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Nope, they still suck. I have seen hundreds of them in person and they always look like ****, including Shine, which for some reason people say is a good replica.
Time and patience. Also, you can buy ANY OEM paint online in aerosol form to paint if you don't know how or have the ability to use an actual gun.
Also, before you knock a Spray bomb paint job. Do some searching. Again, skills, tools, supplies and time..
Most of the legit kits I have seen in person (Varis, MS, Vertex, Legsport, Knightsports, RE, etc) fit perfectly or damn near perfect. And not all of them can be fixed, the issues I saw with the two Shine kits could not be fixed. The duraflex and cheaper shitty ones also are unfixable, usually they are too wide or just crooked molds.
My buddy (who is an awesome painter and body guy) got this shipped from Shine. Just a small sample of the quality and even he decided to go another route. My other Buddy had the Autobahn rep from Shine and it was just as bad.
I had a vadar kit on my car till someone backed into the front bumper this summer. While my car was parked waiting at the body shop, one of their vehicles hit my REAR bumper, cracking it in half. They say they will replace it with any aftermarket one I want but then sent me a website link that only sells duraflex crap. What do??
It comes down to this. A body kit is going to be expensive NO MATTER WHAT. If you have the time, energy, and persistence, you can make ANY kit work and fit good. The better quality you buy, will be a lot closer out of the box. I dont care what brand you buy, they will not fit perfect.
I bought a genuine INGS +1, which is definitely one of the top 10 brands in the body kit industry, and I still spent about 100 hours sanding, filling, and shaping it. I did however change some things but it fits like a glove now.
Whatever you buy, fiberglass or frp is the easiest to work with. Most all the kits are fiberglass anyway. It comes down to how much your willing to do yourself I guess. It is a big project no matter what, and it certainly isn't cheap.
It comes down to this. A body kit is going to be expensive NO MATTER WHAT. If you have the time, energy, and persistence, you can make ANY kit work and fit good. The better quality you buy, will be a lot closer out of the box. I dont care what brand you buy, they will not fit perfect.
I bought a genuine INGS +1, which is definitely one of the top 10 brands in the body kit industry, and I still spent about 100 hours sanding, filling, and shaping it. I did however change some things but it fits like a glove now.
Whatever you buy, fiberglass or frp is the easiest to work with. Most all the kits are fiberglass anyway. It comes down to how much your willing to do yourself I guess. It is a big project no matter what, and it certainly isn't cheap.
So if a shop were paying the bill for YOUR new bumper, which rear bumper would you choose?
Well that's subjective. Buy what looks the best to you. If the shop is paying and doing all the work, I guess in a sense it doesn't matter. If you can get a genuine jap one, go that route for sure. However, shipping is going to kill and will take awhile.
I find it hard to believe they'll order you a legit one from Japan...
Most of the legit kits I have seen in person (Varis, MS, Vertex, Legsport, Knightsports, RE, etc) fit perfectly or damn near perfect. And not all of them can be fixed, the issues I saw with the two Shine kits could not be fixed. The duraflex and cheaper shitty ones also are unfixable, usually they are too wide or just crooked molds.
Sadly, my Vertex kit fits like ****... my body guy will fix it, but I expected much better for what I had to pay for it. It will be on the car by Deals Gap at least...
^^^ did you contact Vertex USA? Their customer service is pretty amazing.
the Vertex kit we installed on a buddy's car was easily 9/10 with the only area needing any attention at all were the clear corner areas which actually fit too tightly so the shop simply sanded down a bit of material.
^^^ did you contact Vertex USA? Their customer service is pretty amazing.
the Vertex kit we installed on a buddy's car was easily 9/10 with the only area needing any attention at all were the clear corner areas which actually fit too tightly so the shop simply sanded down a bit of material.
It's not like it's going to cost that much more to clean up maybe $100 or so. It's not worth waiting months on shipping again.
Body guy will take care of it. I have a lot of other body work to be done as it is, so making a fiber glass bumper fit is the least of his worries.
In 2009 when my friend sold all of his original Mazdaspeed bodykit and his HKS dual exhaust. We manage to obtain a replica of the Mazdaspeed front bumper. We tried it on his engine problem Mazda RX-8 and the fitment were spot on. I'm trying to remember what was the brand name of that kit it were so long ago. I can't remember it who it were made from.
In 2009 when my friend sold all of his original Mazdaspeed bodykit and his HKS dual exhaust. We manage to obtain a replica of the Mazdaspeed front bumper. We tried it on his engine problem Mazda RX-8 and the fitment were spot on. I'm trying to remember what was the brand name of that kit it were so long ago. I can't remember it who it were made from.
Any chance it was a eurathane KBD bumper? Carid lists one for sale.
I am pretty much always against replica stuff, but in the case of Mazda no longer producing the Mazdaspeed kit, I wouldn't be opposed to an aftermarket offering if they could actually get the fitment down. With that said, I've been seeing a company called Vicrez in my Instagram feed. They make a urethane MS replica. Their claim is that their bumpers indestructible and the fitment is guaranteed. I'd be curious to see if this was actually a viable alternative to an authentic Mazdaspeed kit.
Edit** I should also add from the googling I've done, that their urethane pieces are heavier than fiberglass and even the OEM plastics, which kind of sucks.
I am pretty much always against replica stuff, but in the case of Mazda no longer producing the Mazdaspeed kit, I wouldn't be opposed to an aftermarket offering if they could actually get the fitment down. With that said, I've been seeing a company called Vicrez in my Instagram feed. They make a urethane MS replica. Their claim is that their bumpers indestructible and the fitment is guaranteed. I'd be curious to see if this was actually a viable alternative to an authentic Mazdaspeed kit.
Edit** I should also add from the googling I've done, that their urethane pieces are heavier than fiberglass and even the OEM plastics, which kind of sucks.
Even if they fit properly, I would question the vulnerability of paint cracking under the flex of the material. I believe Shine Auto had this issue.
02-18-2016, 01:59 PM
