Lude Generation

im planning on fitting a new front end to my lude tomorrow
so will be taking of the wings west front bumper and phantom grey wings and replacing them with reworked milano red front bumper and black spoon lip and milano red front wings.

im wanting to find out if anyone has any tips on fitting and lining these new panels up and also wnat to find out if im better off fitting the front bumper then wings or the other way round wings then bumper. The bumper is fully built up and attached to the bumper support bar so in theory it should be three bolts either side to fit it.

any pointer or help appreciated as ive never swapped any panels before.

you will have to fit the wings first then the bumper as the bumper connects at the wings
really is easy m8

thanks dbo - i like the really easy jobs so wings first then bumper

i remember when i made the ludebehaviour calendar, i got Nathan to photoshop your car to all Milano red. How many years ago was that? Its taken til now. Good luck. I cant wait to see it nick.

Do the bolts for the wings up hand tight so you still get a bit of play in the panel to move it around to get the gaps spot on before fully tightening them up.

Good luck Nick, looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

Bumper off (has to come off to access wing bolts) then one wing at a time (so you get to line each up with the bonnet/door etc.) then bonnet, then refit new bumper.

You'll find the biggest sod with the bumper is just underneath the rear of the headlights. The rest is a PITA and even if you initially get it to fit here, after a few weeks it tends to bulge here and you need to sod around some more


Not that I've had the front end off/on many 4ths before, much...

When you are fitting the wings, put all the bolts in loosely,get the gap to the door as you want it,tighten those bolts up ,next bolt to tighten is the one at the top nearest windscreen,then you can move the wing in or out to suit the bonnet gaps and tighten rest of the bolts when you are happy with the gaps. Bumper should be straightforward after that.

thanks for the top tips
weather looks good so will be starting work on the lude this afternoon
its been too many years looking like a cut n shut

the new front end is now on - wasnt too much of a struggle - thanks to Mchael and Craig for giving me a hand
ran out of light at the end and made a mess of fitting the last part which was the passenger side wheel arch - said arch is now shredded to f*ck as it bent back under the wheel as soon as i went over 40mph

Craig took a few pics so hopefully he can post them up....

not sure i like the new front end as much as the wings west but right now im not sure i even like the lude anymore think i might be in a bit of a bad mood

pictures