turboWagon Posted April 9, 2008 Share Posted April 9, 2008 Ok, here is my long over due walkthrough for my DIY lip project since 2005. I started the project right after the purchase. After I realized the limited selections of aftermarket lip and really can’t stand the ugly US bumper; I decided to make my own. The project was completed in early 2006. I was planning on write up the walkthrough once I test it for few months but got busy and mainly just being a bit lazy cropping the photos ;-) The lip was originally build with clay model and I mold it with plaster (somehow I managed to lost all those pictures). It was not an easy task since I have never made a plaster mold that big. Then I made a fiberglass prototype out of it. Once the prototype is out I was able to see the places needs to be sand or patched, you can see that in the picture there are a lot of spots with body fillers. I spend a lot of time here mainly due to my lack of experience and waiting for the filler to dry. Once the prototype was finished, I used epoxy for the inner mold and fiberglass for outer mold for the production to create a much smoother surface (first time also, took few try to get the mold right). Here is a very important part, when I mixed the resin; I mixed it with plaster to soften it and make it more flexible. If you don’t add some other type of soften compound the lip will be easily cracked. I also glued a strip of plastic (got it from hardware store, looks like window sealer but not sure exactly what’s for) to the edge of the lip to protect it from scratching. Then I finish it with regular spray paint The lip has since been on my car for a year and survived all type of conditions including the harsh snow this year. I designed the lip to be narrower side and it worked perfectly. I have never had any ground clearance issue with my stock suspension as long as I angle it. I also think it add some down force especially on highway speed. On the side notes, I have received some PM on making some additional lips for sale but to be honest with you I really don’t have time or desire with my current stage of life (babies, works, and other hobbies) so if you are good at fiberglass fabricating and think there is potential market; feel free to pm me for tips or make me an offer for the prototype(to found my other hobbies ). So here you go, below are some progress pictures. Hope these will give you some inspirations for your own project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattg Posted April 9, 2008 Share Posted April 9, 2008 very nice. looks like you put a lot of work into that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grimbeaver Posted April 9, 2008 Share Posted April 9, 2008 hehe love the captions, but otherwise looks pretty sweet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noswad Posted April 9, 2008 Share Posted April 9, 2008 I agree that it looks like many hours went into that, but that looks good. Nice pic in the Suby mag by the way;) Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac? -George Carlin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue GT Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 I might tweak the design touch for my own taste (if i had the skill to do it ) but awesome that you did this and did a write up, thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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