1st Post / Some Body Kit Questions - Honda Prelude Forum

Teen HeartThrob · 03-05-2002, 01:16 AM

Sup everyone, I have been lurking this board for some time now, quietly sitting back and learning about ludes and imports. I believe I now have more knowledge then the average 16 year old who uses The Fast and the Furious as his automotive reference.

Anyways...I have really learned a lot from you guys, bear with me if my questions are newbie like, im learning..

i recently got in an accident. Fortunatley no one was hurt, but my lude is looking bad

The hood is bent and the bumper itself is dented and hanging off....its seen better days. It's too bad the headlights wernt smashed, i'd get some nice JDM 1pc black housings..

Anyways, before i take it to a bodyshop to get it replaced with an oem bumper and hood, i was wondering if it was possible to get the insurance company to pay me for an aftermarket replacement (ie: big mouth kit and the hood found
here ) I have heard stories about people coming out of accidents with new kits...but what do i tell the claims adjuster?
If this it at all possible i would liek to do it, because the new oem stuff will just get replaced in the long run.

Anyways...I am new to body kits, i had never considered one originally but the idea grew on me (mainly due to Mark94's SWEET ASS lude). A few Q's...

1. WIll I be able to drop the car at all with that kit installed? It looks big..

2. What exactly is the difference between the "bumper cover" version and the kit? Im guessing i would need the whole kit..as i dont have much of a bumper left..heh

3. How is the fit of that hood i linked? I really do not want to put hoodpins on...just not my thing.

4. If i get a paintjob out of this, I will have all the dents taken out, emblems shaved and filled, the wing shaved and hopefullly the trunk shaved. I really like the shaved trunk look, but since i live in Cali I need to have a back plate. This means i need to get a rear that has a place for a plate, but the only ones i have seen are more ricey / agressive then i care for. Anyone know of a nice, clean rear that has a space for a plate?

Any help appreciated, thanks guys =]

Prelude2War · 03-05-2002, 04:29 AM

most insurence companies will not pay for aftermarket parts and will only use OEM, you can take the cash though. Take the cash and fix up the car.
The hood fits great
As for the kit, you would need a full replacement bumper and not just one that will go over the OEM one. Make sure that the metal bar under the bumper is not bent or anything. As for the other stuff i bet some one else on the board can help more...

ds2000 · 03-05-2002, 07:11 AM

sounds like you've done extacly what I have, I've ordered a replacement WW Bigmouth Kit, I was going to buy one but as I pranged my lude it just made it happen a little quicker than I had intended.

The only thing to check for is the bar under the bonet, make sure it hasn't buckled, mine has but it was only $65 for a new one

The wings west bigmouth kit is a complete replacement bumper, it is relativly straight forward to fit. I'm having trouble with the skirts but the bumper is ok!

Just be careful drilling your lude, don't knacker up the new bumper

, pretty obvious really!

Good luck (I need it as well!)

Dave

Mark94 · 03-05-2002, 09:13 AM

Thanks for the kind words concerning my Prelude!

As for the bumper, Wings West refers to it as a bumper cover. The actual bumper is the metal rebar which is located behind the plastic bumper, hence the name, "bumper cover." The big mouth bumper is the whole bumper cover so you will not need anything else - get rid of your damaged stock bumper and replace it with the Wings West bumper.

You can still lower the car a great deal after you install the bumper. My car is lowered between 1.75 - 2 inches and it still sits 5 inches off the ground. I didn't want to go any lower because I didn't want a rougher ride and take the risk of messing up my new paint job. You could lower the car 3 inches with Big Mouth bumper if you wanted to.

You can't ask the insurance company to replace your parts with aftermarket, they only will replace the parts with OEM parts. The only way around that is if you know the people performing the work on your car. The insurance company will cut the shop a check and the shop will use that money whenever they need to buy parts. If you are friendly with the shop, you can ask them to use that money to buy aftermarket parts instead of OEM. I DO NOT CONDONE doing this because it is insurance fraud and is the reason why our insurance rates are through the roof. With this said, I have heard of people doing this, and have also heard of people getting caught.

The only full rear bumpers that have a license holder are the Combat and the Black Widow (there may be more, but I am not aware of them). You can always have the shop fabricate a holder on a bumper if you really like it.

Good luck.

Mark

Brady92/4WS · 03-05-2002, 01:21 PM

you could also just go with a semi-shaved trunk, make the trunk all one piece but still have the spot for your license plate.