Improved Downforce :driving:

Stillen Front Fascia ans Side Skirts
 

Well, I finally saved up and decided to go for the stillen 3 piece kit. I was skeptical at first because when I received the stillen front fascia and side skirts i noticed they were made of a very flexible rubber and are thicker/heavier then the stock pieces. In the past I was used to more rigid lighter material ie: fiberglass or even plastic. After speaking with the auto body shop they said rubber requires a little extra prep work to get the proper primer to adhere to the rubber because of the oil in the rubber, but it would not be a big deal. After installed and mounted the flexibility was no longer an issue as I thought it would be (but still not as hard as the factory plastic). The middle bottom area of the fascia was left as the original rubber. If you are considering this and are concerned either about the fitment or the rubber material all I can say is don't, because it goes together fine and the paint matching and quality are perfect. The only real modification is they have to replace the windshield washer reservoir with the one that comes with the kit.
The old stock reservoir has two connectors to it, one is a sensor to let you know when you're low and the other is for the pump. The new reservoir does not come with the "empty" sensor so you won't get the dummy light when you are low on fluid. Also the reservoir is about 1/4 smaller than the stock.
My body shop gave me a 6 year warranty on their work and offered to do touch ups for free if I get any small pits/dings in the front area from road gravel etc.... Something you may want to ask your body shop prior to having the work done. The body shop I went to is family owned and gave me a better price than the chain franchise and it was just a better experience over the corporate thing... If you are a DIY type then you could probably have all 3 pieces painted for around $450 bucks and do the install yourself, if you wanted to save a buck. My price out the door was $800 not including the cost of the parts themselves. If you have any questions feel free to PM me.

Looks great - and nice review. Do you plan to change the spoiler? I love Stillen's fascia/skirts - but not the wing. If you're in Socal, PM me the shop info. Thx...

looks great. also looks like they got rid of the dimple in the front that the early ones have (I have the first), also good that you have a fluid resorvoir. Mine didn't come with one and I just have no window washers.

looks great man, nicely done.

Where? All 1.5lb's of it? If that? lol

Or does the new plastic simply weigh more :-p

Thanks guys for the comments, yeah even though the kit itself was more than i wanted to spend i am happy with the results, and it isn't actually that much heavier so no worries there :-)

Hi theflyest1. I will pm you the body shop info this weekend and to answer your question, I won’t be doing the spoiler but it does look good on Mikes ride.

Hey Mike,
Yours looks great and the red tow hook against the black is a nice contrast. How often to you take it to the track? I have the red tow hook as well but I installed the mesh grill so I would have to cut a hole to install it so I don’t think I will, however if I do hit the track I suspect I will need to. Just curious is that what you did or did you just leave the mesh off? If you have pics in the forum/album I will check them out but if you don’t pm me would like to see some close ups of your ride….

A bit off topic but I wish the super charger was more affordable, the cost and the labor and the issue of warranty are what have me concerned. I need to do some research on this one to get a better understanding. I would love to attempt the install myself but I don't think I am gonna go there just yet

So wait, it cost you 800 dollars to get this install/painted and they didn't even blend in the pieces on the sides?

New Fascia
 

I think it looks fantastic. I love it! Personal Preference: I would have painted the lip also, so the entire fascia was body color. :driving:

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. A little bondo wouldn't have been that much work. Maybe they didn't know.

I used my own mesh with it and we cut a hole in it. The car sees the track one or two weekends per month from March through October and sits in the garage the rest of the time. I'm probably going to take the mesh off altogether once I totally stop driving on the street.

looks good 370z1, but once you notice the extra headlight piece thats not molded in i cant stop looking at it in the pictures.

for $800 id get them to fill it.

Thanks for the feedback, I didn't really notice the side pieces until now, they don't bug me but I like the ideas for improvement. I am going to speak with them to see if they will do it.
thx.

Hello "theflyest1",
I pm'd you the shop info.... You will be happy with their service and more importantly their work. If you decide to make the trip down pm me, we can hook up if you want?


Ok, regarding the bondo thing, I went back to them, and they said they would cover the bondo work if the situation was different. They would not do it even if I paid for it because they said the bondo covering the seem(s) between a rigid metal corner panel and a flexible rubber bumper simply would not stand the test of time, ie: separate or crack. They said the bondo, labor & paint for such a small area would be cheap and was not the issue. Other body shops may quote it but he suspects after they feel the rubber bumper they may realize the potential risk. He said he's had his body shop for 31 years and in his experience he wouldn't suggest it "based" on that material. If the bumper were less flexible it would probably be ok. Keep in mind the flexibility is not visibly to us but something the bondo would eventually reflect. He also said it would be less work to return the stock bumper if needed for any reason.

For me it doesn't matter but for some I guess that is something to consider prior so I figured I would post a reply....

Thanks again for all the feedback. On to the next mod.....

they aren't talking about that part, but the corners of the actual bumper themselves, where they meet the main bumper piece. Stillen supplies urethane to bond them in place after bolting them together. My shop used their own filler, as they didn't know the long term effects of the supplied filler, and it was about 3-4 hours labor to fill and blend them. Howver, it held up, even after a collision with a baby deer, causing just a tiny crack.