Fitting A Splitter

[200red]

Hey guys,just bought a splitter for my lex and am going to fit it but I`m not sure where to start. Can I fit it with 3m tape and/or screws? If I need screws as well,what do I need. Here`s two pic`s of it. I`m thinking of painting it black for abit of contrast. Is the white on it a primer coat and I can just spray it or do I need to primer it as well. Cheers guys.

http://pbckt.com/sL.dtXz

[tonz13]

does the seller say the item is already primed? does it feel smoothed? no harm to sand it once again and apply a few coats of primer before spraying.

any tiny holes for screw fixings on the splitter? i would use screws, just in case you want to break the car later at some point or you want to change another splitter after a while :winky:

[BRUC3]

The white will be the gel coat.

Your need to primer it after youve trial fitted it...

Offer it up to your car, and see how the fit is. If it needs adjusting, sand the appropriate areas, or fill the gaps where you need to.

Once your happy with the fit, check for air bubbles. If there is any, dig em out and fill em with some fibreglass.

Once all that is sorted, give it a light sanding with 320 grit, wipe clean with some thinners and give it a couple of coats of primer. If your spraying it black, use grey primer!

Once happy with it, give it another light sand and spray 3-4 light coats of your colour. As long as your happy with the finish, leave it for 24 hours to let the paint fully harden and then you got the hard part!

Spray a couple of lightish coats of laquer, and then a more heavy one. You need to get the last coat just right. To heavy and you will get runs... to light and it wont be covered properly!

With my Lotus that had a splitter, I didnt use adhesive on it. I screwed it on with some decent fixings so I could take it off every now and then to respray it. Last thing you want is to have to respray your whole front bumper every year just because your fibreglass splitter is chipped to fook!!!

Hope this helps,

Bruce

[lexdavis]

where did you get this one from and how much looking for something like this myself

[200red]

where did you get this one from and how much looking for something like this myself

I got it on eBay from this seller. I`ll leave you the link. It cost me 90euro which wasn`t too bad with the pound exchange rate and he delivered within 3 days to Ireland which was great. It`s a nice add-on to the car,it just sets it off nicely I think. I should have taken a pic to show u but i`ll do it tomorrow.

http://cgi.ebay.ie/Lexus-IS200-Front-Splitter_W0QQitemZ120504167203QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item1c0e9bab23#ht_1534wt_939

Then I saw this one which is a few quid cheaper,D`oh!

http://cgi.ebay.ie/Lexus-IS-200-300-Front-Splitter_W0QQitemZ360248200740QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item53e0774e24#ht_500wt_956

[200red]

The white will be the gel coat.

Your need to primer it after youve trial fitted it...

Offer it up to your car, and see how the fit is. If it needs adjusting, sand the appropriate areas, or fill the gaps where you need to.

Once your happy with the fit, check for air bubbles. If there is any, dig em out and fill em with some fibreglass.

Once all that is sorted, give it a light sanding with 320 grit, wipe clean with some thinners and give it a couple of coats of primer. If your spraying it black, use grey primer!

Once happy with it, give it another light sand and spray 3-4 light coats of your colour. As long as your happy with the finish, leave it for 24 hours to let the paint fully harden and then you got the hard part!

Spray a couple of lightish coats of laquer, and then a more heavy one. You need to get the last coat just right. To heavy and you will get runs... to light and it wont be covered properly!

With my Lotus that had a splitter, I didnt use adhesive on it. I screwed it on with some decent fixings so I could take it off every now and then to respray it. Last thing you want is to have to respray your whole front bumper every year just because your fibreglass splitter is chipped to fook!!!

Hope this helps,

Bruce

Cheers Bruce for the instructions. I sits quite nicely on the bumper,no filling needed. Now there`s a slight gap all the way around but its uniform so i`m not too worried,after all its an add on and as you said,don`t want to spend money on respraying the whole bumper. I`m going to DIY it so less money the better! There`s no holes for screws to attach it on so what would you recommend? It doesn`t meet the bottom of the original bumper so can`t use existing screws. The only place I can attach the splitter to the bumper is to screw it is at the backside of the bumper at the arch,if that makes sense.Is sits snug under the bottom mesh to the lip of the bumper. I`ll put some pic`s on tomorrow to illustrate.

[200red]

does the seller say the item is already primed? does it feel smoothed? no harm to sand it once again and apply a few coats of primer before spraying.

any tiny holes for screw fixings on the splitter? i would use screws, just in case you want to break the car later at some point or you want to change another splitter after a while :winky:

Cheers for the advice lad. No holes to screw it on. will have to drill a few along the back edge.It`s all smoothed off which i think is primed but like you said i`m gonna prime it anyway just to be sure. Thanks again.

[lexdavis]

nice one ill have a look

[ian200]

where did you get this one from and how much looking for something like this myself

I got it on eBay from this seller. I`ll leave you the link. It cost me 90euro which wasn`t too bad with the pound exchange rate and he delivered within 3 days to Ireland which was great. It`s a nice add-on to the car,it just sets it off nicely I think. I should have taken a pic to show u but i`ll do it tomorrow.

http://cgi.ebay.ie/Lexus-IS200-Front-Splitter_W0QQitemZ120504167203QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item1c0e9bab23#ht_1534wt_939

Then I saw this one which is a few quid cheaper,D`oh!

http://cgi.ebay.ie/Lexus-IS-200-300-Front-Splitter_W0QQitemZ360248200740QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item53e0774e24#ht_500wt_956

there the same splitter mate from the same bloke as i have the same 1 on my 200

[200red]

^^ How did you get on with fitting yours ian. Did you fit it yourself?

[BRUC3]

So does the bottom of the splitter hang lower than the bottom of the bumper?

If so you may have a problem just using fixings...

Your best bet would be to use 2 fixings either side of the splitter at the bottom of the wheel arch, and use a small bead of tiger seal along the top of the splitter.

You can get this in black, so will fill the void you mentioned quite nicely and also wont be need to be painted as your doing the splitter black...

If you do ever need to remove the splitter, you should be able to cut most of the tiger seal away with a stanley blade and slowely prize it off the car! But hopefully that wont be for a while!

Also between coats of primer and colour spray, rub the splitter down each time lightly with some 1200 wet and dry just to remove any imperfections as you go!

Bruce

[200red]

So does the bottom of the splitter hang lower than the bottom of the bumper?

If so you may have a problem just using fixings...

Your best bet would be to use 2 fixings either side of the splitter at the bottom of the wheel arch, and use a small bead of tiger seal along the top of the splitter.

You can get this in black, so will fill the void you mentioned quite nicely and also wont be need to be painted as your doing the splitter black...

If you do ever need to remove the splitter, you should be able to cut most of the tiger seal away with a stanley blade and slowely prize it off the car! But hopefully that wont be for a while!

Also between coats of primer and colour spray, rub the splitter down each time lightly with some 1200 wet and dry just to remove any imperfections as you go!

Bruce

Yeah it sits lower so what you suggested makes sense. I didn`t get around to taking some snaps but will do tomorrow just to show how it sits. I`ve no intension to remove the splitter(hopefully!) so using the seal will do nicely.Cheers for the advice,much appreciated lad.

[BRUC3]

Good stuff, look forward to seeing the end results :)

Bruce

[200red]

I`ve added some photos of the pre-assembly of the splitter and how it sits. Was going to start work on it today but my little daughter is sick so will have to defer it for awhile. I`ll keep you all posted on progress and add photos as I go.

http://s995.photobucket.com/albums/af71/isright/adding%20front%20splitter/

[StuP]

I had one of these splitters. From experience its best to screw it to the inner wheel arch and make a bracket to attach it underneath in the middle to an existing bumper fitting screw as it will sag a bit after a few trips on the motorway without it. Also ensure it fits the contours of your bumper before painting as a little sanding will be needed to make it match without gaps etc. When I had mine sprayed it needed a couple of layers of primer before painting as you want the best finish possible. I'd also recommend putting mesh behind the two intakes in the splitter, otherwise you can see the bottom of the bumper behind when fitted.

[200red]

I had one of these splitters. From experience its best to screw it to the inner wheel arch and make a bracket to attach it underneath in the middle to an existing bumper fitting screw as it will sag a bit after a few trips on the motorway without it. Also ensure it fits the contours of your bumper before painting as a little sanding will be needed to make it match without gaps etc. When I had mine sprayed it needed a couple of layers of primer before painting as you want the best finish possible. I'd also recommend putting mesh behind the two intakes in the splitter, otherwise you can see the bottom of the bumper behind when fitted.

Yeah was thinking of putting mesh behind the intakes as i`m getting mesh for the grill aswell. Thanks for the tips lad. :D