Need body kit advice

[Wintersun6774]

Hello

I have a 03 base 350z which i bought around 2 years ago. I was actually looking for a Z that was under 20k which at the time was difficult to find. Well i searched and searched and searched and finally found one not only a 350z but one with a body kit. The first glance it looked identical to the veilside V3 but there is so many similar body kits (AIT,Vader ect.) . So anyhow to make a long a story short after my first year,I did not have all the streets memorized as i do now and scraped quite a few times. I have got all that down pat and actually havent scraped much in the past year. Unfortunetly there is some damage to the front bumper and was looking to get it repaired/replaced. I went to My friends neighbor who does body work for a living. He took a look at it and said he cant tell how bad it is but he thinks it would be around 1k-1200 to fix all the cracking reinforce it,repaint and remount. Basically he said he was charging 40/hr and will write down everything he does and the time it took. I was wondering if it would be smarter to just buy a new front end and have it mounted and painted or go for his option. I honestly wanted to get the same front end, but the problem is i cant tell which it is. I can point out the differences in the majority that i have found but im still not sure which I have.





P.S. I love telling people this story. Ill never forget the first time i saw the 350z which was in a magzine over in iraq around 2003. It was my new dream car. When we got back to the states i finally got to sit in one and i fell even more in love. Ever since that time i dreamed of having one screaming and nearly crying everytime one passed. I told my Ex girlfriend that she wasn't cheap and if i didnt have to pay for her all the time i would have my 350z. She said "you will never have one as long as you live" she even bought me a remote control 350z for my birthday and said thats the closest you will ever get to owning one. When we broke up a week later my eclipse was not doing to well, I went out and got my dream car. My family owns a gym and when i went to my show my mom the new car my Ex was also working. My mom bellowed to all the employees that i have picked up a new car. Everyone came outside to look at it and was telling me how nice it was. All except her.... I went in with the biggest smile and took a glance at her and saw the deadness in her face.

[orangeNblue]

I'm not sure which front bumper that is but I will say that if you aren't getting one that is polyurethane you're going to keep going thru this same process of break and fix. I do think that most likely it will be cheaper to buy again seeing as how he prolly won't be able to fix it completely right and it will most likely break again...plus the part where it lines up with your hood is off...I'm not sure if that's fixable, or if the bumper came that way, but if not then it is impossible to bend fiberglass pieces back to the way they were...I would say look into getting a polyurethane bumper....they don't crack, break, or anything like that they just bend upon contact....

Sorry if this doesn't help....but I do know how hard bumper trouble can be. 2nd day of owning my car someone at school did a hit and run on me...I've been looking into buying the Aerosync N-1 style bc it sits low to the ground, looks like the nismo bumper, and is polyurethane....

[BrianHarte]

That is a copy of the VeilSide Version 3 bumper.

$870 is the retail price of a brand new one.

If you need any VeilSide stuff, let me know.

[email protected]

[JDMZ32]

I was wondering if it would be smarter to just buy a new front end and have it mounted and painted or go for his option.

Considering that bumper is ugly, I'd go for a new one instead of repairing it, especially for $1200!

P.S. Your ex sounds horrible! You need a girl who's supportive of the automotive passion!!!

[tzh]

Considering that bumper is ugly, I'd go for a new one instead of repairing it, especially for $1200!

P.S. Your ex sounds horrible! You need a girl who's supportive of the automotive passion!!!

lol

[dasoupdude]

I told my Ex girlfriend that she wasn't cheap and if i didnt have to pay for her all the time i would have my 350z. She said "you will never have one as long as you live" she even bought me a remote control 350z for my birthday and said thats the closest you will ever get to owning one.

[Wintersun6774]

Thanks again everyone for the posts. I have purchased a new front end cost me bout 315.00 for shipping and all. Im just going to have him repaint it he said it would be alot cheaper to go that route because we would have to take time to sand down every crack and what not. Im so excited to get this done. Also the front bumper i have now and the one i have purchased is an AIT S3 front end. I failed and went with the fiberglass front end again but i couldnt find one i wanted in carbon fiber or urethane. Thanks again everyone for posting.

[BrianHarte]

I sure hope it fits well.bad fitment = more time working on it = more money spent.

[zzzme]

Yeah, I would stay away from that Veilside over priced plastic Brian sells. Get the same thing from Extreme Dimensions or Vision Autodynamics for a fraction of the cost.

Enjoy your time in the Phantom Zone. At least you have those two guys to keep you company.

[Z32 TwinZ]

If it was me, i would repair it myself. fiberglassing and bondoing isnt hard and will save you A LOT of money. All you will have to then pay for is the paint.

or

pull the bumper off yourself and give it to him, that will save you prob $100

or

buy a new bumper that looks better than that one.

[sluggoZ]

Good luck & post some pics after the install.BTW Polyurethane does break!!!!!!!!!

[JDMZ32]

Old thread bump and the OP is probably inactive now lol...

[bmike818]

....or maybe he just wanted to get to 10 posts.