Advice on Side skirts, bumper smoothing and Splitter

[pauloliver]

Hello, this is my first post on here, i have been a member for a while but never really had much to say as i'm a bit of a begginer to this car modifying stuff. i have a black 2000 seat toledo 1.9tdi 110 se, and i like it alot, damn fine piece of kit, just needs a few little tweaks to make it perfect.

i have been looking into getting some skirts for my toledo, since some tit nudged me of the road and dented my sills in, they aren't bad structurally (it passed its mot like that), but do look unslightly up close and so skirts seem the best way to cover it, with some added style to measure!

what i would like is some recommendations to suitable skirts, i really like the cupra r ones, i don't want anything too large and protrusive, just something clean and nice.

would these be suitable? does anybody have any experience with them?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=010&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=200128173038&rd=1&rd=1

how would i go about fitting them? they don't appear to come with fittings. i did a brief search, but only to find most helpful links weren't working and the other links were a tad confusing.

also, i was looking into the possibility of a cupra r splitter, has anybody tried fitting one of these onto a standard bumper? did it go well? does it fit ok? again, i don't want anything huge or protrusive, just a subtle touch.

i have seen a photo of a toledo with the front bump strips removed and the bumper smoothed out, and i think it looks great (bit cupra r esque), is it an easy enough procedure? i would also fill the line for the lower unsprayed section of the bumper-presumably that will be ok to paint?

sorry to ask all these questions, i know it must get boring when it must be such simple stuff...but these are the last ones!

seeing as i am going to have the skirts sprayed, and the front bumper, i may as well have my rear bumper done too (as theres a nasty scratch on the side of it and it looks a bit tatty where my bike pedals have hit it on the bike rack)-can i also fill+spray the lower section of that? the same goes for the door strips-will they paint over just fine? what sort of price am i looking at for this?

thanks very much for taking the time to read all this, i look forward to hearing your advice

paul

 

[TllEWL]

He speaks !





You're right, skirts can hide a multitude of sins. Can't speak for the grp eBay skirts, but one piece of advice I can give is - if you invest a little more in the genuine, plastic SEAT skirts, they come with mounting clips along the sills meaning you can attach them using only the two screws at either end.

When you subsequently take the car for servicing, new tyres etc etc the garage can remove them quickly to get a jack under or get the car on a ramp. Previous cars I've owned have had to have the skirts bonded on (which is what I'd imagine you have to do with aftermarket/copies) so you risk damaging them.


The bumper strips leave small recesses in the front and back bumper which just need a skim of filler. Any competent bodyshop can do this and plastic-prime the black bits ready for painting. I'd bank on about £100 on top of the cost of spraying to smooth them out.



If you can still get them, the RGM Leon/Toledo front splitter (that I used to have) is a really good fit, and doesn't actually cost much more than the LCR splitter - £45 vs. £20~

 

[pauloliver]

thanks very much for the quick response

i did think those grp ones were a little good to be true, which is a shame, but i guess you pay for quality don't you! i think i will go for the genuine ones in that case-what sort of price am i looking at? i seem to remember a figure of 200quid being associated in my mind with them...

i was thinking of doing the smoothing and spraying myself (or i have a friend who works in a bodyshop who may be eager to help for some beer money) as i have all the tools (minus a decent spraying kit for my compressor, which i don't mind investing in as its handy to have in the long run), presumably i would have to get the paint direct through seat? i know i cant just use any old black, if somebody could point me in the direction as to where i can buy appropriate paint, that would be great

i have just taken a look at the RGM splitter, i'm not sure if its the style i want to go for, however the rgm front spoiler looks very nice, and would look great with smoothed out bump strips!

http://body-kit.co.uk/acatalog/seat_leon_rgm_body_kits.html

thanks for your help so far!

 

[pauloliver]

any more help? i've just purchased a spray gun ready for my mission, so anymore help before i battle on by myself would be greatly appreciated

 

[bigfella_V5]

I have a set of those skirts and they are terrible. Do not get them!

I had to get a replacement as one just wasn't cut straight.

They lip round onto the sill unlike OEM parts and I my foot got caught on it and cracked it. I'm going to have the replacement fitted next Wed and see if the body shop can put a bit of resin on the back of the cracked on to stop it from getting worse.

In the meantime, I am looking for some originals.

 

[Sam20v]

Go to Seat and get the original Cupra skirts!! it pays dividends.!
as for spraying........good luck....i dont think it is as easy as it looks TBH!

I fitted mine with the screws at each end, little sill clamp clips and several clips that i stuck to the sill with SIKAFLEX. as you would expect, they didnt move and inch!

post some pics when done!

 

[bigfella_V5]

How much are they from Seat then Sammy?

 

[pauloliver]

thanks you guys, i am on the hunt for some second hand cupra skirts,trouble is, cupra stuffs expensive i figured those ebay jobbies would be crap, but i thought i would ask incase

my spray gun arrives soon, and im about to order some paint, so the rear bumpers gonna get sorted very soon! i had my front bumper off today after fitting some angle eyes (cheaper to buy a pair of them than a single new oem!) and found that the lower bar is bent, so looks like my cars been in a biff at some point, thats why my bumper doesn't sit straight! so i need to get that replaced too-theres always something...

 

[Sam20v]

How much are they from Seat then Sammy?

Mate, I really 'kin hate the name Sammy.....its a dogs name!

we originally bought 1 skirt for 25 quid from the dealer...yonks ago......but then seat put the prices up and i am sure they doubled......i think they second skirt was £50.

(the reason we bought two at seperate times was a mod we were trying to do on the Bora my other half had......it didnt work and low and behold i bought a tolly......so i got it and had to buy the other one!)

 

[bigfella_V5]

Soooorrrryyy Samantha!

So they are only around £100 for the pair? HMmm, might have to give them a ring.

 

[Sam20v]

Soooorrrryyy Samantha!

So they are only around £100 for the pair? HMmm, might have to give them a ring.

hahahahahaha Sams fine x

yeah not much more....i see that people attach them in different ways...the clips and screws etc are on top of the price of the skirts...but they wont break the bank! definately worth it....really thick good quality skirts they are.

I thought your skirts were OEM bigfella.

 

[bigfella_V5]

No they are the only items that are not OEM, not like me to be honest as I am a bit of a perfectionist!

 

[2003v5]

On my tolly i have just like every other tolly owner a cupra splitter and now i find it boring.
i like the look of the renault espace (2000 ish) front splitter its big and has holes either side at the front, Just wondering if this has been done to a tolly before and if not would it work?