My exterior!!!, Combat Front! Update 3/13/09 Lowered! Options

[bseaman_5]

So I'm at work, Just got a huge box!!!!

And I can't wait to get it on my car!!!! I'd take pics but it wouldn't serve much of a purpose right now cuz I have no way to get them up here right now.. HE HE HE!!!
I'll try get some sneak peak pics up here soon!!

This post has been edited by bseaman_5: Mar 13, 2009 - 10:37 AM

[Akirad1]

sweet the combat bumper right

[bseaman_5]

Thats correct!! I wish I could get pics on here but I don't have a cord that I could transfer em from my phone ha. I have a couple pics on my phone but of course I can't get em on here. SOON!!!

[Spider77]

If your running a microSD card, you can get a USB adapter to DL pics.

[Akirad1]

or send them from your phone to your email then post them up

[bseaman_5]

ALRIGHT so now for a short little update on this, in the whole body kit page thing they give a FAIR warning (combat front has HORRIBLE fitment! That being said, I went ahead and took off my front bumper last night to see how much damage would need to be done in order for it to fit... And needless to say, there is a LOT of work to be done.. So I'll be taking it to a body shop to have it done, as well as my z3 fenders (they got a little busted up on shipment (long story))..
Now my only issue is, do I get it molded to the fenders or just leave it... I love the molded look but it would be a pita if for whatever reason I need to get it off, or at least I would think..

So for now that is my update.. Not any good news really..

[twolownissan2002]

Yea it would look good but very hard to work on if something goes wrong on your front end

[trdproven]

ALRIGHT so now for a short little update on this, in the whole body kit page thing they give a FAIR warning (combat front has HORRIBLE fitment! That being said, I went ahead and took off my front bumper last night to see how much damage would need to be done in order for it to fit... And needless to say, there is a LOT of work to be done.. So I'll be taking it to a body shop to have it done, as well as my z3 fenders (they got a little busted up on shipment (long story))..
Now my only issue is, do I get it molded to the fenders or just leave it... I love the molded look but it would be a pita if for whatever reason I need to get it off, or at least I would think..

So for now that is my update.. Not any good news really..

Brady - make sure you never make anything permanent. Always make things reversible. If you hit your bumper, you take down the fender with it. Plus you still need the option to remove the bumper and fenders when you have to. Molded looks good sometimes but too much of it removes all the nices lines and details of the car at the same time. GL

[bseaman_5]

Thanks for the advice! I'm going to steer clear from the molding. I have seen a few that haven't molded and they look perfectly fine. I'm excited to get this done! The kit looks amazing once on and fitted correctly. I'm going to redo what I did last night and get some pics of the actual fitment and the fenders that I have as well

[bseaman_5]

Ok so I finally had a day off to mess with the fitment! I'll just go ahead and post some pics here, the pics I have right now are pretty much all of the before I started messing with the fitment. The last three are off my camera of my phone so they aren't the greatest, but they are of the after hours of sanding..






Now for the crappy phone camera pics but you might be able to tell the fitment is a little better..

[playr158]

ah it seams consistent with the Combat bumper that i had to do some work on.
Headlight fitment area isn't so great.

good job on the progress it looks good

[bseaman_5]

ah it seams consistent with the Combat bumper that i had to do some work on.
Headlight fitment area isn't so great.

good job on the progress it looks good

Thanks man! Yeah headlights are pretty rough... High beams have some bad gaps I'm not sure exactly how I'm going fill that, prolly going to have to refiberglass around it to fill in the gaps.. And then the corners above the low beams where it meets the hood is also pretty bad.. But honestly after a couple hours of work on it I'm amazed at how well its coming! Looking forward to getting more work done!

[k-weaver]

Looks really good, cant wait to see the end results.

[808celica]

wow man it really looks like you need to sand sand sand.

its gonna be sick though

[Akirad1]

it looks like a shark, lol. goodluck on the fitment

[presure2]

wow that bumper looks LUMPY.

horrible quality.

hope you get it all fixed up and looking good!

[blu94gt]

wow that bumper looks LUMPY.

horrible quality.

hope you get it all fixed up and looking good!

I was going to say the same, for as much money as some of these body kits cost I just don't understand why anyone would try to get them. After doing all the work you might as well have made your own mold from your bumper.

[trdproven]

Brady - nice to see things are getting better. Keep it up and I'm sure you'll get it all good to go.

[bseaman_5]

Thanks guys for the posts, I have a 30 pack and all night tonight to work on it and my fenders.

Manny: you're right it is lumpy and what not but I knew from the get go that the combat isn't by any means a great fitment but I love the way it looks when it is finished! So that being said I couldn't pass it up.
Blu: Cost wasn't very much. I found the most inexpensive site I could, I know "cheaper isn't better" but I figured once again, fitment is going to be s*** any way so why spend more $ for maybe a half hour less work?
TRD: Thanks for the support. I'm sure there is plenty of headaches ahead.. Idk how long it will take to get this where I want it but I'm going to keep at it.

An update: I'm going to get a heat gun tonight and hopefully get a little reshaping done around the headlights and on the corners above the low beams..

[trdproven]

Wait till you get my springs, ooooohhhhh

[Akimbo]

needs more intercooler

[bseaman_5]

needs more intercooler

??? Intercooler? I don't have an intercooler..

An update..
I worked on it last night and I'm giving up on trying to do this myself!! I've got some more pics but I need to upload them first then I'll post em up here.. Pretty frustrated!!! I wanted to do this myself and since I'm struggling with this it makes me want to do it even more but I think it would be in my best interest to leave it alone and let a pro do it










This post has been edited by bseaman_5: Mar 7, 2009 - 11:00 AM

[foxcraze]

I gotta say man fitment really isnt that bad, the areas u have pictured are very small areas to fill if you know how to work fiberglass, hmmmm i like this bumper how much did ground dynamics charge you because i found there new site and old site and the prices on both are different lol. PM me with price if you dont wanna say.

This post has been edited by foxcraze: Mar 7, 2009 - 3:08 PM

[bseaman_5]

I gotta say man fitment really isnt that bad, the areas u have pictured are very small areas to fill if you know how to work fiberglass, hmmmm i like this bumper how much did ground dynamics charge you because i found there new site and old site and the prices on both are different lol. PM me with price if you dont wanna say.

lol I noticed that they had the old and new sites too and I bought it off the old site for $276 I believe, the new site has it listed at like 250 or something ha ha. The fitment has gotten better but I've worked with it for prolly 6+ hours now. Just a lot of sanding and some work w a heat gun. The gap under the passanger low beam was REALLY bad but its improved since I messed with the heat gun and moved it up some. I am going to take it to a shop I'm hoping tuesday morning, if not then wednesday and get a quote. Thanks for the post.

BTW I've been searching for this kit for about a year and half and ground dynamics is the least expensive of any site. including shipping costs. I decided to go with GD because the fitment is piss poor and so spending more on it wouldn't make too much of a difference so that being said I went the least expensive route and will deal with the fitment. Like I said before I have been searching and waiting to get the money to buy this, so I know that this is the least expensive place to get it, unless some sites done list them or something. I have searched hours on end for it, Combat, Kombat, there are plenty of sites that sell it, its your choice. I will say GD had decend customer care and the shipment was VERY decent, I got the kit in 1 week. And it was decently wrapped/packaged, just make sure you can inspect it!! Do not let them leave it without signing for it.. I made that damn mistake w my fenders, and I paid for it..

[808celica]

Dont give up!!!!! it doesnt look that bad.

[bseaman_5]

Dont give up!!!!! it doesnt look that bad.

Lol I'm not getting rid of it or anything, but I am going to see what it will cost to get it finished professionally I'm just thinking I don't quite have the tools right now, or the experience to finish this makes me sad tho cuz I did have fun with what I did!

[joehernandez]

woooooow
looks like its extremely bumpy man!
the gaps on the headlights are really noticeable.
you should ask for a replacement!
if i were u i would return it and look for something else.

[bseaman_5]

woooooow
looks like its extremely bumpy man!
the gaps on the headlights are really noticeable.
you should ask for a replacement!
if i were u i would return it and look for something else.

Lol no way!! This kit is in my opinion the BEST looking kit for the celica! Yes it needs a lot of work but once it's done it will look beautiful. Plus it doesn't matter where I get it from it's going to be crappy. The Combat front is not a great fitment and never has been from what I've read.

Thanks to Tyler (boosted95) I'm going to finish this myself. The lil bastard somehow motivated me to continue this myself so I'm going to get it done! I'm sure there are plenty of headaches and lots of beer drinking ahead but it'll get done!

And another lil update on my celi, I got my Intrax springs (thank you TRDPROVEN)!! So wednesday my car will be lowered, hopefully ha.

[playr158]

your fitment is looking MUCH MUCH better great job

[bseaman_5]

your fitment is looking MUCH MUCH better great job

Thanks much!!! I'm hopefully going to go to town on it on Wednesday, that being sad there should be some more pics up soon! Including before and after pics of stock ride height and then intrax lowered if all goes well ha!

Thanks for the posts and support all!

[vincent_doggy]

Dude, let me cheer u up with the fabulous interior I mentioned earlier...soon very soon...
Might able to overcome your bad feeling which generates from this EXTERIOR...

This post has been edited by vincent_doggy: Mar 9, 2009 - 1:46 PM

[bseaman_5]

Dude, let me cheer u up with the fabulous interior I mentioned earlier...soon very soon...
Might able to overcome your bad feeling which generates from this EXTERIOR...

Lol, Sounds like a plan, I'm not down on this bumper, I look at it as a fun task to tackle to further the progress of my car! I've been looking forward to this kit since I joined this site!

But vince let me know when you get this all finalized!

[dustin15brown]

looking much much better than originally, the fitment was known to be so bad on these things that it deterred me from getting it. It does look awesome when done correctly though, esp with an intercooler

[joehernandez]

woooooow
looks like its extremely bumpy man!
the gaps on the headlights are really noticeable.
you should ask for a replacement!
if i were u i would return it and look for something else.

Lol no way!! This kit is in my opinion the BEST looking kit for the celica! Yes it needs a lot of work but once it's done it will look beautiful. Plus it doesn't matter where I get it from it's going to be crappy. The Combat front is not a great fitment and never has been from what I've read.

Thanks to Tyler (boosted95) I'm going to finish this myself. The lil bastard somehow motivated me to continue this myself so I'm going to get it done! I'm sure there are plenty of headaches and lots of beer drinking ahead but it'll get done!

And another lil update on my celi, I got my Intrax springs (thank you TRDPROVEN)!! So wednesday my car will be lowered, hopefully ha.

if you like it man, go for it!
im pretty sure once its finished u will be extremely proud!
No pain no gain!!!

[bseaman_5]

if you like it man, go for it!
im pretty sure once its finished u will be extremely proud!
No pain no gain!!!

Isn't that the truth! I had some idears for it and how i'm going to get the sides bolted and what not, so I'll be giving that all a go tomorrow. hopefully going to get the high beams flush with the light and get the passanger low beam to the right height rather than having the dip it does and hopefully shift the fiberglass over to fit the entire light, get the bottom opening straight and in line and hopefully get the driver's side corner down just a bit..

of course there are some other things I'll be doing but can't illustrate via the images I have right now.

More to come

This post has been edited by bseaman_5: Mar 10, 2009 - 10:27 AM

[bseaman_5]

Well yesterday was a pain in my ass. I got up fairly early to get to work on my car and things did NOT go as smooth as I had planned...

I got to work first on getting my new Intrax springs on, went to Oreilly's Auto and got a spring compressor (the wrong one) so it did me no good. But by this time I already have my wheels off and the strut so I'm not about to put it all back together and go get a different one.
My goodness how bolts can get rusted... The 2 main bolts holding the strut assembly were a PITA!!! But after a few hours of work, some Rust breaker downer ha ha and a breaker bar I finally got it going. So after what I thought would maybe take an hour or 2 to get all four done, 3 or 4 hours later I finally get done!

So next is get to work on my kit and my fenders. I have several cracks in my fenders that needed to be repaired and so first things first was prep work... Sanding... I hate sanding!!! So I got the areas I was going to fg all sanded and prepped. Once I finally get that done I get to work. I created the mixture get my disposible paint brush and a little aluminum foil cake pan thing to mix the resin and hardner in. Cut the pieces that I want to work with and start working.. The first fender went really well!! I created a lip on the front portion of the fender to drill into the bumper to keep the sides from flopping around (I'll get some pics tomorrow hopefully for you to better understand). Then I went to work on the other fender, and I guess I just didn't put in enough hardner, cuz it just wouldn't set up.. I let it sit for over an hour and it just wouldn't start to get hard.. A piece ended up falling off.. SO I just took it all off and I'll give that fender another go real soon.

Like I said, Sorry I don't have any pics to show you guys I'll try to get some up here tomorrow! I'm definitely riding low now!!! Looks sick!!!

B.

[bseaman_5]

First the pics:








I'm also going to throw in an exhaust clip cuz I haven't ever posted mine up here. I'll go ahead and throw it in the exhaust thread too. Its a custom exhaust header back, 2 AR25 AeroTurbine resonators, and a Borla XR1 Muffler: (IDK how the clip sounds, I don't have audio at work here and I was only able to listen on the camera ha ha so hopefully it does my exhaust justice)


Now last night I'm driving on my second job and I heard a thunking noise.. I'm thinking great my stock suspension is going bad already (I am running my stock suspension for the time being cuz I'm too broke at the moment). It's only thunking at first when I turn left, then it starts when I break and when I turn left, I got out and looked but didn't see anything, didn't help that it was 3am so I couldn't see much.. It got to the point where it was a constant thunking and I decided it was in my best interest to get it figured out what this noise is. Turns out I'm guessing I didn't tighten my lug nuts all the way the other day when I worked on my car... So the wheel was loose... What kid of damage can this cause?? I luckily didn't lose the wheel and my roomate was kind enough to drive out a jack and lug nut key and I got it all tightened but still.... REALLY close call to major disaster...

This post has been edited by bseaman_5: Mar 13, 2009 - 10:36 AM

[foxcraze]

Dude where did u get those fenders cause by the looks of the pics they dont have the triangle vents at the bottom like most i have seen. And regarding your wheel as long as it didnt come off completely you good i have dont that before honest mistake. make sure all ur studs are good and not cracked if they are good the ur golden.

[bseaman_5]

Got the fenders from ebay.. Don't do that! anyone who reads this... oh well, gotta learn somehow..... But I knew what I was getting, I knew how they looked. There are different types of z3 fenders..

And as far as I kno the wheel and studs are all good.. Still really scary tho..

[808celica]

Brady you can go lower HAhah nice job man its coming along really really nice.

[Lil-Joe101]

Looks good man. If u havent done so already be sure to take ur high beam seals off of ur OEM front and put them on the Combat front. That will eliminate alot of the gap plus it wont look like something is missing.

[trdproven]

Brady you can go lower HAhah nice job man its coming along really really nice.

People will never go lower on this site, only a few of us do it. I am running a 3" drop and I still want to go lower. Don't go lower just for looks, use it for functionality and practicality. I went for looks only cus I don't care about camber and treadwear.

This post has been edited by trdproven: Mar 14, 2009 - 3:31 AM

[bseaman_5]

Brady you can go lower HAhah nice job man its coming along really really nice.

People will never go lower on this site, only a few of us do it. I am running a 3" drop and I still want to go lower. Don't go lower just for looks, use it for functionality and practicality. I went for looks only cus I don't care about camber and treadwear.

Jon: I would love to go lower but this IS my dd so I do need somewhat of a practical ride height, and this looks sexy imo and the ride isn't bad at all!!!! Lower would be fun tho I'll admit! but also w my kit idk how much lower I can go before I wouldn't even be able to get out of my garage ha!

Frank: I'm envious of your car anyway and since you hardly have to drive anywhere it works for you!!! I drive close to 100 miles a day. At least w my new job.. Thanks again for the trade!!!

Joe: I'll get on the seals tonight, I just haven't had time in the last couple days to even mess with any of it.

I'm hoping I can get to work some more on my other fender tomorrow since I have the day off. And hopefully get to work on the low beams to get them more conformed! And I get to pull of the rear struts again cuz I forgot to grease em and so they're rattling... STUPID!!! I realized what I was supposed to grease after the fact... Oh well! Learning more stuff ha

[trdproven]

I'm glad you enjoy them, they aren't that bad huh, made me regret getting the TRDs because the INTRAX feels just the same with the lower height.

[bseaman_5]

I'm glad you enjoy them, they aren't that bad huh, made me regret getting the TRDs because the INTRAX feels just the same with the lower height.

Yeah, they're amazing!!! I'm so glad I went w these springs. Idk how eibachs are compaired to these which is what my original plan was or maybe tanabe, but I'm happy w these! and I'll promote them too!!! great ride height and very comfortable!!! honestly I don't feel too much of a difference from the stock springs. btw i'll get the insurance # for you.. My gf is headed to my house soon i think, I forgot to get it this morning..

[joehernandez]

bseaman
could you take a closer pic where the bumper and the fenders join....
dis you bondo it or is just on top of the fender?
also a pic of the vents,,
i wanted to get those fenders but never got a chance to see them in close..

[bseaman_5]

bseaman
could you take a closer pic where the bumper and the fenders join....
dis you bondo it or is just on top of the fender?
also a pic of the vents,,
i wanted to get those fenders but never got a chance to see them in close..

Sure man NP, I'll get it done tonight. The sides actually just overlap the fenders, some have bondo'd and others have left it. I'm goint to leave it as is for the simple point that in case anything were ever to happen it will make it much easier to get em apart, get everything seperate easier to work on. yes bondo or fiberglassing it together would look much more clean i suppose but not work it imo. Once its painted it will look clean

[joehernandez]

oh man thanks!
thats what i was thinking!
cuz i wanted to bondo my front lip to my bumper but since i lowered it, the front
is probably the height of a cellphone from the ground!!
and i almost hits everywhere,, now i can just put it on whenever i want,