stillen body kit
 

Alright I did do the search function so don't come get me forum police.=) I was just unable to find the info I wanted.

I was wondering how peoples stillen body kits were holding up and any other factual information on them. I really have been considering in getting one and I like the agressive look of it. Also my main concern is that I have the GTM stage 2 TT on my car and will it all be able to fit behind the bumper. Any info would be aporeciated.
Frank

I can't say from personal experience if it will clear your GTM hardware but the large opening in the front bumper would be absolutely perfect for your application. I think the front Stillen bumper matched with a good set of side skirts looks great and if you have any clearance issues with the intercooler, I am sure you can just trim the internals of the bumper to suite.

:iagree:

I am not to worried about the intercooler as much as I am about the intakes. I know with the stock bumper they get tight in there and I am worried about the side vents not letting them clear. Also I seen some mixed reviews with people having issues with the bumper fitment wise but stillen makes it sound easy. Any info in that area. I would rather of had it on piece and worked it out with picking up from the truck company. Thanks for your inputs

From personal experience the stillen bumper is ok. I had some fitment issues therefore I had to take my car back to stillen to fix it. After that stillen decided to change the mold. After that I got ride of my bumper and went to amuse. Personally they have not chimed in how they plan to fix the issues. All in all I would personally get another bumper. Pm if you need any help.

Though Im not in the FI market yet, I do have the Injen intakes which I have been told will not fit behind the Stillen bumper. I have also been advised to stay away from this bumper, which is a bummer because if Stillen addressed its issues it would likely be one of the hottest sellers.

It's a shame hearing this because personally in terms of looks the Stillen front bumper is my favorite.. if a second hand bumper is ever for sale can I safely assume the fitment issues on said bumper have been dealt with since it has already been fitted on a 370z?

I have it unfornuately, if I had to do it over again I would not get it if I knew of all the problems I had with it on getting it to fit, the bubbling under the headlights and now it is starting to sag a little. I also have the stillen sideskirts and on the flat part under the door it is starting to sag too, also had fitment issues with them too.

This stinks to hear, I love the bumper with the fangs to be honest. It also looked like a great option for anyone with the tt, or Gtm s/c since it has a front mount b/c of the cooling. This is a bummer to hear.

Well damn this sucks to hear since I really liked it and was really considering in getting it. I am glade I asked first though. I also like the amuse one alot just don't want to spend 1100 on the front bumper and then pay to get it installed and painted. I guess the moto of this is you got to pay to play. I wish Stillen would jump in and provide info to the issue's that you guys had.
Frank

I think Stillen will eventually bring a one piece mold, just takes a bit. I mean in the industry as long as they fix the issues, to me their good. I have ordered even wheels and had issues, but I was taken care of and its all that mattered to me. (everyone cross their fingers, I have faith and Stillen knows how to handle business thats for sure)

Yea I hope but I know alot of people were complaining about the 3 pc design saying its a pain and requires work to make it fit, but what about the bubbeling under the head lights? I thought they fixed all that with the V2 bumper. I guess with everything going on I am just getting really scared to do bussiness with stillen.
Frank

All-

The issues that were in the original bumper as far as the bubbling under the headlight has been resolved. It was an issue with the lack of structure and we fixed that. It actually has been corrected for a little while now. We have not had any issues or complaints recently regarding the fitment or the sag. It is my understanding that if anyone had this issue on the Version 1, we offered a free replacement. Some people took us up on that offer, some did not.

Jamaica951- You are correct, your fascia was one of the first produced and as such it did have the bubble under the headlight, also, it was not properly installed and we did some minor changes and correctly mounted it. I remember you had the fascia popping out under the headlight because it had not been properly installed into the factory mounting location beneath the light.

Wretched_Z- please feel free to contact me directly regarding any fitment issues you might be experiencing. My email is kmillen@stillen.com if you would like to shoot me an email with photos?

Is there any word on resolving the 3-piece issue. Will there be a 1-piece "version 3" available in the near future?

Well thank you Kyle for the response and clearing that last bit up. Now do you happen to know the answers to my other questions such as my intakes being able to fit behind this bumper? Also how much work is required as to getting this to fit properly, meaning sanding and all.
Frank

Good to see someone from Stillen chiming in. I still have my eye on that front bumper and am going to watch this thread to determine whether or not I purchase...

I am also curious if there will be a 1 piece front bumper coming out in the future?

I like the stillen bumper design but will only buy it as a one piece.

See i really don't care about it being three pieces. I care more towards when those three pieces come together if they will look as one, meaning the lines will come together and not be any overlay that requires sanding or building it up with bondo.
Frank

In regards to it clearing your intakes or the intercooler, that I have no idea. If it were my own personal vehicle, it wouldn't worry me. I would make it work. However, I take on projects with more of a custom approach than most people anyways. For example, when I installed our urethane roll pan on my Titan I removed the factory back up sonars and molded them into the roll pan. It was a pretty simple affair really, simply found my desired mounting location, grabbed the whole saw and cut it out. Then filed in the corners to accept the clips and it was done, only took about an hour to do all four.

In regards to the 3 piece design. That was done to reduce shipping costs. It is actually VERY easy to fill that gap in someone's driveway if they are willing to take on a custom project in their driveway for a couple hours on a weekend. The gap is very small however it is not invisible if you don't fill it. We do provide a two part epoxy that is very easy to work with and use to fill that gap. I actually would not recommend bondo. Bondo does not stick very well to urethane and if not done professionally has a very good chance of seperating later on.

Basically, when you get your fascia, sand down the edges of the two mating surfaces. make sure you scuff it up well enough to get rid of any shine in this area. If it's shiny, it won't stick...simple as that! Don't worry about sanding too much as you are going to fill that area, just give it a nice radius and a good surface to adhere to. Once you have prepped the area, insert the provided nuts and bolts in to the structural support area on the rear flange. Now, mix the supplied two part epoxy and pour it into the channel and spread evenly. You will only have about 15-20 minutes before it sets up so you don't want to waste your time but at the same time, 15 minutes is more than enough time to complete this. Once you have put enough epoxy in the gap, tighten down the bolts holding the corners together. Once these bolts are tight it should squeeze some epoxy out. Take some of that epoxy and blend it back over the top of the line. Let it sit for about an hour or two so that it is hard enough to work with. Once it has entirely set up, simply sand down the epoxy to smooth out any bumps.

At this point you can call the project finished, or you can take one extra step if you're a perfectionist. If it were my personal vehicle, I would let the epoxy set up for a couple of days and let the fascia rest in the corner of my garage. Sitting on the bottom, not the corners. Sometimes epoxies and urethanes can shrink and this shrinkage can pull back into the gap a little bit. Most people will never see it, but if you're a perfectionist, you'll look for it. So, after you've let the fascia rest for a few days come back to it and inspect it. If the epoxy has shrunk, simply mix a small batch of epoxy and blend it across that line. You may or may not need to sand it down again. This is just a final detail touch. Like I said, most people won't need to worry about it.

This whole process from start to finish will probably take you 2-3 hours. If you're a professional who has done this type of work before, more along the lines of 2 hours. This really is a very easy project.

Once the fascia has been prepared, make sure your painter uses primer!!! They will tell you that they use an "adhesion promoter" for urethane parts...Adhesion promoter does not work as well as primer. USE PRIMER!!!

Thank you kyle for jumping in. I am going to do a little more research and then i am going to go from there. I watched videos of you guys mounting the three pieces and and then installing the bumper and you guys really do make it look easy and like a 3 year old can do it, but then I hear these guys on the forum who are having fitment issues and they all seem to be very car savy. So I am kind of torn. i like the look of it and it has a very nice price tag compared to other brands who make there bumpers out of the same material. Once again thanks for your time
Frank

hey just to let everyone know I spoke to john at z1 on aim and he said that the stillen V2 bumper is good quaility. He installed one on to a 370 with the gtm twin turbo kit and said he did have to do a good bit of shaving. So I think now the stillen bumper is in the runnings again and this is the one i am leaning towards.
Frank

to the original post... and on an honest note.... i love the stillen front bumper... but the 3 piece is just fail.... the only time ill ever get it is if they made it one piece.... here is something to think about... poly is flexible so when someone thuds your car... it wont dent but just kinda absorb the impact and flex.... kyle is right about the bondo part... it WILL seperate no doubt about it.... the reason why is bondo dries hard like a rock... and wont flex... so when you start driving the bumper starts to get shaken and goes through vibrations boom... the poly and bondo seperates... as for epoxy sticking to poly... its a better alternative but i imagine it will seperate in the future as well... it lasts longer though cuz epoxy is a lil flexible for a little while.... but once that baby hardens like a rock also.... and your bumper flexes at that point for any lil reason.. that part will hairline crack... :( the best alternative is using polyurethane filler... because its flexible and is the correct method of joining the three pieces together.. the only thing is that you need a gun and is sold in a two part tube kinda like a caulking from home depot but two canisters... the gun is needed so you can dispense it evenly and at the same time.... i recommend having a shop that does this method because the filler cost like 80 bucks for the two fillers and almost 200 for the gun... [i live on guam so i dont know if it costs cheaper in states] (this is the way i would recomend if you are absolutely hell bent on getting the bumper.... its really nice thats why;) ) but even then im still not sold on it when i can use this method because i think of the 3 piece bumper like a broken bone... it is never as good as a 1 piece and it has been broken already so it will always be weaker than a bone that hasnt been broken.... :bowrofl: i hope i made sense... on a serious note and personal opinion i would stay away from it.... you gotta pay to play... get the amuse FTW

Thank you for your response. I was thinking of the amuse but I really just don't like the look of it. Also I am not understanding the whole fext thing. The stillen bumper three pieces get bolted down from reading the directions and kyles post. I could see your point more if they were just held together by only the glue. I think more along the lines they tell you to put the glue that way it sqeezes out into the crack to help fill it. Or are you meaning by using the glue to fill the crack that is what actully is going to start to crack and cause flaws in the paint? sorry for not understanding i am sure you put it in a good enough explanation but i am stupid in the body work area.
Frank

My thing and truly its been brought up, but why cant they just bring it one piece. The amount of money people have to pay to prep it and get it ready correctly to avoid issues is the same as paying for the extra costs of shipping incurred. That is my 2 cents and its a HUGE shame, b/c I do love the look of it.

That plus wear and tear over the next 3 or so years those pieces are sure to separate. I really like the looks of it but I don't want to have to worry about the different pieces. I drive my car everyday and need durability.

Also, nobody has said if it's flexable enough to stand up to curb bumps or doesn't it crack easily?

no problem man... well even with the bolts... just the fact that its not one piece it will get a hairline crack no matter what... even if you bolted it together riveted it and all the other things you can think of holding the pieces together it will always crack because poly always moves... you cant see it with the naked eye but its there man... when the sun beats down on your car... the pieces will move.... plastic gets soft when it gets hot... same with poly... it will move when your bumper is hitting the highway at 60 miles per hour, plus the road shaking the bumper, it all effects the bumper and makes it move not to mention the seperate pieces are exactly at the main mounting points....

exactly man.... and i bet there sales would double.... or even triple... there is no other poly bumper in the market.. all the jdm stuff is just frp... and i dont care how tuff people make frp seem but its still fiberglass.... when i finally have my amuse... imma be the most paranoid guy in the world because the minute i slamm a deep enough pot hole or speed bump craccckkkkk lol and there goes 1,500 :facepalm: if stillen just spent a little more extra time in refining their aero products i would soo be all over it...i love the sides and front bumper from stillen... and the price is badass... just not the fitment LOL... just my 2cents

I didn't know this about the Stillen kit. I think I'll pass until theres a one piece.

From what I hear, once you bolt the 3 pieces together you can barely see the line of separation. You add the epoxy simply to fill the line and smooth everything out. It holds nothing in place and there's a bunch of bolts holding the pieces together so they don't really move apart. Meh, I personally wouldn't even bother filling in the lines.

or you can do it that way... just dont fill the gap :ugh2: that way no worries of hairline crack later on... :tup:

Simota- You might be surprised actually. I've done a lot of work with urethane over the years and I am confident that this won't have any hair line cracks if the materials are simply prepared correctly. And really, by that, all I mean is scuffed/sanded thoroughly before filling. I know what you mean about the possibility of time taking its toll and flex potentially damaging the gap, however, I would be really surprised if that happened considering how much of the fascia is fastened together with hardware, and when attached with hardware, how rigid that joing actually is.

I plan on putting this fascia on our race car that we will be building soon and I will be blending that line and I am very confident that it will hold up fine, if it can hold up on a race car, it can hold up on a street car easily! When it comes to our race cars, we don't treat them like most people treat their race cars. We keep them in pristine condition and regularly hear comments from people questioning if they've ever been raced. Just take a look at our Targa rally GT R! When we displayed it at SEMA last year (just a couple weeks after the New Foundland rally) people were asking if the car had just been freshly painted! No one had any idea it had just run a 5 day rally race.

Just following up on Kyle's comments about the Fascia clearing the intercooler/intakes.

The Stillen Fascia will clear the GTM TT Kit. We installed the fascia on a customer's '09 Base model that recieved the GTM kit a few weeks ago. I will state that the optional brake ducts WILL NOT work due to the intercooler and associated piping.

your right there is hair line cracks were the 3 piece connects.

I would be interested in seeing your fascia. Do you still have it?

no I dont have it. Its been sold. Had to get rid of it because it wasn't worth it trying to fix it multiple times.

do you possibly have pictures of it cracking. Also not calling you a liar so don't take it that way but why didn't you bring it up to stillen about the crack.

As for not putting the glue/filler in the line I don't think I would be interested in doing that since i don't want to be able to see the lines at all.
Frank

Hey kyle could I possibly pay extra for you to seal the gap with urathane and pay the extra to ship it. I don't know if you guys are against that or not but i think it would make me have less worries. I know in my job we use a epoxy on seals and all to hold them to the airframe and after a month or so they start to come off due to the epoxy cracking from vibrations.(I am a helicopter mechanic for the navy)


Hello dustin and thank you for jumping in. How much work was required in order to get this to go on the GTM kit. Also how did it turn out look wise. I don't want to pay a body shop more money then I paid for the bumper just to make it fit and look right. thanks

Frank

mine is holding up just fine after several track days.

I am glade to hear that since I really like this bumper. I would like to get this bumper, the hood that z1 sells and powder coat my rims. I am not sure what a good color would be for them on the MB. Maybe like kyle said alot has to do with installation and prep.
Frank

So I was walking by a photo of my old truck in the lobby today and realized something...I did something VERY similar to this on my old truck I had just totally forgotten about it. In fact, it wasn't even as good as this new setup.

On my old truck I had an issue with the fitment of my wheels. The truck cycled 16 inches of wheel travel and could clear 37 inch tires. However, we wanted to run the STILLEN urethane bumper cover but the bumper cover hung about an inch or more lower than the stock bumper. So, I had an issue with tire clearance, it rubbed like a BITCH. To fix this we just took a pie cut straight out of the center on both sides of the bumper about an inch or two long and then bonded it back together. It was very easy and worked great. As far as cracking is concerned. To put it into perspective of what this front bumper stood up to:

1) I was on my way to a photo shoot one day and I was about to exit the freeway, I looked over at the lane I wanted to be in and saw that the Expedition in front of me was towing a trailer with a large cardboard refrigerator box on it. I had noticed it for awhile as we had been traveling down the freeway side by side for quite some time and I felt comfortable following him. About ten seconds after I pulled into the lane the cardboard box came off the trailer and smashed right into the front of my bumper!!! I pulled off to the freeway expecting to see all kinds of damage to my hood, bumper, grill, possibly headlights etc. Turned out the only damage to the truck was the paint had come off my bumper......because my painter used "adhesion promoter" not primer like I instructed him. Hence the reason I am so adamant about using primer NOT "adhesion promoter." I took the bumper back to him the next day and picked it up a few days later good as new.

2) I took this truck to a photo shoot with Truckin' magazine at Dumont dunes where we raced around the sand dunes and through the whoop roads while they snapped a ton of photos.

3) I took this truck to Glamis for President's weekend and drove around like a mad man all weekend long. Through the whoop roads to Oldsmobile hill, through the roads around our camp, for three days this truck saw nothing but sand and I had to fill the fuel tank a couple times. As far as what abuse did it see? Well, if anyone ever sees this truck just look inside the wheel wells and look at the upper control arm. Notice the massive bolts holding the upper arms to the spindle. Then look directly above it at the bottom of the wheel well and notice the hex shaped stamp imprinted on both sides of the wheel wells...Yea...that was a good jump! That jump used about 17 of my 16 inches of wheel travel LOL!

Here are some pictures of the truck:

STILLEN : Project Vehicles - STILLEN Nissan Titan Silver

Those are just a few examples of the abuse I put that truck through and that bumper held up perfectly fine and never showed any indication of cracking or anything. The reason I mention it is because that bumper did not have any other support to it, just the urethane epoxy holding it together and because it was properly prepped and installed, I never had an issue. I know for a fact that if it is done correctly, you guys also won't have any issues with it.

With that being said, toner to answer your question, I am talking with Steve Millen right now about us blending that line before we ship the fascia's. He is looking into what's involved and I will have a quote for you tomorrow.

Thanks!

Kyle

naw no worries. I went to stillen. The owner came steve came out talked for a bit and agreed to solve the issue. And the guy that installed it and painted it is the guy that paints and installs all of stillens car. after all said and done there was still some issues.