how do u attach body kits

[deankenny]

im very new to cars, and have a completely standard nova 1.2 merit, i have bought skideskirts and rear and front bumper, i have no clue how to attach it to the car lol, hope u guys in ere could tell me what tools and how to do it etc

[dooooney]

hi m8 go to www.nova-land.com and they have guides to putting on sideskirts and front and back bumper :lol:

[Adam]

Have you bought some like gsi bumpers/skirts, or a aftermarket bodykit.
If gsi then its just straight swap, if aftermarket then you may have to get filler and a saw out.

[ade]

Bumpers arent necessarily a straight swap - it all depends on whether its mk1 or mk2.

If mk1 you can fit mk2 front bumper but you'll be left with a horrible gap under the lights.

Rear bumper will swap over no probs.

If you dont know what you are doing I recommend getting a garage to do it - it'll take them a couple of hours and will probably cost you ?100 tops. They'll also do a proper job and realign your headlights too - aswell as resealing and respraying your wings (if new they'll be primered only plus they could colour coordinate your bumpers!).

If its a mk1 and you want to do a "proper" upgrade to a mk2 you'll need the following (all mk2).

front lights and indicators plus the little clips
front wings
front grill
the various clips and screws that go with them.
Mastic to reseal the wings back in place

To swap a mk1 bumper to a mk2 youre best getting a haynes manual

1st remove the grill - open bonnet, top of grill there should be clips that hold it into the metal slam panel (the cross beam where the bonnet catch goes into). Unclip them and lift it out

then fron within the wheel arch undo the 2 x 13mm (I think) nuts that hold the carriage bars in place. These will probably be v stiff. 2 of mine snapped! Had to drill the buggers out

Once undone you then need to losen the screws that attach the bumper the the inner wings (this may depend on the type of mk1 bumper you have). Now I'm not 100% where the screws are on the mk1 but on the mk2 they are just inside the inner wing on the edges. Theres 2 on each side. 10mm bolts.

Once theyre free, take a look on the underside of the front bumper to make sure its not clipped or fastened into place

You can then slide it from the front of the car (note that you may need to wiggle it round the front arches as it may be wrapped around them.

Once free, tip it up and you will see the metal carriage bar its fastened too.

Now - if youre mk2 bumper has a carriage bar use it - simply undo the nuts holding the carriage arms from the mk1 and reattach to the mk2 carriage bar.

If you dont have the mk2 carriage bar I'm not sure if it will fit on the mk1 one. There was a debate ages ago ref this and I cannae remember!

Anyway - you can try - simply carefully prise the plastic square indentations from the bar that keep the bumper attached to it. Theyre attached to the bumper so dont break them just incase you need to replace it if the mk2 one doesnt fit!

If you wanna swap the mk1 wings to mk2 ones you'll need to take the mk1 ones off whilst the bumpers off. If youve got a mk2 and just wanna fit the bumpers skip all this to the "refitting the bumpers" section below

To do this there are various screws that need removing on each wing all 10mm.

These are located as follows -

2 within the cars cockpit by in the footwell - just in front of the door pillar.
To get to them you need to remove the door edging (philips screws - dont forget the one behind the drivers/passenger seat just infront of the seatbelt at the bottom). You will need to remove the parcel shelves in the foot wells (dunno how you do this on a mk1) and then remove the plastic trim that is located next to the bonnet release (the same on the other side). Then remove the foam padding and you will see one of the screws at the bottom. Make sure you dont drop it into the sill coz you'll never get it back if you do! The other one is diretly above it - probabkly just under where the dash underside starts. Its a little fiddly to get too - dont drop it either. These 2 screws release the inner part if the wing from the shell.

The next 2 screws are ar the front of the car and hold the edge of the wing to the front middle section of the car. theres 2 - top and bottom - accessed from underneath.

The remaining bolts are along the engine bay between the wing and bonnet edge. These have flat washers on them. Theres also one bolt at the very bottom of the car on the outside underneath the car itself. Its just infront of the jacking up point where the wing goes down the wheel arch. It'll probably be sealed up or covered in muck. Its help in place with a small clip.

Before removing the wing you will also need to disconnect the lights (not always necessary but if youre swapping them over you may as well) and the side indicators (twist cover off, pull bulb out and gently prise out the bulb carrier. Be careful not to break it)

You can then remove the wing - you will need to break the factory sealant around the edge. You also need to fully remove this.

Refit the new (and hopefully sprayed) wing in the reverse of the how the old one was removed - note the position of any small clips on the old wing (the bottom external screw and I think theres one at the front).

Remember to put some seal sealant down too. And you'll also need to make sure you line up the wing properly to avoid incorrect gaps around the door and bonnet edges.

Once the wings are on, you need to fit the lights and the little clips that hold the lights to the shell. These just clip on but be careful not to break them.
Attach the loom to the lights (same as the mk1 ones)

Refitting the front bumper
Now you can refit the new front bumper. Its the same as the removal of the old one. Best to have someone to help you hold it whilst you reattach the carriage bars.
Attach carriage bars loosely 1st. Then attach sides of bumper to the wings - make sure you line it up properly.

Then tighten up the carriage bar nuts.

And thats pretty much it.

I think...

8)

[dan-hipgrave]

:o wow, think someone should make that a guide or sticky or something

[burgo]

lol ade were you bored by any chance

[deankenny]

wow thanks dude, ill think ill spend the ?100 and um save the time looks hard