The Wicked One
Well-Known Member
This is a write up on how to mod an OEM Fiberglass Replica Lip Kit designed for 98-00 coupes to fit on the 01-02 coupes.
I bought my entire kit for 395 shipped on E-bay.
This is the only site that i am aware of that currently sells this lip. They do have options to ship to the USA now. http://www.lips-kit.com/index.php?cPath=82
the biggest difference between the replica and the real one is that there are no mounting clips on the replica. And the replica is made of fiberglass and not plastic. so the replica is more prone to breaking.
^picture courtesy of talontsiawd showing a comparison of OEM quality and replica quality.
Step One: Tape off the areas of the car in which you will be working.
- basically tape off everything near that fake lip line on our cars. This is to protect your paint from getting scuffed up while you are test fitting pieces.
Step Two: Sand off all the rough, sharp edges of the lip kit
-the kit is really "rough around the edges." It will cut through the tape, and even cut your hands if you aren't careful. smooth the edges out a bit.
From this point you can safely attempt to fit the lip to your car, but none of it will fit. The sides are about a half inch to short, and if your rear was as poorly made as mine was there will be gaps all over the place. You will be doing a lot of sanding to bring down the high spots.
Step Three: Sideskirt work
-The replica sides are short, so no matter what you will need to cut something. The replicas go over the factory sides, there is no way around it, it would be too flimsy otherwise. Some of the other members choose to cut the back ends off of their Factory sideskirts, and slip the replicas over them. I avoided this because if i ever wanted to sell the car, or remove my replicas i didnt want to have butchered side skirts. And the sideskirts would be slightly shorter than the body of the car. (cutting the factory ones is less time consuming though)
So I cut the back ends off of my replicas.
after that you can actually test fit the replica sides. This is the front of the car. You'll want to install the sideskirt behind the fenderliner. You can easily use the screws and holes that are originally securing the fenderliner to also secure the sideskirt. Just put the sideskirt behind it and use a marker to mark drilling locations, remove the skirt and then drill. you'll want to secure it there (temporarily) so that you can measure how much of a gap there is from replica skirt, to the end of the factory one so you know how much material you need to add.
My next step was to fiberglasse new rear end caps for the replicas, and then bondo over that to smooth them out.
I secured the sideskirts using two screws up front (the same ones holding on the fenderliner) and one screw in the back, visible in the picture above. your welcome to use more for added strength.
Step Four: Rear End Work:
-The rear isn't nearly as involved but requires a lot of sanding. the edges are "wavy" and you need to spend a lot of time getting rid of high spots so that there are no gaps against the car. All the white scribbles on the lip are marking areas i had to sand down.
You'll be test fitting, and sanding and then test fitting some more. but that's really all there is to it, no cutting needed... (See alternate technique below)
Mounting the rear end was a challenge because the lip comes with no clips or anything. I came up with this solution, may not be the best, but in my opinion it works very very well. basically i ran a bolt down through the bumper and lip. the tighter you make the nut, the higher and tighter the lip will sit against the car. otherwise it will sag and have gaps. I plan to put a shorter bolt when i take the lip off for paint.
From beneath the car
from behind
and a side view for reference.
And one screw on each side in the wheel well for added rigidity.
Sides and rear finished:
I bought my entire kit for 395 shipped on E-bay.
This is the only site that i am aware of that currently sells this lip. They do have options to ship to the USA now. http://www.lips-kit.com/index.php?cPath=82
the biggest difference between the replica and the real one is that there are no mounting clips on the replica. And the replica is made of fiberglass and not plastic. so the replica is more prone to breaking.
^picture courtesy of talontsiawd showing a comparison of OEM quality and replica quality.
Step One: Tape off the areas of the car in which you will be working.
- basically tape off everything near that fake lip line on our cars. This is to protect your paint from getting scuffed up while you are test fitting pieces.
Step Two: Sand off all the rough, sharp edges of the lip kit
-the kit is really "rough around the edges." It will cut through the tape, and even cut your hands if you aren't careful. smooth the edges out a bit.
From this point you can safely attempt to fit the lip to your car, but none of it will fit. The sides are about a half inch to short, and if your rear was as poorly made as mine was there will be gaps all over the place. You will be doing a lot of sanding to bring down the high spots.
Step Three: Sideskirt work
-The replica sides are short, so no matter what you will need to cut something. The replicas go over the factory sides, there is no way around it, it would be too flimsy otherwise. Some of the other members choose to cut the back ends off of their Factory sideskirts, and slip the replicas over them. I avoided this because if i ever wanted to sell the car, or remove my replicas i didnt want to have butchered side skirts. And the sideskirts would be slightly shorter than the body of the car. (cutting the factory ones is less time consuming though)
So I cut the back ends off of my replicas.
after that you can actually test fit the replica sides. This is the front of the car. You'll want to install the sideskirt behind the fenderliner. You can easily use the screws and holes that are originally securing the fenderliner to also secure the sideskirt. Just put the sideskirt behind it and use a marker to mark drilling locations, remove the skirt and then drill. you'll want to secure it there (temporarily) so that you can measure how much of a gap there is from replica skirt, to the end of the factory one so you know how much material you need to add.
My next step was to fiberglasse new rear end caps for the replicas, and then bondo over that to smooth them out.
I secured the sideskirts using two screws up front (the same ones holding on the fenderliner) and one screw in the back, visible in the picture above. your welcome to use more for added strength.
Step Four: Rear End Work:
-The rear isn't nearly as involved but requires a lot of sanding. the edges are "wavy" and you need to spend a lot of time getting rid of high spots so that there are no gaps against the car. All the white scribbles on the lip are marking areas i had to sand down.
You'll be test fitting, and sanding and then test fitting some more. but that's really all there is to it, no cutting needed... (See alternate technique below)
Mounting the rear end was a challenge because the lip comes with no clips or anything. I came up with this solution, may not be the best, but in my opinion it works very very well. basically i ran a bolt down through the bumper and lip. the tighter you make the nut, the higher and tighter the lip will sit against the car. otherwise it will sag and have gaps. I plan to put a shorter bolt when i take the lip off for paint.
From beneath the car
from behind
and a side view for reference.
And one screw on each side in the wheel well for added rigidity.
Sides and rear finished:
Last edited:
