HELP ME fit my body kit

[Blackened302]

all 4 pieces are from ABC Exclusive and are in urethane.

nacho (95vert) and i went over to my garage (my grandma's actually) to work on the bondo/sanding. we ran out of sand paper about a half-hour into it and as we were talking about going to go get more, we looked at eachother and said "let's put on the body kit!" so we started. we took off the front and rear bumpers plus everything else that needed removing in order to get to them. i'll spare you the details of how we had to make multiple trips to advance for misc ****, but in the end we couldn't find the right rivets to secure the factor brackets on the ABC stuff. we decided to use zip-ties (yeah i know, not so great, but it was temp) to test-fit. now they were secured pretty tight--they might be why it wasn't fitting, but either way, the rear wasn't lining up flush like the factor one did. i'm talking about the horizontal seam that runs under the tail-lights.

it all comes down to: how do i "fit" the bumpers--especially front the side fit? i'm going to contact ford tomorrow about which exact rivets to use (anyone know?) . the sides stuck out too far out--i'm thinking this is because the brackets are sticking too far inward--i'm going to try and bend the brackets' edges (like a C so in cause i need the width i can just unbend them) in order to push them inside the bumper a little more and to allow the sides to fit closer to the body--hopefully that'll take care of them sticking out like eva longoria's hips (normally hot, but not in this case).

when they say "fit," do they mean like sanding and what not? i'm pretty sure i'm going to have to lightly sand the horizontal part of the bumper in order for it to sit closer to the body and to be level/straight/even, but yeah, do they actually mean sanding/modding to fit?

this is my first time doing this and i'd hate to ruin anything and have to re-buy pieces due to something gay. any help would be appreciated. thanks

 

[69clark]

Ram000- my parts were ABC too. I experienced the same issue on my rear bumper. Rivets will help but I just used regular rivets from the hardware store. I got ones with a big head to hold better. I had to tweak on the brackets some which required me to redrill the rivets, tweek the bracket then rivet them on again (so get extra rivets). You just have to play with it a little. Take your time and you can get it. It was my first time too. Believe me the ABC stuff is alot better than some you can buy, so the amount of work you put in will only be a fraction of that from other body kits. As for the gap under the tails, I also had the same problem. You can oval out the holes on the car so you have adjustability up and down with the bumper. Mine wasn't too bad, so All I had to do is have some one lift up and the bumper as I tighted the bolts and this closed the gap a little. Good enough for me at least.

Last tip, when you are checking fit make sure the whole bumper is bolted tight. If for instance you only tighten the sides to check the side fit, it might change when you bolt the rest of the bumper tight. Also tighten everthing in the same order. On my front bumper it would line up differently if I tighten the sides before I secured the front push clips. These tips should help a lot and TAKE YOUR TIME, you will get it. Also GET THE RIVETS, you maybe wasting your time if your testing the fit without them. GOOD LUCK!

 

[Blackened302]

thanks for the response, clark. i didn't get a chance to work on the car today, but i'm hitting it hard tomorrow.

i got some rivets (100, hehe)--not the same width but longer, certainly long enough to hold the bracket to the bumper as the others weren't long enough. now for the thickness/width, i bought some washers and i'll put one on each side--that will hold, i'm sure.

the more i've thought about mounting it, i think it's sticking out because of the brackets (i may have already mentioned that). i drilled new holes on the brackets and that made it stick farther out than if i had used the original holes. what i'm going to do tomorrow is hammer the edge of the bracket down and under so that i can use the orignal holes. i'm thinking that will tuck the bracket closer inside the bumper and will prevent it from sticking out as much as it did. i'm sure mounting them securely with rivets will also help.

what do you recommend for the part under the tail lights? should i lightly sand it down so it will be flush throughout the width of the body? i think you understood that there was a vertical gap when in fact it is a gap between the bumper and the body. when i bolted the entire bumper on there were a few areas that weren't flush. should i sand these down so it will be throughout the entire width of the body?

thanks for the help, i appreciate the tips! keep 'em coming.

EDIT: forgot to ask about the side skirts--from what i gathered, all they're held on with are the two screws at each wheel well and by bolts accross the length, no rivets. anything i missed? just a matter of unscrewing the wheel-well screws and removing teh bolts, correct? thanks.

 

[Blackened302]

hey clark, you were right about the rear bumper and the fitment--it fits nearly perfect! the only thing i had to modify were the brackets--i ground them down about 1/4 of an inch so they tucked a lot closer in and THAT did the trick!! what a relief, man! hopefully this'll work for the front.

i've got the factory side skirts off -- pretty simple, one screw/bolt at each side and a couple underneath the body.

i got one ABC side on using two screws on each side, but what do i do with the extra screws that came with them? there were 8 self-tapping screws for the wells, and another bunch for...what? do you screw them from the top, down into the door sill??? man, pictures would be awesome of exactly how you installed your skirts since we have the exact same ones. much appreciated, and thanks!

 

[69clark]

Ram000- I PM'd you.

 

[Blackened302]

thanks for the help, clark. you were right again, the 3M tape helped loads!

just got in--tired as hell. the kit is on, though, FINALLY! the front bumper went on the quickest/easiest. the fitment was absolutely perfect. the sides took a bit of "persuassion" and roughing, but we got those suckers on there like a dog in heat on your leg. the rear needed some tucking in on the sides, but nothing a couple screws didn't fix.

all in all, with a little work, i'd the say the overall fit ment is about 97% perfect. i honestly couldn't be happier. i'm reluctant to take pics cause the car looks like a hick's ass, but i'll probably snap a few tomorrow when the sun's up.

thanks again for the help, clark, and thanks to all the guys that viewed this but didn't reply, hehe, j/k. primer in a few days after drunk-fest... ahem, i mean New Years.

 

[69clark]

No problem, but come on, take some pics, at least for me since I helped you out!

 

[Blackened302]

now i'm sure you guys can agree that hail damage sucks!
i'm taking this weekend off, but monday i sand what's left, then primer on maybe tues or wednesday. after that we'll finish up the details and then hopefully paint sometime around the 7th of jan. last stretch!!

thanks to clark for the tips and to nacho for helping w/ removing the bumpers and sticking around for the 6 hours even though that's all we managed to do in that time.

:SNSign: