Bodykit prep and paint costs etc.

[MrRockliffe]

Thanks for that, curious as to how it'd have been easier to colour match if it came primed and new from Ford as opposed to buying second hand in the wrong paint, surely with the second hand kit they could sand it down and prime it. What would the difference be?

Sorry it wasn't worded properly - I meant it in the sense it would have been "ready to go", so less labour costs

Edit: one other thing - the kit is made of plastic, and it's really, really easily chipped. I've got tonnes of stone chips all over mine

 

[Minxy]

You’re likely to end up with a (hopefully very) slight difference in colour between metal and plastic anyway as the two substrates react differently due to static. This is normal even on brand new cars so don’t expect it to be 100% anyway.

Go to a few reputable bodyshops and get some quotes. Take some recommendations from friends. I wouldn’t necessarily go with the cheapest however don’t judge a book by its cover, a lot of the smaller bodyshops turn out great work so it’s worth doing some digging.

 

[smr]

It's just these items that would need painting, they're not that big really. I would expect it to cost around £500-700 for a decent job?

 

[smr]

Sorry it wasn't worded properly - I meant it in the sense it would have been "ready to go", so less labour costs

Edit: one other thing - the kit is made of plastic, and it's really, really easily chipped. I've got tonnes of stone chips all over mine

Yours is the Fiesta with the aerokit then? Is that like the parts above ?

 

[smr]

The match won't be any better using parts that come already primed - they will still prep it and will be using the same paint as they would anyway on top.

Where you might struggle with colour matching is that you will potentially have differring materials i.e plastic on the bumpers/skirts/inserts up against metal on the wings, you aren't using the exact same paint and prep build up as the original items and would potentially end up with blending all over the body which isn't practical. Without respraying the whole car or guaranteeing you have painted all the panels (one including the doors etc) in the same place with the exact same paint you might end up with a little bit of variation depending on the colour. Any good paint shop will be able to minimise this and tbh it really shouldn't be a big issue if you find a decent sprayer.

It won't be cheap though, £200+ for my Spirit blue bumper and nearly £500 for boot panel and rear bumper to get it done properly. Could absolutely get it done for less but the plastic panels already have a ropey match from the factory so the last thing you want is to make it look worse

Thanks, yes around £500-700 for the whole lot seems to be the price for a high standard job from the quotes so far.

You’re likely to end up with a (hopefully very) slight difference in colour between metal and plastic anyway as the two substrates react differently due to static. This is normal even on brand new cars so don’t expect it to be 100% anyway.

Go to a few reputable bodyshops and get some quotes. Take some recommendations from friends. I wouldn’t necessarily go with the cheapest however don’t judge a book by its cover, a lot of the smaller bodyshops turn out great work so it’s worth doing some digging.

Thanks.

 

[MrRockliffe]

Yours is the Fiesta with the aerokit then? Is that like the parts above ?

Yep, but I got the Zetec S with it pre installed in the end as I couldn't find any Titanium's where the original owner had selected the kit as an option from factory

 

[smr]

Yep, but I got the Zetec S with it pre installed in the end as I couldn't find any Titanium's where the original owner had selected the kit as an option from factory

For a good while now I've wanted to go back to a smaller hatchback car and the Focus is definitely a lot more fun to drive, way more economical than the s-max too.

Part of the reason I probably want to add the Zetec kit to my Focus is because essentially the car I have been driving for the past few years had it's own spoiler and rear diffuser etc. and I don't know about you but they just make the car look more complete.

 

[MrRockliffe]

For a good while now I've wanted to go back to a smaller hatchback car and the Focus is definitely a lot more fun to drive, way more economical than the s-max too.

Part of the reason I probably want to add the Zetec kit to my Focus is because essentially the car I have been driving for the past few years had it's own spoiler and rear diffuser etc. and I don't know about you but they just make the car look more complete.

They absolutely do - it makes a large difference on the Fiesta IMO.

Mine:

IMG_1147-2 by MrRockliffe, on Flickr

Normal fiesta:

 

[[TW]Fox]

I remember years ago reading when fox fitted ST bumpers to his Mondeo. Nothing wrong with it, OEM bumper and wheel swaps are nice easy mods

You’re right, 15 years ago I did basically exactly this!

The reasons were similar – I wanted the look of the RS kit on the Mondeo, but I wanted the 2 litre engine and the Ghia X trim. The RS kit was only available as a Zetec-S with the 2 litre engine – the Ghia X models with it were rare and all V6, which was uninsurable at 19 anyway. But the Zetec-S was very poor spec, cloth seats, no cruise, etc.

So I got a Ghia X and bought a used set of bumpers and skirts off an ST24. It was already in the right colour – I fitted the skirts myself, had the rear bumper fitted when I had the exhaust moved from one side to the other (the outlet was the wrong side) and the front bumper I had resprayed and fitted by a bodyshop.

The result was a car with the spec I wanted which looked great and I thoroughly enjoyed owning, cleaning and looking after in a way I just wouldn’t have had it looked like a plain Mk2. I got a good deal on the parts – 200 quid off a guy fitting some bizarre bodykit to his 3 year old ST24 – and probably paid another 300 quid or so for paint, exhaust and fitting.

Don’t see fitting OEM parts to cars to improve the look as ‘chav’ at all – its just part of the car hobby, isn’t it?

 

[smr]

You’re right, 15 years ago I did basically exactly this!

The reasons were similar – I wanted the look of the RS kit on the Mondeo, but I wanted the 2 litre engine and the Ghia X trim. The RS kit was only available as a Zetec-S with the 2 litre engine – the Ghia X models with it were rare and all V6, which was uninsurable at 19 anyway. But the Zetec-S was very poor spec, cloth seats, no cruise, etc.

So I got a Ghia X and bought a used set of bumpers and skirts off an ST24. It was already in the right colour – I fitted the skirts myself, had the rear bumper fitted when I had the exhaust moved from one side to the other (the outlet was the wrong side) and the front bumper I had resprayed and fitted by a bodyshop.

The result was a car with the spec I wanted which looked great and I thoroughly enjoyed owning, cleaning and looking after in a way I just wouldn’t have had it looked like a plain Mk2. I got a good deal on the parts – 200 quid off a guy fitting some bizarre bodykit to his 3 year old ST24 – and probably paid another 300 quid or so for paint, exhaust and fitting.

Don’t see fitting OEM parts to cars to improve the look as ‘chav’ at all – its just part of the car hobby, isn’t it?

Thank you very much Fox. Exactly the same reasons as me then, that post was like reading my own thoughts. I know exactly what you mean about looking after the car more because it looks how you want it to, you just have more pride in your pride and joy when she looks the way you want, so you will look after the car better, you will enjoy owning, cleaning and looking after in a way you wouldn't have without. I want to have a car that when I go to the petrol station I look back on as I'm walking into the garage to pay, not something I won't want to glance back at, and at the moment the Focus whilst looking nice stock, just wouldn't give me that feeling.

It's not for anyone else at all, it's for me and how I want the appearance of the car to look and it certainly isn't chavvy. Chavvy is adding neon lights and ridiculous third party RS looking spoilers with madly angled shapes, that should only be on an RS Focus if at all and such like. It is very much part of the hobby of owning a car too. This would be the first car I've bought in 20 years where I've wanted to add genuine OEM kit to it and I'm looking forward to it.

This is the Focus with and without the kit.





I know which one I prefer.

 

[smr]

They absolutely do - it makes a large difference on the Fiesta IMO.

Very nice car you have there, looks much much better with.

 

[vanpeebles]

You’re right, 15 years ago I did basically exactly this!

The reasons were similar – I wanted the look of the RS kit on the Mondeo, but I wanted the 2 litre engine and the Ghia X trim. The RS kit was only available as a Zetec-S with the 2 litre engine – the Ghia X models with it were rare and all V6, which was uninsurable at 19 anyway. But the Zetec-S was very poor spec, cloth seats, no cruise, etc.

So I got a Ghia X and bought a used set of bumpers and skirts off an ST24. It was already in the right colour – I fitted the skirts myself, had the rear bumper fitted when I had the exhaust moved from one side to the other (the outlet was the wrong side) and the front bumper I had resprayed and fitted by a bodyshop.

The result was a car with the spec I wanted which looked great and I thoroughly enjoyed owning, cleaning and looking after in a way I just wouldn’t have had it looked like a plain Mk2. I got a good deal on the parts – 200 quid off a guy fitting some bizarre bodykit to his 3 year old ST24 – and probably paid another 300 quid or so for paint, exhaust and fitting.

Don’t see fitting OEM parts to cars to improve the look as ‘chav’ at all – its just part of the car hobby, isn’t it?

That's how I remembered it too! I enjoyed reading it at the time Simple, clean mods, using original quality parts and in keeping with the car/style.

 

[[TW]Fox]

I toyed with the idea of doing it again with my 530d SE but ended up just trading it in for the M Sport I wanted.

 

[vanpeebles]

I toyed with the idea of doing it again with my 530d SE but ended up just trading it in for the M Sport I wanted.

I guess those parts have more of a mark up on them?

 

[Clarkey]

Seems to me that the large majority of Focus do have that bodykit on them, and it would be simple to buy one with it on already in the spec you want..

 

[Mal X]

You’re likely to end up with a (hopefully very) slight difference in colour between metal and plastic anyway as the two substrates react differently due to static. This is normal even on brand new cars so don’t expect it to be 100% anyway.

.

it is odd how metal and plastic never match, the difference on the Jazzes is massive, it really is a different shade of silver even though it's from the same tin.

 

[Minxy]

it is odd how metal and plastic never match, the difference on the Jazzes is massive, it really is a different shade of silver even though it's from the same tin.

Some brands don’t even spray the bumpers in the same factory as the bodies so obviously they are unlikely to match. I’m unsure about whether Honda do it but rumour has it that VAG tend to do it that way. I had two red A3’s and both had bumpers which were a noticeably different shade to the main body.

Silver is an awful colour to match as it is without chucking different substrates into the mix.

I like the OEM kits on the Focus however I may be biased since I’ve got an ST Estate

 

[Mal X]

this is after a total respray, you can still see it !!!

yes silver is very hard to match, it's a nightmare to Airbrush on model cars as well, especially if your airbrush starts spitting........or you vary the spray distance too much. i dont think it even looks that good either, i much prefer non- metallic paints.

 

[smr]

went to a bodyshop today, owner seemed a nice guy. I told him what I was thinking of doing and he can paint the three items for £375. Advised me not to buy second hand though and order the parts new.

He said he wouldn't need the car to be left with him so presumably that means he won't be blending into the other panels already on the car, I forgot to ask him about that.

It's difficult to know what to do when you read stuff on the Internet, one thread I found said steer clear of bodyshops who don't blend yet this guy has 15-20 years of experience and very good reviews and ratings

From what I can gather the rear bumper and spoiler are plug and play basically, so they could come off if I wanted to sell the car stock, but the front spoiler would need bonding with tiger seal so once it's on it'd have to stay on. So I'm therefore thinking of just getting the rear bumper/spoiler and seeing how it looks then.

there's a few spoilers on ebay at the moment for £150 or there abouts, there's brand new ones for £250. So for £100 more it's not that much more expensive really anyway I guess.

The rear bumper and diffuser is on ebay brand new for £340, and when pricing them up second hand you're looking at about £200-300 so again it's not that much more expensive to buy them new.

 

[Mal X]

if he's spraying each panel he doesn't need to blend in, because your other panels beside it might be ok, but be careful because fresh paint next to old paint really shows, your old paint might be faded too, especially red and blue, hard to tell without seeing the car