PFL to Facelift rear end conversion

[GTOrange]

Hey guys quick update, cause I know you like pulling your hair out wondering why Im doing this to a 1.8 lol.

Front FL bumper, grill and Evo bonnet are primed and ready for the paint to turn up.
Got front fog lights, thanks Adam.
Got some 17's that I quite liked but they were chrome which I hated.
Was gonna try the new Plastidip stuff that seems to be all kraze over in the states, but got a sample of it from repco and its just ****!. SO Vinyl wrapped the mags instead. Came out pretty good.
Btw, got a set of 4 Kumo tyres with 6mm tred left for only $65 each. A bloke in Tauranga imports them himself. The local guys could match the tyre but for $120.
His trademe username is 4tyres and he will courier for cheap too

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[crazydriver81]

What you need to do it (the basics)
A tailgate, tail lights, rear bumper. Thats it!!!!

What you need to do it (the padantic way)
A tailgate, tail lights, rear bumper, gas struts, rear metal skin that taillights and bumper bolt into.

So they way ive done it requires no welding or filling. Only filling i did was the tailgate key lock and the pointless numberplate holders which dont get used.

SO the need to knows;
The FL tailgate bolts directly onto the PFL hinges or mounts. Its also the same width as the PFL so theres no difference between tailgate sides and body.
The FL gas struts are shorter than the PFL. the only reason for this is that on the FL tailgate 2 of 4 rubber stops are mounted directly inline with where the PFL gas struts fit. If you want to re-use the old gas struts, you will have to delete 2 of the 4 rubber stops. If you want to change over to the new FL struts, you'll have to drill new holes and put a nut on the back of the gas strut thread to clamp it to the skin.
The tailights electrical plugs are identical.
The tail lights sit abit higher than the PFL ones. you can either cut out a section of the skin to make them fit, or you can drill out the spot welds of the PFL skin and replace it completely with the FL skins. this is the only time you would need a welder. Ive done whole front end conversions before and believe me, this one you can get away with just making minor alterations to the existing skin. Its all hidden by the tailights in the end anyway
The FL tailgate shuts perfectly onto the PFL boot latch.
Both bumpers are different and infact the FL bumper sits a little further out. By chopping about 10mm by 50mm section out of the PFL bumper, im able to close the boot and this will do untill i find a FL bumper =)
PFL and FL boot locks are not interchangable. so either you have a 2nd key, or you delete the lock all together with like i did.

Well, following that description about a rear end conversion, I purchased all the necessary bits to do the exact same thing. Unfortunately Marcus has forgot to mention some things which I am somewhat stuck now, before I can continue the conversion. To all who are considering this FL rear end swap, here are some more details:

1. PFL gas struts will not fit - they hit the FL tailgate at the point where the mentioned rubber stops are located. With the rubber stops removed, the tailgate metal will hit the strut and you cannot close the tailgate. Using FL gas struts is mandatory.
2. Mounting FL gas struts to the existing skin requires to drill a hole and use a separate nut to mount the gas strut. Given the location inside the D-pillar with near to no access to the nut wit a spanner, this is a real PITA job!
3. You need to cut the small metal brackets, sitting left and right behind the PFL bumper (where the rubber insulators are mounted to).
4. Cutting the rear skin for the new location of the FL outer lights is not too hard, but you need to fill parts of the "old" holes with Epoxy and/or glassfibre to avoid water getting in.

As of now, I am really considering to buy the suitable metal skin sections and getting them replaced properly by a body shop. At this stage I could also get rid of some slight rust which has build up below the rubber seal because a paint job is necessary then...

[crazydriver81]

I have ordered all necessary body panels for the conversion (4pcs) - which made 500 EUR additionally spent on this conversion. Now I have to wait 8 weeks for the panels to arrive from Japland and then the car will go to the body shop and paint shop - which will be another 1000 EUR.

So the total sum spend will be close to 2600 EUR for the rear end conversion! But I really like the FL rear end...

[MarkSanne]

Wow! That's an expensive conversion Stefan. Good info though! Good luck with finishing it.

[kiwigalant]

That converts to more than I paid for my FL legnum!

[Westgatez]

Hi does anyone know where I can purchase a FL estate tailgate?