updates!
small detail in the bay. got an old logo nismo radiator cap sticker from restomodninja, to match the other old nismo logo stuff. put it right over the real one, so it's still legit right? kinda?
scored a couple goodies from yahoo japan. black s15 sun visors w/ mirrors, black s15 dome light, and manual seatbelt trim pieces for the b-pillars, which i'll eventually have to cut holes for and fit. i'll get around to installing it all one of these days.
i finally got all the aero pieces painted! so i went about installing everything.
fresh from the shop:
installed the xenon lip first. during previous test fitting i had drilled a few mounting holes for a bolt/nut. i did not use any double sided tape. i painted the heads of the mounting hardware for everything black so they would be less noticable.
side skirts up next. i scraped off and replaced all the foam strips with new stuff, and used the brackets that i made a few years back.
for the rear valance kit, just standard install with bolt/nut and double sided tape in the designated places.
before i mounted the wangan wing, there was a small damaged spot on the corner of the hatch i wanted to take care of. the wing will cover 90% of it and you won't see it unless you're looking for it after it's mounted, but i wanted to fix it the "right" way beforehand instead of risking it getting worse later on.
so this spot happened as i was moving parts around years ago. i closed the front door of my house as i was walking in with the hatch and the edge of the door caught the corner and chipped the paint right off back down through the layers to the original color. so it's been there since before i even had the car back together. it's about the size of a dime.
so i began the process. sand down and feather edge, filled in with some high build primer, then glazing putty, sand smooth, color coats, sand smooth, 2k clear coats, sand smooth, buff out, done!
full disclosure- it's not a perfect repair, and i knew it wasn't gonna be. i f'd up the first time and sanded through the clearcoat after i was done and basically had to do it all over again, doh!
the black color i used isn't a 100% match, it's a shade lighter but you can't tell unless you're shining a light directly on it (the wing will cover 90% of it), and the surface isn't totally totally flat with the surrounding area but it's pretty damn close (once again the wing will cover it). all in all i'm happy with the result. it was the first time i've ever done any spot repair like that so i'm happy with it.
with that out of the way, i set up everything to get the wing mounted. i used some 2" wide 3m double sided tape. did some test fitting and used welding magnets to hold the position so i could just line the wing back up once i was ready to mount.
underneath the wing on each side are 2 openings above the edge of the hatch. to me they look like places to put brackets to secure the wing to the hatch. i did some looking around on teh internetz and came up empty handed with any info of anyone doing this.
i decided to make my own mounting brackets. the 2" wide double sided tape is pretty strong but i will feel better with having actual brackets holding it on just in case. i don't want the wing flying off on the highway from a strong gust of wind lol.
so i came up with these:
made from stainless steel, they wrap around the hatch edge and secure from underneath with a set screw with blue loctite. i didn't want the set screws to destroy the hatch seam sealer and paint so i cut some strips of scrap stainless bands i had laying around to go between the screw and the hatch. also added a piece of neoprene on the inside of the brackets to prevent scratching of the hatch edge.