Before you purchase your body kit or the time you are waiting for your body kit/exterior styling products to arrive, it is a good idea to research an installer for your products. Although we are not availible to provide a list of recommended installers, we can give you some guidelines on what to look for in an installer for your parts.

Finding the right installer for your exterior styling parts greatly depends on the product you have purchased. Some items are simple to install and can be done by most body shops or tuning shops. Other products such as fiberglass body kits and widebody kits may require a more specialized installer. Below is a guide to the level of difficulty of installation for most items we sell:

Difficulty of Installation Guide:

Levels of Difficulty is a subjective scale of 1 to 5 to describe ease of installation of each ground effect and wide body kit listed in our catalog where 1 signifies easy, 5 signifies very difficult and 2 to 4 fall somewhere between 1 and 5. Most Fiberglass products fall at a level 3 which means a moderate level of difficulty required for installation. Whereas a product with an installation difficulty of 5 will require extensive modifications for installation. We recommend professional installation on all items.

1. 1/5 - Bolt on items such as Carbon Fiber Hoods  and Altezza Style Tail Lights - can be performed by most performance shops, car stereo shops, body shops, etc.
2. 2/5 - Bolt on items that require painting such as fenders, lip/ground effects kits, wings, Polyurethane or Carbon Fiber kits, Vertical Door Kits, etc. May need some minor modification. Can be installed by most professional body shops.
3. 3/5 - Fiberglass body kits or parts that may require some modifications for proper fitment including sanding, cutting, adding fiberglass. Most body kits fall under this category, recommended installation by a professional with experience in installing fiberglass kits.
4. 4/5 - Fiberglass kits with components that must be molded into the body of the vehicle, such as widebody kits with fender flares. Must be installed by a fiberglass installer.
5. 5/5 - Fiberglass kits that need complete custom glass work, cutting and reglassing, extensive molding, etc. Most kits sold by Body-kitz.com do not fall in this category.

How are body kits installed?

Ground effects ktis and lip kits are additions to the stock bumpers and full body kits are replacements for the stock bumper covers. About 97% of the body kits on the market are made from fiberglass or fiblerglass derivatives such as FRP (Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic), the other 3% of kits on the market use Carbon Fiber, Urethane or ABS Plastic. Typically the installer will remove the stock bumpers (and sideskirts if applicable) and fit the body kit before any painting or finishing work. This is done because some times there are variances in the glass which may require the installer to fill gaps or shave/sand off fiberglass. Fiberglass body kits are usually a custom install, meaning the installer will use thier own discretion on how to fit the kit (bolting, molding, adhesive or combining any of these). After fitting the kit, the installer will remove the kit, paint and finish, then re-install the kit. The installer will typically pull the color code from your car to achieve a paint match between your kit and your car.

Tips on finding an installer:

• Often times your local performance and tuning shop can recommend a good installer for your exterior styling products, give them a call first. Also try calling paint and body shops, although not all of them work with body kit installation, many now have an installer on staff.
• Be sure to check around with multiple places regarding the installation of your body kit, prices can vary greatly depending on the shop you have doing the work. Sometimes body shops or dealerships sub contract the work to another installer and simply mark up the price of installation, so call around and get several quotes before you decide. If you have purchased a fiberglass kit and your installer is hesitant on doing the work, it might be a sign that they might not be the most qualified to do the work.
• If you are unable to find a qualified installer who is able to work well with fiberglass, urethane body kits and ground effects provide an alternative that most body shops can handle.
• Vertical Door Kits can be installed by most body shops or performance shops, however if you can find a shop who has done the installation before then you may save several hours in shop time which in turn may save you hundreds of dollars.
• Carbon Fiber Hoods can be done by most performance shops, body shops and stereo installation shops.