Swapping body panels
Lots of people are intrigued by the ability that SMART owners have to swap body panels around but there is a lot of mystery about how to do it. I was able to buy a complete set of panels on EBay recently and two-toned my SMART- It was all silver with a silver Tridion stripe- It is now silver and black. I swapped out the rear fenders, engine cover, and trunk. The whole process took an hour and 30 minutes, with no instructions. A second pair of hands would be helpful. So far "TINIBNZ" is the only one like it that I have seen. I think an exchange between two owners would be a natural- you could both end up with two-tone SMARTS at no extra cost
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mike Knotts on -
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Permalink Reply by SATO on -
all smarts are registered by their tridion color as that is more permanent. the panels are considered a trim color.
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Permalink Reply by Mr. Incredible on -
clicker,
I am from Detroit, if you find someone who want to go from Yellow to White we can do a three way trade. I am looking for Red.
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Permalink Reply by Dave Brainard on -
The Swap is fairly easy if you can handle a wrench/screwdriver. We're working on a video of a panel swap that well post when complete. There's now allot of choice when it comes to panel color/design. Check out www.smartcarskinz.com
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Permalink Reply by Marv Alpert on -
Sounds interesting.. has anyone come up with a storage accessory for the trunk to hold packages when u go shopping?
marv
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Permalink Reply by cruisekingmel on -
Jim,
My wife just got her Cabrio on Sat. and she wanted to change the whole car to yellow. An "update kit" was quoted at $899 for all the panels and $300 for installation. All the panels come in their own big "bubble wrap" bag and all of them probably don't weigh fifty pounds total. I switched my doors and hood on my coupe in May (yes, we now have 2 smart cars) and they store flat and weigh maybe 20 pounds. It cost me about $895 with the labor to switch them at the dearlership. Would have been better off if I had bought the whole kit. I think it would a great idea to form a "swap club" for new panels. It was fun driving to restaraunt in both of them and parking in the same space. Now we are TWICE AS SMART!!!
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Permalink Reply by Mr. Incredible on
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If anyone is interested in swapping, selling or buying body panels (and more) you may want to look at this group I created.
I wanted to create an excel spreadsheet that anyone good do a sort... by color, location, buy, sell, trade or more. And as we either buy or sell, publish the price. So other owners know what items are going for.
Here is the link: Buy/Sell/Trade
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Permalink Reply by Al Glover on -
To trzam400 - My understanding is that (at least in Europe) there are only two 'colors' of smarts for registration purposes: black or silver, depeniding on the color of your tridion. Thus, you can change the color of your panels without concern. I am not sure if this applies in the U.S.
Does anyone who has registered a smart in the U.S. have more information?
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Permalink Reply by RedBeardSean on -
Nicolas Hayek, the CEO of Swatch approached several companies to make the car he'd designed. I remember in an early season (I can't remember if it was season 1 or season 2) of the tv show "Amazing Race" they were actually refered to as 'the Swatch Smart Car.'
If I were going to make it look Swatch-like, I would find a way to mold my own panels in clear plastic, after some of the early 80's Swatch designs. Of course, I might tint the roof panel, even so.
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Permalink Reply by Mr. Incredible on
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smart = swatch mercedes art
I am under the impression swatch and mercedes did the project together. But after continuing losses, swatch dropped out of the project.
How long does it take to change? Last Sunday "monica" and I swapped body panels in her driveway. It took us just over 5 hours taking our time along with reading the directions.
We followed the directions on http://www.fq101.co.uk
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