stillen body kit

Jjaden · 11-12-2010, 05:23 PM

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?

Lemers · 11-12-2010, 05:53 PM

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

toner123 · 11-12-2010, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lemers

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

Kyle@STILLEN · 11-12-2010, 06:16 PM

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!!!

toner123 · 11-13-2010, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kyle@STILLEN

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

toner123 · 11-13-2010, 04:25 PM

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

simota1 · 11-13-2010, 04:37 PM

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....

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

toner123 · 11-13-2010, 04:46 PM

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

Chris_1 · 11-13-2010, 05:14 PM

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.

Lemers · 11-13-2010, 06:31 PM

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?

simota1 · 11-13-2010, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by toner123

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

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....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris@WheelsDirectOnline.com

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.

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

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

ThoriumHotdog · 11-13-2010, 07:27 PM

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

RCZ · 11-13-2010, 09:43 PM

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.

simota1 · 11-13-2010, 10:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RCZ

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

that way no worries of hairline crack later on...

Kyle@STILLEN · 11-15-2010, 01:58 PM

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.

11-12-2010, 05:53 PM	#17 (permalink)
Lemers A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Izmir, Turkey Posts: 15,371 Drives: 2012 Traverse LTZ Rep Power: 52	I like the stillen bumper design but will only buy it as a one piece. __________________ 2010 Black Cherry Touring/Sport/Nav Now - 2012 Travese LTZ until I leave for Turkey

11-13-2010, 04:37 PM	#22 (permalink)
simota1 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: May 2009 Location: Dededo, Guam Posts: 6,642 Drives: solid red 370z 6mt Rep Power: 405	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.... 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 __________________ *TOP SECRET/POWERHOUSE AMUSE/ARC/DAYTONA RACING/VARIS/MINES/GANADOR/J-LINE/WORK EMOTION CR KAI/GT SPEC/CARBON SIGNAL/ZOOM ENGINEERING/ CARBON FIBER ELEMENT/STILLEN/*

11-13-2010, 06:31 PM	#25 (permalink)
Lemers A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Izmir, Turkey Posts: 15,371 Drives: 2012 Traverse LTZ Rep Power: 52	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? __________________ 2010 Black Cherry Touring/Sport/Nav Now - 2012 Travese LTZ until I leave for Turkey

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11-12-2010, 05:23 PM	#16 (permalink)
Jjaden Track Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Ontario Posts: 821 Drives: 370Z/MAT SILVER/6MT Rep Power: 17	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?

11-12-2010, 06:16 PM	#19 (permalink)
Kyle@STILLEN The370Z.com Sponsor Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Newport Beach Posts: 626 Drives: Toyota Tundra Rep Power: 307	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!!!

11-13-2010, 04:25 PM	#21 (permalink)
toner123 Track Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: chesapeake va Age: 39 Posts: 823 Drives: TT 370z Touring/SP Rep Power: 16	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

11-13-2010, 04:46 PM	#23 (permalink)
toner123 Track Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: chesapeake va Age: 39 Posts: 823 Drives: TT 370z Touring/SP Rep Power: 16	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

11-13-2010, 05:14 PM	#24 (permalink)
Chris_1 Track Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Statewide Posts: 838 Drives: Nissan 370Z Roadster Rep Power: 16	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.

11-13-2010, 07:27 PM	#27 (permalink)
ThoriumHotdog A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: TX Posts: 1,104 Drives: Turbo CRX si Rep Power: 17	I didn't know this about the Stillen kit. I think I'll pass until theres a one piece.

11-13-2010, 09:43 PM	#28 (permalink)
RCZ A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Miami Posts: 6,403 Drives: '09 370Z Rep Power: 1119	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.

11-15-2010, 01:58 PM	#30 (permalink)
Kyle@STILLEN The370Z.com Sponsor Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Newport Beach Posts: 626 Drives: Toyota Tundra Rep Power: 307	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.