I'm even ok with certain replica body pieces because some are known to fit near perfect, and in some cases even better than the authentic I've heard. I have a shine front and sides that fit awesome, and the authentic is even fiberglass as well so I'm a fan of shine stuff. I agree with you in the sense that they don't "perform" the same way that mechanical parts or wheels do, so ultimately the only criteria for body parts is fitment. The fact is though the ebay snowplow almost never fits good and let's just be honest here, everyone gets it because it can be bought for like 80 bucks, not because it actually looks better than any of the other real or replica lips out there. They don't fit that well, they're always left unpainted, they just give the Z and Z owners a bad reputation IMO.

Like SqualZ said though when it comes to wheels, I too see Volks (or "Volks") from far away and my first thought is Varrstoens, Sportlines, or Vertinis since most of the time that's what they are. Then I get a closer look and every once in a while I'm pleasantly surprised.

 

Lol this is the same argument women have about clothes . . .

"She has knockoff louboutins! What a ****, I paid $4,000 for mine so they must be better!"

In reality you pay a lot for the name, at least in my opinion. There's obviously a quality difference, but for some parts (emblems, lips, wings, etc) it's all about the name. So obviously people who want to act like they have the money are going to pretend.

I always tell people where I bought my parts, because I'm trying to save them money! I'm the same way with clothes, I don't care what the label says, just what it looks like.

 

^ exactly!! Why pay for Jordan when Prowing just as good.

 

This is the logic my girlfriend uses when I tell her how much parts cost. I'm not buying that comparison. I find the price difference between low quality and high quality reasonable and understandable when it comes to car parts because when you're basically just sewing fabric and leather together, manufacturing methods, machining, and tolerances aren't as critical as they are in the manufacturing of alloys that actually "perform" in some crucial way.

 

Trust me no woman feels that way. The quality is WAYYYY different for high end clothes than it is for low end knockoffs. You can see it in the stitching and the styling, how do you think people tell it's fake? Same with the quality of materials. It's almost exactly the same. Why buy a polyester blouse when the designer one is silk. Why buy a plastic lip when the designer one is carbon fiber.

Some stuff that comes down to safety matters obviously, but most stuff is going to be "safe" if you aren't tracking and are just doing it for show (which is what you would be if you were buying knockoffs anyway)

 

I have 45 dollar jeans that are better quality than 80 dollar jeans. The reason for the crappier jeans being twice as much is because the 45 dollar jeans are Levis and the 80 dollar jeans are banana republic (learned my lesson. Levis for life).

I know in most cases, higher priced clothing items are better quality though, but the quality increase that comes with price increase is not as dramatic as mechanical parts. H&M is making profit off button downs at a price of 20 bucks. Burberry sells button downs for 200. With fashion, handbags, and other decorative chit, I think a much higher percentage of that name brand price hike can be attributed to simply paying for the name. With manufactured alloys, most of that price hike is due to the increased cost of production to make a higher quality product (tighter tolerances, better grades of aluminum/steel/copper etc., forging vs casting)

 

Well, as I found out, the 350z sits so low to the ground that it get a lot of chips from the road. I was going to get it re-painted and then put some sort of paint protector on it, but it's about winter time in NVA and I like to drive my car as long as I can.

I started looking at options to cover the chips and a nice big scratch I put in the drivers side bumper. I decided to cover it with plasti-dip and use the glossiffier on top of that.

I didn't want it really shiny, so I just put enough glassifier on it to give it a semi gloss look as you can see in the pics. I wash it like normal and dry it off the same way.

I also used plasti-dip on the interior center console about 4 months ago. It's holding up very well and I clean it with the same agents I use on my dash.

 

 

prepare your ***.

 

i have heard horror stories of trying to get it off....
(in authoritative voice)
you sir. put down the plastidip can and take two steps back, with your hands in the air

 

Looks nice. I can hardly tell where the paint ends and the dip begins.

 

You should go pro, bro. Do a flip.

 

I sprayed the bumper in my back yard and my neighbor decided to cut his grass. So some got into the dip on the left side. I took a blade and cut down the left side of the grill and pulled it off, then re-sprayed that part.

The dip comes off pretty easy as long as it's sprayed on thick. Otherwise they sell a formula that dissolves it.

BTW, I had some over spray on the hood and wiped it off with a towel. I also just sprayed over the Nissan emblem and pealed it off afterwards.

 

Just say no.

 

why didn't you just do the clear one?

 

So you covered your front end in a weird looking design to cover the small rock chips you probably couldn't see from 10 feet way...MAKES SENSE

 

Looks good bro.

Just kidding.

 

92 civic yes, 350z no

 

In all honesty, it does not look that good. I would peel it off, and have a clear bra installed if you are worried about rock chips to the front end. Limit the use of dip to small projects like the emblems, window trim or black plastic panels connected to the side mirrors.

 

While the OP is just trying to be practical, his post does set the line of demarcation where 350Zs have transitioned from treasured, pampered and beloved sports cars to rat rods.