Ok, I promised to do this writeup a long time ago and finally got the time to do it.
This is IMHO the "proper" way to make and install a home depot lip. Im not going to go into too much detail about the materials you need. Im just gonna kinda let the pictures do the talking.
Cove base comes in a variety of colors and fortunately the bright white is an almost perfect match for toyota 040 Superwhite. Basically what I found with the cove base lip is that without a support structure behind it, it gets ripples and waves in it that I just find unappealing. I started making these LONG before "tuner" was ever in the english lexicon, and have sort of perfected (again, IMHO) the design through trial and error. The overall cost for this lip is in the neighborhood of about $30 and can be installed in a day.
The support structure consists of 3/4" wide predrilled steel strips (called reinforcing plates at your local Home Depot) and a long predrilled steel strip available in the bulk metal rack at home depot. I had to use 2 of the long strips to make up the whole piece. You can bolt them together in the center or weld pieces on the ends like I did. The short pieces bolt to the stock lip locations, then the long strip bolts to the short strips forming the bottom of the support. Now that i have a welder I just tacked it all together instead of using bolts, but before I bought the welder I just used machine screws through the predrilled holes in each item.You have to form the metal strip a bit to match the curve of the nose, but if you use what I used, then its pretty easy to bend.
It should look like this when your finished. (PS - Please ignore all the bug goo, damn river runs to Eugene
)
It bolts to the stock locations like this. Note: you have to bend the short strips a little to get the drop down at the correct angle. A bench vise and a hammer is good for that, or just use vice grips.
After you have the support structure done and bolted up solid, then you just need to cover it. I also found through trial and error, that 3M™ Heavy Duty Indoor/Outdoor double stick tape just flat out works the best and is by far the easiest thing to use. Run a 1/4" wide strip all the way around the bottom of the bumper skin, keeping it as close to the bottom edge as you can. Also keeping the strip straight will make it easier to line up the cover material. Run a second strip at the bottom of the metal stip as well.
like this:
Precut a section of cove base material to be slightly longer than you need it. Find the center of the piece you cut, and start sticking it to the bottom of the bumper. I like to use a hair dryer to warm up the vinyl and very lightly stretch it into place, it helps keep the wrinkles out. Just work your way out from the center to each end. removing a little of the tape backing at a time and trying to keep everything straight.
Wrap the ends around your metal structure using more double stick tape (make sure you heat the cove base when you fold it over otherwise it tends to split)
Thats it, when your done it should look like this:
I originally used the 6" stuff but since I lowered the car it rubbed on damn near everything. This time I went with the 4" stuff and while it doesnt look quite as aggressive, I think it will last longer since it wont rub as much. This general concept can be adapted to different materials if you have access to a good metal shop, and perhaps if I were to do it again I would just go to an HVAC shop and had some slightly thinner stock cut in strips to make it a little easier to work with. Sheet metal generally comes in 4'x8' sheets so I could have gotten one piece and not needed to splice.
If I could find a good quality lip for pre89 I might not need this, but for the price it beats the hell out of nothing!
This is IMHO the "proper" way to make and install a home depot lip. Im not going to go into too much detail about the materials you need. Im just gonna kinda let the pictures do the talking.
Cove base comes in a variety of colors and fortunately the bright white is an almost perfect match for toyota 040 Superwhite. Basically what I found with the cove base lip is that without a support structure behind it, it gets ripples and waves in it that I just find unappealing. I started making these LONG before "tuner" was ever in the english lexicon, and have sort of perfected (again, IMHO) the design through trial and error. The overall cost for this lip is in the neighborhood of about $30 and can be installed in a day.
The support structure consists of 3/4" wide predrilled steel strips (called reinforcing plates at your local Home Depot) and a long predrilled steel strip available in the bulk metal rack at home depot. I had to use 2 of the long strips to make up the whole piece. You can bolt them together in the center or weld pieces on the ends like I did. The short pieces bolt to the stock lip locations, then the long strip bolts to the short strips forming the bottom of the support. Now that i have a welder I just tacked it all together instead of using bolts, but before I bought the welder I just used machine screws through the predrilled holes in each item.You have to form the metal strip a bit to match the curve of the nose, but if you use what I used, then its pretty easy to bend.
It should look like this when your finished. (PS - Please ignore all the bug goo, damn river runs to Eugene
)
It bolts to the stock locations like this. Note: you have to bend the short strips a little to get the drop down at the correct angle. A bench vise and a hammer is good for that, or just use vice grips.
After you have the support structure done and bolted up solid, then you just need to cover it. I also found through trial and error, that 3M™ Heavy Duty Indoor/Outdoor double stick tape just flat out works the best and is by far the easiest thing to use. Run a 1/4" wide strip all the way around the bottom of the bumper skin, keeping it as close to the bottom edge as you can. Also keeping the strip straight will make it easier to line up the cover material. Run a second strip at the bottom of the metal stip as well.
like this:
Precut a section of cove base material to be slightly longer than you need it. Find the center of the piece you cut, and start sticking it to the bottom of the bumper. I like to use a hair dryer to warm up the vinyl and very lightly stretch it into place, it helps keep the wrinkles out. Just work your way out from the center to each end. removing a little of the tape backing at a time and trying to keep everything straight.
Wrap the ends around your metal structure using more double stick tape (make sure you heat the cove base when you fold it over otherwise it tends to split)
Thats it, when your done it should look like this:
I originally used the 6" stuff but since I lowered the car it rubbed on damn near everything. This time I went with the 4" stuff and while it doesnt look quite as aggressive, I think it will last longer since it wont rub as much. This general concept can be adapted to different materials if you have access to a good metal shop, and perhaps if I were to do it again I would just go to an HVAC shop and had some slightly thinner stock cut in strips to make it a little easier to work with. Sheet metal generally comes in 4'x8' sheets so I could have gotten one piece and not needed to splice.
If I could find a good quality lip for pre89 I might not need this, but for the price it beats the hell out of nothing!
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