I've got an 02 Diamante LS here in the US, and I just bought a VIP body kit for it and I'm pretty dissappointed. I've never bought a body kit for any of my cars so I didn't know what to expect, but the kit I received is not nearly the quality I was hoping. Here are some of my questions:

1. Do body kits usually come with mounting hardware? My kit came as pretty much a shell with no mounting hardware what-so-ever.

2. Can I use the mounting hardware from my factory bumpers and side skirts? How hard is it to take this stuff off without damaging it?

3. How much work is usually involved in getting a fiberglass kit ready for paint? The kit I just got needs tons of sanding before it can even be primered, and I'm sure it will need some modification once it is test fitted also. Is this normal?

4. How difficult will it be to integrate my blinkers in to the marker lights on the outside of the headlights? This kit does not have any room in it for my blinkers so I think this is the best way to do it, but I don't want to loose the marker lights. Anyone have some tips on wiring the marker lights and blinkers in to one dual filament bulb?

5. I think the side skirts that are on my car from the factory just push on, but I'm unsure of whether those connectors can even be removed from the factory set. Does anyone know?

Basically the shop that I have the car at doesn't do kits that require this much work often or ever, so they are at a loss with my kit right now. I'm going to try to find a shop here locally that works with kits like this more often and see what they have to say, but I thought it would be a good idea to ask the experts down under first. Please help if you can, and thanks in advance for any help that anyone can give!

I have two words for you PROFESIONALLY DONE.
To save you the hassles of DIY get someone else to do it. And if the kit is made specially for that model it should fit strait onto the original mounts.
E.G a VRX body kit which is made for the TJ magna will also fit onto the TH with the same mounts but it will not fit onto the TE which is the model down from TH, even though they look the same.:nuts:

I am going to have the kit mounted professionally with out a doubt. The first shop that I had the kit sent to didn't have much experience working with kits like this one, so I'm going to take it to a different shop next week. I just don't want the kit held on with two sided tape or something like that.

I don't know much about kits in general, and especially not the VIP ones, I don't even think they're even made down here??

About the side skirt however, yes they are a matter of pulling straight out after you undo all the screws underneath, and undoing the nut on the rear of the skirt (just behind the rear passengers door, feel around in the wheel well).



Actually hypermagna, the TH+ bars do have subtle visual differences to the earlier series, and its almost "bolt-on", you just need to drill holes into your existing bar for the bolts to go through :D

Hey mate, do u have any pics of this kit u bought, i cant say ive ever heard of the VIP kit, but considering your in the US that would explain it!!!

The kit should just clip on depending if its made for the diamante or not, do u have any more info on the kit itself??

I actually was thinking about buying one of these kits from the states.....

http://www.AITracing.com (http://www.aitracing.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_185_288)

I seen it looking for some daimante stuff.

Yeah, the link Rob posted is the kit I bought. I'm going to try to get it to the other shop this week, and when I move it I'll get some pictures of the kit for you guys. I'm hoping that the main issue is simply that the shop I took the car to doesn't have a lot of experience with fiberglass body kits like this one. I guess I'll know more once I speak with the other shop.

well.... the website does say that this model of kit is for 96 - 00...

yours being an 02... maybe a problem... ( dont quote me on that)

fibreglass kits arent always the best quality unfortunately, and be very carefull with kerbs and spoon drain etc, as it will crack easily.

if you can find a paint shop/crash repairer that has fibreglass experience you shouldnt have any issues. they could even mould the other laps into it if you need.

good luck! cant wait to see the results!

what rims you got on it?

Rob, the only thing that changed for the 02s versus the 00s in the US was the grill, hood and the tail lights. Everything else pretty much stayed the same.

I have a set of 18 inch chrome wheels on it. I couldn't tell you who makes them because I bought them from a guy who's car got wrecked during the winter and he just had them sitting in his garage. Here are some pics of them. Since these pictures I've put on zinc plated slotted and cross drilled rotors and painted my calipers black. Once the body kit is on I'll post some new pics up for you guys. Thanks for the help.