoam out. you can see the bar but it matches the color of the car so its no big deal
Reeds_rx8_044.jpg (2.7 MB)

Juansito

iTrader: (5)

Dude im doing the SAMETHING!!

https://www.rx8club.com/ne-rx-8-forum-29/bodyshop-ny-ms-front-bumper-fitting-175316/

Im looking for a shop to do it now.....Mine is painted but how much they charging you for all the labor and work? I'm going to PM you.

chunbelievable

iTrader: (5)

So Kasumi is done. I opted to just take the styrofoam out just in case I wanted to go back to the stock bumper, the styrofoam would still be in tact. We did however cover the top backside of the grill with a thick hard rubber cutout to mimic the authentic mazdaspeed look and cover up the car behind the grill. It looks pretty sweet. We also used the same material make a connector sheet from the air dam matt to the new bumper, no brackets required and the look is natural. Here's what she looks like.

archiei40

nice...!

imput1234

iTrader: (6)

If you don't mind sharing what company made your replica side skirts?

Fortunate Few

iTrader: (2)

i took mine out to put a neon light there lol. I doubt a peice of foam is gong to save my life. i know for the veilside bumper you gotta take part the the impact bar.

chunbelievable

iTrader: (5)

I got them from the forums here. Unfortunately, I don't know the company, just they are urethane.

RxMadness

iTrader: (2)

I always assumed you had a silver 8 from the sig, but your Kasumi looks good. How much did the paint/labor cost on the bumper and skirts?


Edit: Also did you solve the problem with the engine under cover?

chunbelievable

iTrader: (5)

^^ Yeah I get that a lot from people. The car in my sig is the Mazda Super car. I was just always a big fan of that car so I made a sig out of it. Thanks for the Kasumi props though. I wish I was a better photographer so I can do her better justice. I took these pics on my iPhone.

Kit, paint and labor all together ran me like $700 - $750. I lost total count with the small stuff that added in. As for the under cover, we ended up constructing a rubber extension to the cover that would easily reach the bumper. We use a solid long piece of rubber about a centimeter thick to run the full width of the cover. It looks seamless and is a good sound solution.

I also ended up using the same rubber for behind the grill up top to hide the body of the car through the new grill. I felt better using rubber here as I thought sheet metal might rattle and would also get dinged too much from pebbles and possibly need to be painted constantly.

All in all I am seriously happy with how Kasumi came out and I still stare at her whenever she is in eyesight.