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Body kits are
the best way of getting your car noticed for all the right reasons.
Before buying a kit though there are some things that you need to
consider.
1.When comparing kits, be sure to make sure that the kit you are buying is genuine and not a copy. Many sellers claim a direct fit but in many cases this is not the case and you’ll be left with a hefty bill from your body shop as they will have to finish the bumper off for you! 2.Body kits and panels (except carbon fiber kits and ABS) are unfinished items and require preparation, sanding, priming, and painting. Many kits also require some drilling, notching, or other minor modifications. 3.We highly recommend that you have any body styling products professionally installed by a body shop with experience in installing aftermarket body kits. Fitted or kits that have attempted to be fitted cannot be returned. 4.What you should know about body kit materials: ABS body kits are commonly the easiest to fit and offer the best finish straight from the box, once sprayed they can be a DIY job providing you have a basic knowledge with cars. The kits generally cost more from the offset (although not always, check RGM), but the fitting costs are more so it all evens out in the end. GRP (glass re-enforced plastic) are the most common kits on the web. They can, with the right fitting, give a fantastic flawless finish, making your ride totally unique. They are generally the most cost effective of the kits but are mostly only supplied as a shell and do not come with brackets fitted in exactly the right place to allow direct fit to the car. This is where the fitting cost can get expensive as they need to be test fitted before they can be sprayed. Most ‘good’ body shops can do this easily but the better the body shop the more you will pay, but then who can put a cost on perfection? GRP offers manufacturers complete freedom of design so the craziest, widest and deepest kits often come in GRP, so don’t be put off by the fitting cost and the fact that it can often take 2 weeks and sometimes more to complete the look, because when your ride rolls out of the shop it will all be worth it. Just be sure to buy from a company who guarantee their kits (just like POTN.com) because copies never look as good! Polyurethane (PU rim) are generally the heaviest of the kits available but also so most flexible so therefore can take to most abuse, essential if your car is low enough to become friendly with pot holes and curbs. The kits will still nearly always need professional fitting but do not require the finishing off that GRP needs. Again as with the GRP, PU can offer some awesome designs that get the right attention from all the right people, just check out Extreme Dimensions. Rob Watson is marketing manager of POTN. Their website http://www.potn.com boasts a product range of over 50,000 car parts. Copyright POTN.com 2006. Permission is granted to reprint this article provided you supply a live link to the authors website.
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