Giving my '05 a 2010 facelift!

[jasonb]

Hi Ben, considering the cost of postage, don't worry about it. I was expecting to cost a bit more!

Now on to the bumper fitting and I have some questions which I think you discover the answers too before I get to them.!

There is an air flow panel between the front splitter and the skid panel, I'm guessing that the old air flow panel is the wrong size/shape.
What are your plans?
Do you know if the old skid panel will fit with the modifications (assuming the air flow panel needs to be replaced).

Good luck!!!
Jason.

[BenB]

Wow, Jason I don't know what to say! Very generous of you! Thank you!

I havent even looked underneath yet!! don't scare me!! I'm going to give the swap a go right now, I'll document and photograph all I can... wish me luck!

[jasonb]

Good luck Ben!
Do you have access to the Volvo VADIS system? Will help you with the removal of parts etc.

[BenB]

90% Fitted :-) Have taken loads of pics... and a nice complete guide too, including fiting the '04 fogs back on! ... just off to have some lunch, then stick arch liners, wheels etc back on and I'll get back on here and right it up!

[Jonnieb2009]

You will be pleased, its like having a new car!

[BenB]

Here we go guys firstly my guide, then I'll follow with pics, haven't got time right now to collate them to the guide!

Very easy, all you need is a few hours, a set of screwdrivers, torx bits 20 & 27, a drill, a saw and a couple of u-clips (for fitting the standard fogs into the new bumper)

1. Jack up car, remove wheels

2. remove undertray (torx 27)

3. Undo arch liners on bumper side

4. Remove headlight

5. Remove lower fogs, note which side is which

6. under bonnet- 5 clips along front edge. Don't pry them up, push the middle down a few mm and they come loose, (very clever little clips actually!)

7. 1 torx 20 screw either side of these 5 clips

8. each side of the bumpers pop out when you pull them

9. Use a screwdriver and lever out each tab under where the headlight was

10. bumper pulls away (It's actually got a couple of tabs to pry away at the two highest points where it meets the bonnet - I use plastic prying tools for this, I don't want to scratch anything with a screwdriver)

11. vacuum, clean, treat plastics etc (I painted the horn blower mounts with hammerite)

12. You need to saw off 2cm from the plastic behind the grille (see pics) otherwise it hits the bumper. I used a metal ruler to scrape the cut edge clean and remove the plastic burrs.

13. fit the new bumper!
- If you're using the original foglights, you need to be sure you're figured out how you fit them before the bumper is on the car. See pics. I drilled (very carefully) a new hole close to one of the others for the uppermost 'pin' of the foglight, then I cut a groove in the uppermost ring part of the fog, to fit a U-clip. Once the bumper is on the car i plugged it in, then pushed this pin part into place, and drilled a new hole for a screw (2") to tighten on the U-clip. See pics. It's actually very solid. I can't say yet that this definitely fits behind the foglight surround, I don't have the surrounds yet!
Everything I did here I made sure I left all original mountings in-tact and usable in case I fitted others in the future.

15. There's a small piece of the undertray that was still attached to the bumper Offer this up, attach it where it goes on the chassis and drill two new holes through the lower splitter and into this part, move a couple of the original U-Cips to these new holes to attach the splitter.

16. The tabs of the bumper under the headlight, don't quite click into place, but I found they weren't going anywhere anyway.

17. Re-fit the headlight, archliners and wheels.

18. Double-check you've tightenned the wheel-bolts.

Job done! hope that makes sense!

Now to wait for new rear lights and ' get on with that!





























I Completely love it! Definitely like having a new car! Chuffed to bits!

[BenB]

Here's some closeups of the satin finish I got on the splitter, cutting it back, then poilishing it up. Pretty good from a sprycan I recon!

[jasonb]

Hey Ben, wow what an effort!
a million thanks for coming back with pics and the write up. You've taken quite a bit of the guess work out of my conversion :-)

I've asked Simon from FRF for a price for the fog covers, and I'll most likely order them from him when he's back next week as I'm missing these too.

Today I decided to order some 3M carbon Vinyl for the front grille slats and I might just do the lower grille too.
Somebody else on here applied some 3M on the grille and it looked stunning.

I haven't made progress with the priming yet, bit of a bad week with unplanned hospital time with my daughter....ho hum, next week it'll be.

I'm going to try and fit the R-Design mirror covers this weekend, I'll let you know how easy they are to remove and replace.
I picked up some amber LED push in bulbs, I hope they fit.

I forgot to ask you, what are you going to do with your wheels, are you going to kept them as is or replace with something bigger or newer?

thanks again,
Jason.

[BenB]

I'm gonna keep these 17's on it, personally I really like them, plus with tyre costs, harsher ride etc etc I'm happy to have 17's. Been there done that and It's too easy to spend a fortune

[Jonnieb2009]

Good job well done.

The R design mirror covers don't fit 2004-2006 models I've tried it.

If your using your car on the road after the mods make sure your insurance company knows or you wont be covered in a bump and all that good work will be down the drain.

Rgds
J