Thank you RK Sport!! Carbon Fiber!!

[Lancer]

Wasn't expecting 2 big packages delivered the other day!I was expecting my new top spoiler I got from Omar on E-bay. But not the Carbon Fiber roof rack covers! It was a good day!It took me and my Brother-in-law about 2 1/2 hours to do everything (including hand washing the car for the first time all winter!),and for the most part I'm extreemly pleased with how the Vibe looks now. Much more sporty!Anyone wanting to buy RK SPort's carbon fiber covers be warned, though. I didn't get any instructions. They only are taped onto the car. And the fit is NOT perfect. Especially at the front of the big cover. I have to fill in about 4inches with some black silicone calk and run a bead around the edge of the whole thing. The wing was a challenge to get lined up straight and it still ended up off an 1/8" on one side. Not that you'd notice unless I pointed it out to you. And the paint is a perfect match! Except they waxed it for me and the rest of the car is still suffering from winter here in WI. I'll post pics tomarrow the battery needs charging.Even with the extra work I'm still totally pleased with how the car looks. I just wish I could put on the 18"!! You should see the look s of the other Vibe owners when they see me cruise by

[Celtic_Curse]

So does the roof rack just unscrew from the body and then you just tape the racks on? Also you state they are not a good fit so can you see where the roof rack was? Post pics soon I would love to see this mod.

[damronjr]

Yeah, definitely want to see the pics of everything. My mid-gate spoiler from Omar came with instructions. Guess the top didn't.

[Lancer]

You have to first remove the 4 screws then some how lift both ends and push everything towards the front of the car. I got P/O'ed at the thing and ended up breaking the little tabs holding the racks on. Then you have to remove all the little white plastic square tabs. There's like 3-4 on each side (also a pain in the azz to remove. We took a pointed forcept (tweezers) and held it with them as you pry up with a screw driver (remember to put something under to protect the paint.).The black strips in the front part of the roof in the little rain gutter thingy stays put so the front part of the CF has something to stick to.Make sure you have everything real clean and put the covers on by first test fitting the big rear piece. The front tab goes against the side of the 'gutter'. That's where there's the open space that I have to fill in. Unless you take it to a body shop that knows how to trim carbon fiber with a lot of clearcoat. Oh, yeah, and cover or fill you'r holes with something.But, anyways. when you know how its going to fit, peel enough of the tape backing off ('bout an inch and a half) so that you can fold it and have enough sticking out so you can pull it off while your holding the CF piece in place. Then apply firm pressure all the way down the piec so make sure the double sided tape sticks. You should really do this whole thing in a warm,well lit garage. I used my B-i-L's work place.Oh, about those instructions from Omar for the top spoiler. They're very generic! they tell you to remove the head liner and to protect the carpet below and to splice into the 3rd braklight for the light so you can use the light in the spoiler. What ever! We are lucky because you can very easily remove the spoiler part of the window hatch with a medium star tip screwhead. There's also 2 plastic tabs that you pop out by squeezing the bottum and pushing it out. And don't forget thewindow washer hose (especially when you 're putting things back together! ).We made the mistake of measuring by the holes because the guids that comes with the kit suck and don't fit in the holes of the wing. and if you look at the holes in the wing closely you'll find that they are not even. So, I would take a dry-erase marker and trace where you wand the wing to sit. then we took glue dots and covered the holes with them. The theory was that when you press down on the wing the dot would transfer to the hatch piece. It workd well enough, but we didn't trace the wing struts and lined up the holes even with each other. And make sure you place the wing on the edge of the hatch part so you wont whaack the wing on the roof when you open the hatch or rear window.Then comes the drilling part. Ever use a drill press on thin aluminum that's at an angle? Pad, Clamp it down tight, and go slow!! It was fun doing all the work myself and a little bonding with my brother-in-law who's moding his new Mazda 6 with blue lighting. Thing looks hot!! If I wasn't so cheap I'd have taken it to a bodyshop to do it so I can take it back and have them fix anything I don't like for free. It wasn't all that hard to doas long as you take your time and plan ahead. I didn't have any or good instructions to I got some things wrong. But I can fix 'em. I hope this helps anyone who wants to get these parts and want to install them yourself.

[Lancer]

Pictures!

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[Lancer]

Another...

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[Lancer]

Side view...

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[Lancer]

pic showing gaps between covers and roof.

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[Lancer]

Misfit on rear.

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[Raven]

The overall look is very cool. The wing with no rack looks much better. The fit is definitely not the best and needs a lot of improvement before I'd go for it.

[damronjr]

Quote, originally posted by Sunny »The overall look is very cool. The wing with no rack looks much better. The fit is definitely not the best and needs a lot of improvement before I'd go for it.I agree here. The one they had on the RKSport Vibe didn't look like that if my memory serves me right, but I wasn't looking for that either. Overall looks good though!

[Merzbow]

DAAYYUMMM DAWG! Whered ya'll confiscate doss wyngs frum.LOL that looks bad@$$! Even though it isn't a perfect fit it looks awsome. I didn't know the caps went all the way across the roof.

[nismo]

Quote, originally posted by Merzbow »DAAYYUMMM DAWG! Whered ya'll confiscate doss wyngs frum.(removed)

[Lancer]

I put some black silicone caulk around the leading edges and it looks a lot better. I can't stop looking at it! When it warms up again I'll go around the whole thing.The wing is from Ohmar on E-bay. $260 shipped! Half the price of the GM wing.

[kostby]

Great how-to! Thanks for the pictures... worth a thousand words at least!

[damronjr]

Quote, originally posted by Lancer »It was fun doing all the work myself and a little bonding with my brother-in-law who's moding his new Mazda 6 with blue lighting.Haha, that's funny, because my bro-in-law and I installed my mid-gate spoiler, as well as my system!

[Psychobroker]

I think it looks great, lancer However, RK Sport should be ashamed for shipping such a poorly fitting product. You just happen to have the knack to make it work (very nicely). Kudos to you... but a fat to RK Sport.

[frozenfloridian]

Very nice! I really like the carbon fiber rack cover. Too bad the fitment wasn't perfect.

[damronjr]

Quote, originally posted by Psychobroker »I think it looks great, lancer However, RK Sport should be ashamed for shipping such a poorly fitting product. You just happen to have the knack to make it work (very nicely). Kudos to you... but a fat to RK Sport.I just hope that the top spoiler and rear bumper that I plan to order from them don't have those problems!

[Merzbow]

Yeah I think the RK rear bumper looks great. The Vibe is one vehicle where it has to be a perfect fit otherwise it would look dumb because of the cladding around the wheels and stuff it would ahve to match. My friend bought a bodykit for his civic and the front bumper and side skirts dont even come remotely close to fitting. Lots of money hes going to have to pay to have the kit fitted.God D*mn those caps look good lol. I can't stop looking at them either.

[Lancer]

One cool thing I forgot to mention was that with all the clear coat on the top sid of the CF, whe you move it or change your viewing angle the CF weave seems to move like a hologram! Mezzmerizing!!I don't know if the '05 model that they formed the mold from is different from my '03, or if the mold got streatched?