Artisan 5 piece body kit project

[Jay2004]

Hello everyone,

Hope everyone is doing good and is safe. Well, in June as a birthday gift for myself I decided to take a big plunge into buying the Artisan 5 piece body kit. (Non CF) More expensive than the Akrapovich exhaust system that I have on, but worth the wait.

Just got confirmation in japan that it will be delivered in September. I will give updates on the progress of the project from beginning to end. I will post pictures and give an honest review about the kit. Plus I'll give my opinion if it's worth buying or not.

I looked for tons of body kits and tried to get the least expensive, but some companies that I won't mention, make cheap ass replicas and they don't except returns yes from experience and they are listed on this site. So, if I am going to spend a lot on this car might as well get the best.

I decided to go for Artisan for the elegant look and I don't have to cut into the car. I really love the style and it's not over whelming with stupid crap. Let's see how this goes. If anyone has suggestions how to start off let me know.

Jay. ( US Army )

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[Jay2004]

Here is a YouTube video link of the kit.

 

[Ultimateone]

So it's just a small lip kit plus some overfenders that are very small also?

 

[Jay2004]

Hey everyone,

Sorry that this project is super late. I had to wait 7 months till the Artisan kit came in. It was stuck at port in japan.

Just got it back from the body shop from getting painted. It came out good and bad. Tell me what you guys ?.

The bad part first, I wanted the body kit satin black and the paint shop fucked it up and I got it in gloss black. The fenders are the color I wanted so it came out good; however, I'm super OCD and want stuff as perfect as I can. I don't feel the gloss black will flow well.

I'm going to a detailing place where I got my ceramic coat done to paint correct and coat the kit.

Should I keep the gloss black or wrap to satin black?

Oh here are some pictures and Artisan actually certify your kit.

Will keep up to date when putting it together. I'll give you my opinion if it's worth it.

 

[Meraki Autoworks]

why not make the body shop correct their mistake?

-Josh

 

[Jay2004]

why not make the body shop correct their mistake?

-Josh

They are correcting the spoiler. I will get it tomorrow. The shop took two weeks, when the owner guaranteed me 5 days. They didn't call me to let me know of any issues, plus when I called the shop's business number it was disconnected. That raised red flags and I'm not going to have the kit in a shop if they are doing something i don't know about. The paint is good. I can work with it and can me up with something.

 

[mkivalex]

If you don't want to go back to the body shop you could probably have it wrapped with a clear wrap that has a matte finish.

 

[Jay2004]

Hey Everyone,

I'm about 90% done with the install of the kit. I had to improvise on having the spoiler seal right on the trunk and not scratch the ceramic coating on the car.

I bought some adhesive neoprene and sealed around the spoiler and filled in the gaps where it could lift and where water can flow in.

I used the advanced double sided 3m tape to hold everything down while heating up the corners to getting to stick more. Here is what I got so far.

If you are looking to do something similar, I'll show what kind of neoprene to use. The only thing left to do is the fender flares.

Now as for install, it was super easy. The front splitter comes with two screw from the factory. You will need to add the to make sure it's secure. It's not noticeable at all. The last picture will show you where it's located.

As for price, I think it should be a little cheaper even for it being made from FRP. ARTISAN made a great product and it's crafted well done especially being hand made. Let's see how it holds up.

 

[Jay2004]

The location where you will have to install additional screws in the front splitter. One on each side.

 

[diablo2112]

That looks fantastic. Great job.

 

[Suggs.OR]

Do you have your car lowered at all? How is the clearance with the front lip?

 

[Jay2004]

Do you have your car lowered at all? How is the clearance with the front lip?

No, I don't have the car lowered. There is no issues with clearance at all. I still am cautious with some roads anyway especially with how some roads are built in Florida. I was still scraping from water channels that are constructed on the roads generally. The kit would add about a 1\2 - 1 inch Additional on the front splitter. So, for speed bumps, you have to take it easy. Driving normally or like a savage from my testing is good

The only complaint is that the side flares , you I'll have to get either wider tires from 9.0 - 9.5 for front and rear from 10.0 - 10.5. It's better I think to make the wheels flushed. The other option from Artisan, is that they went up a size on the wheels to 20 inch and kept the same width as stock. Hope this helps.

 

[Jay2004]

Hey everyone,

Just giving an update on the project. I'm not 100% done. Just had surgery, so I won't be able to finish it till the end of March.

By then I post pictures after it gets ceramic coated and PPF. One thing I can say since having some of the kit on is that the price needs to be lower. I actually bought my kit from evasive motorsports. They have military discounts and I didn't have to pay the tax and shipping.

So if any vets are on here, try looking there if you need something.

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