Final update:

So tonight we finished up fitting the front bumper on the car. Let me tell you… if I was to do it all over again and knew how much cutting and trimming and work needed to be done on the bumper, I would seriously reconsider this project. Time and time again, my bodyman told me that if a shop was to do the work, they most likely wouldn’t care about the little details and still charge you a arm and a leg. I’m definitely blessed to have a good friend that can do this for me. Onto the pictures…

The bumper has finally been prepped enough to be sprayed:



Clean and smooth…



He even brought my rear TA pieces (will update the other thread once it gets put on)



This is how much he had to trim the reinforcement bar (which we will find later on at night that it’s not enough)



A quick run to Autozone and Home Depot to get some needed supplies:



First thing we tackled was fitting the ducts again and installing the air temp sensor:

If you have been following my thread, I mentioned that the rear of one of the ducts didn’t reach the tabs in the back (and this is what I mean)



So in order to make it stay firm and not allow any chance of vibration in the ducts, we did what we do best…ghetto rigged it

 

Next thing is the center duct. We opted to keep the OEM center duct but it was too recessed compared to the TA front (I have posted a pic before in my previous threads) so we added some spacers to “bring it out” (about 8 on top and 11 on the bottom)





This is how it looked after we were done:



The next thing was where to mount the air temp sensor. I wanted a discrete location but also want it to work so after a few minutes, we decided to put it on the top right corner of the passenger duct. Drill hole… glue… done



What it looks like from inside the duct



Can you see it? J



Also, as mentioned above, we had to trim the reinforcement bar some more b/c it didn’t clear the duct



This is how it sits now

 

Finally…moment of truth… time to install the bumper.

Here are some pointers that we learned from this 3 hour “experience”

• DO NOT aggressively push and pull the bumper. The corners and most likely the paint and fiberglass will crack
• Normally, you would want to have the bumper slip into the middle section (see arrow in pic below) but If you get a MISHA bumper, you might want to have the middle section of the bumper sit OVER the section b/c it won’t allow you to push the bumper to sit in far enough.

• This step took a lot of time and pain to get it right. We trimmed the tab pieces off the car (see pic below) and it still didn’t fit right (until we decided to just have the center section of the TA bumper sit over it.

• Take off your headlights when you install the bumper. Apparently the bumper was hitting a piece of the headlight and we didn’t know until we took it off and it went right in. This step is a MUST
• Tape up corners just in case you scratch the car

Final product. Sorry for the bad pics.









In summary, thanks to everyone for their help and nice words and rep points. I hope this has helped give an idea to anyone thinking of getting a replica front bumper and what it takes to fit it. I don’t know and can’t speak for other manufacturers but this is what I have personally dealt with on my MISHA TA front.

Bonus: Stay tuned for a custom little addition I’m adding to the front. It has not been done before so hopefully I’ll be done over Christmas break and will post pics in the new year. Stay tuned!

Merry Christmas everyone!

 

This has to be one of the most thorough, informative write-ups I have ever seen. Great job, Edwin!

 

don't forget to get the height

 

Good to see you on here Carl!

Haven't forgotten. I'll need to put my stock wheels back on for a true apple to apples comparison.

Btw, who gave me a negative rep for this thread?

Edwin

 

Great thread Edwin.

 

magnificant write up bro. congrats!

all you need now is the larger splitters from me!

 

Ed,

Glad its finally over bud. Sorry I missed you this weekend.

 

Thanks Todd. Looking forward to checking out your car.

Haha... thanks Jason. Not sure if it'll fit the Misha TA though.

Ben,

No problem bro. Hope you feel better

Edwin

 

Congrats on your work. I had the same headache when we molded the veilside body kit to my old S2000. Integrated the side skirts to the car. But attention to detail always pays off when you have the end results. Enjoy

 

Again, really nice job with the writeup!! I really appreciate you doing it, and I'm sure many others do, too.

I tried to give you more rep points, but it says I must spread some rep around before giving it to you again...lol!!

BTW, your car looks badass now!!

 

Edwin
I must say that your write up was one of the best posted on this forum. Thank you for the time and effort you put into this write up.
Merry Christmas
Robert

 

Thanks Adam for the rep points (the effort) ...I appreciate it

Thanks... it took a little longer than expected but I'm happy with it.

Thanks Rob. I'll be meeting with Akram something over the holidays to drop off the lip if you're still interested

Edwin

 

yes, I want my Christmas present
Robert