[rhocking1]

I don't want to try and rehash a lot of info available in other threads
on how to do a trunk lid swap or how to install torsion bars. Suffice
it to say search is your friend.

When I got my Seibon Trunk Lid and got it installed (without springs)
the fitment out of the box was poor. I would give it about a 4 out of
10. After doing modifications to the latch (described below) I have a
fitment that I would now give a 9+ out of 10. Overall I am now pretty
happy and the car looks sweet with both a Seibon Hood and Trunk.

At the start I just bolted on the carbon fiber trunk. Put in the latch
and glow in the dark handle and thought that would be it. At this
point I found I had to slam the trunk very, very hard (so hard it was
scary) to get it to latch. The closed trunk fit great near the window
but out by the corners of the car it sat much higher (1/4" at least)
than the bodyline of the car. Yuck. Out of the box fitment 4 out of 10.

In theory I could bend the latch that attaches to the trunk lid. I
didn't do this since I found a way to get it to work.

For my trunk the trunk lid latch was rubbing on the plastic trim on the
'front of the car' side of the plastic surrounding the hole for the latch
on the car side of the latching mechanism.

1) Take off the plastic and with a dremel and a file, file away a bit of
the plastic to make the hole slightly bigger.

2) Put 2 washers under the top bolt on the trunk lid latch. This causes
the latch to angle a bit further away from where it was rubbing.

3) Add a washer under the bottom bolt of the latch on the car side.
This angles the bottom part of the latch a bit better so that the two
pieces latch together smoothly and no need to slam the trunk. Just drop
from an inch or two (and given that the CF trunk is super light this isn't
much force) and the latch catches and locks just like stock.

Still not quite done. When adding the washer under the car side I also
adjusted the car side of the latch down. The holes for the bolts have
some adjustment factor built in which is nice. Adjusting the latch down
pulls the trunk a little more closed and eliminated most of the gap I
was seeing in the corners of the trunk above the lights. At this point
fitment was about a 8 out of 10.

Final step. Remove both bolts on the car side of the latch. There are
elongated holes to allow adjustment. I took my dremel and dremeled
away about 1/4" on the bottom of each hole to make it so I could adjust
the latch down more than was available stock.

At this point I could adjust the car side latch down another 1/4". It
turned out I didn't need to dremel out the whole amount, after a bit of
fine tuning I lowered the car side of the latch just the right amount to
get the trunk to sit flush. Actually it sits very, very slightly high
on one side but only a perfectionist would notice. Hence 9+ out of 10
rather than 10 out of 10.

After all this I am now super happy. From having to slam the trunk and
seeing it have major gaps, I now just close the trunk and push lightly
(or drop it from about an inch or so) to get it to latch and the trunk fits
pretty close to perfect.

My next task is to install some RS springs or to try the neodymium
magnet solution described by rodent and AnorexicSTI.
Carbon Fiber Trunk Owners- No springs needed
http://www.iwsti.com/forums/showthre...63#post1058263

I tried Menards, Lowes, Home Depot as local sources for neodymium
magnets. No luck so far. I still need to search at a few more local
hardware/hobby places. I'm thinking if I have to order online I will
end up going with RS springs rather than magnets.

Hope this helps with anyone who is having trouble getting their Seibon
Trunk lid to latch and fit well.

[ShowstoppersUSA]

Thanks for the great write up !

As with most aftermarket body components, some modification is necissary. Glad to see you got it worked out and fitting great.


get some pictures !

jim

[XxSCAxX]

+1 for pics. id like to see how you dremeled. i have the same problem with my vis trunk, it sits just slightly higher on the driver side.

[rhocking1]

A few pics of the installed trunk.

[XxSCAxX]

nice. i took your advice on the dremeling of the holes for the latch. trunk sits much better now, thank you!

[rhocking1]

Update:

I ended up buying some neodymium disc magnets at http://www.magnet4sale.com. All I needed was two 1" diameter by 1/2" deep. Cost was < $4 each. I also got a couple of 1" diamater by 1/8" deep in case I needed extra depth, but I didn't need them. Those were a little over $1 a piece.

My recommendation is to buy two of each and have the 1/8" ones in case you need extra pull or extra depth. I didn't.

The magnets are way lighter than two torsion bars. Vroom! Vroom!

The install was cheezy. I just put the magnet right next to the bump stop on the hinge and taped it down with a bit of duct tape. I still have to lift the trunk all the way open bit it's CF so it's light . Once it gets close to fully open the neodymium magnets kick in and it pulls itself into place with a nice thunk. Seems pretty solid (will have to see if it stays up when it is windy, but I think it'll be OK). You could glue the magnets down if you want. I'm sure there are plenty of ways to install these.

PS these suckers are strong. They had a 3" X 3" magnet that had a 720lb pull - I had no idea you could get a (non-electro) magnet that size, that strong.