Front lip for S1 GT bumper.

[Reuben]

So a number of weeks ago I put a thread up on the ol Dirty Ol BC facebook group asking for ideas on front lips for the S1's. There's plenty of options for the S2, but I haven't seen many for the S1. Well to my surprise there were plenty of options back in the day out of japan, I was quite impressed. But all these fiberglass/plastic mounded clip on lipes were an impossibility for me to attain, that shits rare as hens teeth now, and I'm on a shoestring budget. But one post cought my eye, a bloke in Straya had modified and mounted a V6 STi front lip to his RS. Iiiiiiinteresting.....

The next day I went down to my old workshop that has been shut, my buddy and old boss was there in the process of cleaning the place out, and there's still a good few wrecked cars in the yard. One facelift BG, one prefacelt. Idea. He and I hacked off the facelift lip (if you didn't know, they aren't bolt on, they are just moulded as part of the bumper plastic), and I took a pre-facelift lip and all it's mounting hardware for good measure.

Took the lips home and had a think, and decided despite having no way to mount the facelift lip, it would look better, and was squarer, meaning easier to form to the brick like front end of an S1. So I tidied up the mating surface, trimmed the excess, re-shaped the thing, putting in a sharper curve nearer the vents, and straightening out the centre section. Had to chop it in half, shaved a good inch out of the middle, and well, yeah, she was looking pretty sick! Re-forming it with a heatgun proved exceptionally easy too.


IMG_5006 by Reuben Horsley, on Flickr


IMG_5007 by Reuben Horsley, on Flickr


IMG_5008 by Reuben Horsley, on Flickr


IMG_5009 by Reuben Horsley, on Flickr


IMG_5010 by Reuben Horsley, on Flickr


Comes up a bit short on the sides, bugger. I shall ignore this for now


IMG_5011 by Reuben Horsley, on Flickr


IMG_5012 by Reuben Horsley, on Flickr


IMG_5013 by Reuben Horsley, on Flickr


IMG_5014 by Reuben Horsley, on Flickr


IMG_5016 by Reuben Horsley, on Flickr


IMG_5018 by Reuben Horsley, on Flickr


IMG_5023 by Reuben Horsley, on Flickr


Result!!!


IMG_5025 by Reuben Horsley, on Flickr


IMG_5026 by Reuben Horsley, on Flickr

[Reuben]

Work continued today on the front lip project. Earlier in the week I went and got some JB Weld plastic bonder. This shit is superb! I hacked up my pre-facelift BG lip and used it as a re-inforcing mount and to join the two halves.


IMG_5073 by Reuben Horsley, on Flickr


IMG_5074 by Reuben Horsley, on Flickr


IMG_5076 by Reuben Horsley, on Flickr


IMG_5077 by Reuben Horsley, on Flickr


IMG_5079 by Reuben Horsley, on Flickr


IMG_5081 by Reuben Horsley, on Flickr


Once that was done, I marked out where I wanted to mount it. I used the bolts from the factory pre-facelift BG mounting, they have a handy 8mm dowel that worked out perfectly for bolting it up, you can tighten them down snug, but they won't squash the plastic out the way. I used zip ties around the side. I also bonded on some little tabs to secure the sides in, but it didn't work out too well, the sides sit out maybe 5mm off the bumper, so I'll have to go back and find a better way to do that.


IMG_5085 by Reuben Horsley, on Flickr


IMG_5084 by Reuben Horsley, on Flickr




And mounted up! superb! Now I just have to finish it. Sanding gives odd results, if you use too couarse a grit, it gouges the plastic bad, but you knock it back a few steps, and it barely touches it. 240 grit isn't strong enough to level the scratches on it, but is still high enough that it gives the finish quite a texture... So it might just be a case of sitting there for fucking ever with the 240 grit, and being patient enough to level the big scratches. Once done, I found a fucking cool trick! When you pass the heatgun over this plastic, it quickly turns a deep black, and gets a bit of shine back in it. It's super easy to do, and essentially restores the satin black finish they had from factory! I'm going to make a vid on it, it's pretty neat!


IMG_5090 by Reuben Horsley, on Flickr



So, it's in a stable state, I can drive around with it on there like this sweet as, but there's still some finishing to do. Gotta sort out proper mounting on the side that keeps it tucked up on the bumper nice and flush, and gotta level the more visible scratches out then hit it with the heatgun to-regloss the finish and get a deep satin black finish. Yum! I think this whole project came out pretty good, and was damn easy, probably about 6 hours total to get it done, and the only expense was the JB weld, the rest I got off cars being wrecked for nothing.

[originalcyn]

Very nice! Color me super impressed.

[Legacy777]

Great post & pictures Reuben!!

I'm curious to see that video about the heat gun to regloss the plastic.

[Reuben]

Took some celebatory job mostly done pics today!


IMG_5095 by Reuben Horsley, on Flickr


IMG_5097 by Reuben Horsley, on Flickr


IMG_5104 by Reuben Horsley, on Flickr


IMG_5108 by Reuben Horsley, on Flickr


IMG_5111 by Reuben Horsley, on Flickr


IMG_5125 by Reuben Horsley, on Flickr

[originalcyn]

Fantastic photos. Looking sharp.

[cartwheels]

Looks great. I'd be happy just to get the front bumper and fogs you've got!