taking some inspiration from the Top Gear and their "how hard could it be" approach, i decided to try some body work on my ls400. i really like how stock-body cars look slammed and ive reached the lowest i can really drive functionally with my wheels (20x10 / 20x9). i just wanted my stock look lower.. so this is what happened-



on my lunch break i got to wrenching and got the bumper off and started in.
scribed a line from the trim and started cutting.



this was about the point of no return so i was gonna have to make this happen haha. i made some spacers to a distance that looked good and made some ABS plastic brackets that got countersunk and screwed into the bumper to piece it back together with a 2.5" section


next covered the front with aluminum tape and got the inside of the bumper sanded and prepped for fiberglass.


i glassed in front and back of the brackets i made to capture them in the fiberglass.



pulled off the tape when everything was cured


then threw it on for a test fit



then pulled the bondo and sandpaper out and went to work making some dust. finished up with some primer to hold me over till paint.




got the result that i wanted, probably going to do the same to the rear and just buy the side skirts cause i need them bad haha. overall probably took me 6 hrs and maybe $50 materials which was nice on my budget. this is my first writeup so comments, suggestions are welcome thx.

 

i appreciate the work and creativity but to be honest i'm not feeling that....

also, be careful drivng that because after scraping enough you're possibly going to crack that bumper right along your seam since you used fiberglass and not a flexible urethane epoxy.

 

At first its kinda weird cause the signals are kinda low. but after it was painted it looks cooler

but with the signals so low still looks weird lol

Do something with it! you got something going

 

great start, it will look good when the whole car is complete

 

yeah PD i was a little worried about the glass being brittle, im kinda counting on stock bumper to do the flexing haha hope it holds up. also messing around with the idea of some GS fogs in the lower slit part of the bumper. just stuff to keep me occupied when im broke haha thanks for the words guys

 

looking good bro....

 

nice, very interesting

 

I think if your plate was moved up and the bumper lights moved up to center them it wouldn't look bad.

 

very creative. this would be perfect for u to get some gx fog lights and retro them into the bumper light spot, and i think if u move the license plate up it will look a lot better.

and i love the wheels man, wish i could find a nice stagger set for my sc in 19s

 

I really don't like the way LS looks lowered (or any other sedan for that matter..), but I think the job you did looks quite good.

Unlike Top Gear, you actually managed to do something that wasn't "ambitious, but rubbish".

"Tonight, I crash a Reliant Robin into a lamp post..."

 

undecided.

 

I am digging that. I had that idea a couple of months ago, but I don't possess the skills to pull it off.

Ummm, so when can I bring my car in?

I agree with some of the others about moving the license plate up.

 

i agree the plate will be fixed for sure.
i was thinking of some fogs like this

 

i like it alot!!!!!!!!

 

I applaud the effort for a DIY job, especially on a budget. Personally I like the stock look of the LS but maybe when you do the back and sides it will look alot better. Like PD said, it might start to crack if you scrape it too much.
You said "on my lunch break i got to wrenching" How long is your lunch break, 6 hrs? That's the kind of job to have. LOL