An Affordable Way to Be Unique

Have you seen some cars that you think are a particular brand, but they do not look quite stock? You may have seen a car with special body kit parts on it. Many of us would like to own a unique looking vehicle, but $300,000 plus for a Ferrari is a little bit out of our reach today. One alternative is to modify your existing car with body parts and a new paint job.

There are a wide variety of different kinds of body parts depending upon what brand of automobile you have. Typical parts include hoods, spoilers, fenders, air scoops, skirts and various other custom pieces. There are also over a dozen different manufacturers of these body parts.

You can order just one part or a whole kit. Generally speaking if you buy more than one piece at a time you might get a price break from the retailer, either a discount or free shipping. One of the choices that you have is what type of material do you want your body kit to be made out of. Most people choose one of the following: fiberglass; polyurethane or carbon fiber.

Fiberglass was the original type of material used for body kits. Today it remains a good choice because it is the least expensive of your choices. It makes a good fit with the typical installation and one of its advantages is that it is easy to repair compared to the other two types of material.

Polyurethane body kits have the advantage of being more flexible and resistant to damage. You will find this material used by most cars manufactures because it helps them meet federal safety standards on impact tests. A second advantage is that because of their flexibility they are a little easier to install.

The last type and the newest is carbon fiber. It has become popular because it is used in both race cars and expensive exotic cars. Carbon fiber does not have to be primed and painted like the other two materials. So you can gain that exotic look for your car by using carbon fiber. However you will pay for this look, as carbon fiber is the most expensive choice in body kits.

One of the downsides on these kits is that you might not get a perfect fit when the kit arrives. There is always a little tweaking necessary to match things up perfectly. In general, the more you pay the better the fit will be. Unless you have extensive experience working with this type of material on auto bodies I strongly suggest you have a professional body shop install the kit for you. The first two types of material, fiberglass and polyurethane both require painting. Some kits come primed and some do not, but all require a professional paint job. A good body shop will be able to do both the installation of the kit and the prep and final painting to give you a product that you will be proud of for years to come.