Carbon fiber amuse install help needed
 

So about2 weeks ago I pulled the trigger on the full carbon fiber amuse kit minus the wing. So I just spoke with riptide and he told me a few things that make me want to cry/vomit
First he says that with all the custom fabricating the install bill alone will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 6 thousand dollars! Also he said that the metal bar behind our front bumper cover has to be removed along with the foam! Is this even legal? I mean D. O. T. Approved? Somebody please say it ain't so. Also I'm FI and 7at so I have a trans cooler and oil cooler up there.

You might have a problem with your insurance so check with them first. As for the install, you need to shop around. I always go for thee 3 quote minimum rule and ask for cash pricing. Is it 6k if for paint and labor? If so, it is overpriced.

I hope you're right. And I will definitely follow your advice. Not painting it, my car is black and I love the way carbon looks against black. I need for someone in the Mid-Atlantic region to recommend a body shop. I've been online but I need references

Also riptide said he eventually got a deal on the labor with a sponsorship from the body shop and then paid 3 grand

I just don't know if I want to remove the metal bar. I would literally die if I ever had a front end collision. I so desperately want this kit to complete my build. I already have the seibon vsii carbon hood installed and have the full carbon rs1 fenders on the way. Also waiting for my custom headlights to be finished. I really need all this completed before Z nationals in October

Jesus, can't wait until your final build pictures come along.

With that said, never sell your car. You'll take a 20K plus lost.

Is the bar removal only necessary for the CF kit or any Amuse front?

Over my dead body. The car waspaid for immediately so unless an act of God or death parts us I'm married to this car. (spent way more on this car since April than the wife lol) don't tell her But approaching 60k. I have an unhealthy obsession with my car

No clue but it seems like it would be highly illegal to remove such a critical component of your safety equipment

AFAIK It's not illegal. Just don't hit anything. That said, unless you're doing the work yourself a shop could refuse to remove it for you so your family doesn't sue them when you hit something and expire.

A lot of guys with FMIC remove theirs in other car circles.

I know the feel. I got a lot invested in my baby as well. It's staying with me to I or it dies. Hope you get this all figured out and like I said, can't wait to see the build.

On a side note, maybe find a local fabrication shop to build you a different metal piece* out of thinner metal or in a different design.

AFAIK Wtf lol? Seriously what does that mean? Can't do the work myself. I'm more of the wallet than the hands. Wish I knew how. Less I spend on labor the more parts I can buy

Best way to learn is trial and error. Plus youtube and Google go so far these days

I would agree with you if the kit wasn't full carbon but I just don't have the stones to try especially considering I've never installed any body kit before

I feel you man! Hey if you got the money to pay someone I say do it. I didn't so I learned quick. My first install was a lift kit and then I went from there. No experience quickly turns into experience when you're dropping whole paychecks on your car. That and my daily driver is also my rock climbing machine. When you're 1200 miles away from home and your truck breaks on a trial, you better know how to fix it or it can cost you thousands of dollars just to get it home.

No doubt wow that would definitely suck. My ac compressor went out on me yesterday but I was lucky it basically happened in my driveway

Update : I spoke with the manufacturer of my body kit and was informed that you don't have to remove the metal bar just the foam padding that covers the metal bar. Also and I'm sure riptide would disagree, and maybe I shouldn't take the sellers opinion for fact, but he told me riptide got taken advantage of and that there is no way it should could twice the price of the kit to install. So I'm really not sure what to expect at this point. Maybe somewhere in between the two oppinons. I really hope it doesn't cost 10 gs to get this done or I would have just bought the varis frp body kit and accented with carbon ground effects. I freaking love that varis kit. Simply amazing but I have a carbon fiber fetish

Carbon fiber, right? So there's really not much room for tweaking or finagling by a body shop per say or they'll **** it up I assume. Also, no paint. So 2 bumpers and two side skirts? A half a days worth of time and a couple hundred bucks at most. It's a body kit, not a kidney replacement.

Hahaha! Yea I agree. I expected around 12-1500$ but 6gs is absolute rape!

I think longer than a half day tho because all the wholes in the carbon fiber have to be drilled and lined up perfectly the first time and all the mounting brackets have to be custom fabricated also the brackets for the rear license plate and the lights over the plate have to be made from scratch out of fiber glass I was told. Also one thing I have going for me is the fact I live in West Virginia and we don't have license plates on the front bumper.

As Far as I know :)

Ahhh ok I should have been able to guess that

Did you get your kit from Powerhouse Amuse or is it a replica? And do all amuse kits require so much fabrication/modification or is your kit special

I ordered it from areo jacket so yes it'sa rep. And as far as the other kits I think the only difference is that with carb on you have to have all the holes drilled they don't come pre-drilled . Also I'm so glad I saw Fly1 Motorsports sells the skid plates for the front bumper and side skirts. Very cool

Ya they look good and give you protection

Absolutely. Fly1 definitely nailed it with those. Also their fenders are sick as h***. Can't wait for mine to get here. I'll be sure to post pics

even if you had to remove the front crash bar, I dont believe(just my theory) its main purpose is occupant safety. It's aluminum and its meant for very low speed impact protection for the engine compartment

or in other words it's meant to protect the engine(expensive bits) from getting a hole poked through it from a measly 20-30 mph crash...has "almost nothing" to do with protecting the driver

That's good to know. Much easier to replace than my face!

Being that I oversaw the install of my kit and knowing all the work and customization that went into it, I was not raped. It took 60 hours to install at $100/hour with a lot of customization. The fitment is a 9.5/10. I spoke with several shops before the install and only one would even touch the kit. It's a unique award winning car and hopefully whoever installs yours puts the time and effort into it for a damn near flawless fitment.

For my car to be beat by a $300k Liberty Walk GT-R at HIN can attest to the hard work that went into mine. For a build that has cost me 20k....not bad to.take 2nd place to that kind of money.

I suppose some of you are also the type that think 6k is expensive for custom work. I know people who have spent double, triple, and quadruple that on similar ventures. CF is not easy to work with. I did my hood, fenders, and wing. All of which required custom work for the best fitment possible.

Just like a tattoo...you get what you pay for.

Should yours turn out like mine, you'll have a damaged bank account or wallet too. The custom brackets and fiberglass work all add up. And keep in mind your trunk will be gutted and put back together. You wanna save yourself some cash. Remove all your oem panels on your own and drop the car off.

I gave you helpful information, not to be bashed. I figured I'd help you, since I had no prior information.

Best of luck.

This is something you really can do yourself if you have the time and a daily driver. Riptide is correct it takes a lot of time for someone picky to get these parts close to factory spec. I had my parts painted but installed everything myself in probably 20-30 hours off and on. It was only my second time doing body parts on a 370z.

The Shine parts should have mold marks everywhere you need a hole. Save yourself some cash and do it yourself!

feeling like a jerk right now
 

riptide please let me begin by asking for forgiveness. I in no way meant to belittle the time,effort,money,frustration and creativity that went into building such a sweet ride. my comments came from a knee-jerk reaction to the information you were kind enough to share with me. I was being a cry baby because I had no idea of the commitment I was getting myself into. as far as the rape comment I was referring to me getting raped but after reviewing the thread I can easily see how I came off insensitive. please give me a one time pass. as to the comment about you possibly getting taken advantage of that came from the seller and I should have known better to take the sellers opinion over an experienced owner but at the time his comments gave me a bit of solace so I wanted to share the back and forth with my thread in order to get opinions from other z brothers. again man I'm sorry for being a jerk it wasn't my intent

No worries :tup: apology accepted and hopefully you can get it done a lot cheaper than I did :)

relieved
 

thanks man I really appreciate it. I was really upset with myself when I read your post this morning. the last thing I want to do is be a jerk to a forum member. this community is the best part of z ownership. I never expected to be a part of something like this forum when I purchased my car. you guys are awesome!

Ya, I was like - "Riptide is no going to be happy when he reads all that." :ugh2:

Good on you to apologise and good on Riptide to accept it.:tup: Both repped.

I'm not upset about it, I have been modifying all my cars since 2005. I have learned a lot and I know what is beyond my skill level. After doing a fiberglass bodykit on my eclipse, I knew that I never wanted to do any type of bodywork again. It was a nightmare. A carbon fiber bodykit...that is what professional car customization shops are for.

Sure I could have cut down on some cost by gutting the car myself, but I was on an extreme deadline to debut my car for NissanFest. It was 5 days prior to the event that I received all the pieces after a bit of a shipping debaucle. The body shop came to my apartment and picked up the kit and then I dropped the car off. I check on it randomly throughout the week and they pushed all other projects to the side to help me out. People tend to think its just drill some holes and put it on. It really isnt that simple or easy...especially with carbon fiber. IDC what anyone says...there are two of us (that I know of) that have this installed. I can't speak for what the other person paid or even if they did the install. This is not a predrilled kit, there is no mesh installed, the license plate and lights will not just "bolt" on. These things add up.

Had I known I was going to have that much money wrapped into the kit, I may have gone another route with the car. 3k at the body shop quickly turned into another 3k for an accuair system. Ya know the saying...Gotta pay to play, lol. Hell, just in the hood alone...I had two days with about 10 hours or so wrapped into it. The hardware that is molded into the hood does not work with the OEM parts of our hood. This was my first stab at tapping and dying threads and it was successful, but very nervewracking. Tha could have easily been another 1k if a body shop did it, lol.

Yea i just got an airrex elite air suspension system plus the Fly1 skid plates. Try pricing those 2 just to be able to drive the car without damaging the body kit. This is getting ridiculous. Wish to God I could have talked to you about this before pulling the trigger. Wouldhhave bought the varis kit in frp and never looked back. On the other hand when this build gets finished it's going to be remarkable

Even on air, the skid plate isnt needed. I could have saved some money. The car maxes out and still doesnt sit on the ground with the front bumper. It is just an awesome visual effect with some added security, but I just air all the way up if I am in doubt.

I have a set of custom side splitters to install. The rear end has a lot more room to drop than the front. You will run the side skirts into the ground on air lol.

I agree with Riptide, my Amuse kit (Extreme Dimensions) was FRP and was a 'close' fit but still required massive time in the bodyshop for custom fabbing etc. The time spent was well over 40 hours and the bill was $4000 over the quote! The owner honoured the quote to a point, but I ended up paying over $3500 for the work plus the kit...
Bottom line is: be prepared to pay for quality work and never assume anything related to body work is either fast, good or cheap! Pick any two.....

The end results are what counts and having the Amuse kit was a big piece of my vision for my car.

and yeah, I kept the crash bar and the foam in my Amuse front bumper. The rear foam had to go though....

and I did make a mistake. It was only the foam that was removed from the front and rear crash bars. Not the actual crash bar.

Ok awesome because that was really concerning me. As much as the price. So you think I could do without the side plates? I've already paid for the front plate