Last month we showed a review of the 1552 Cup Spoilers, but mentioned that we were unsure of which car they would end up on. In the end they were sent off for yellow paint, as it was decided they would to be fitted to the sedan instead of Mario’s ST.

There were a few other parts that joined the cup spoilers in the paint booth though, which can be seen in the photo above. The windshield washer nozzles and the roof rails were also colour matched to the car. Since this paint is expensive and tricky to match, I wanted to make the most of this visit to the body shop. Adding parts to the order would be more efficient in terms of time and expense than making multiple trips.

I want to give thanks to Stampede Collision for once again painting parts for me, and for getting them back to me so quickly.

Cup Spoilers:

The Cup Spoilers required some special care due to the manufacturing process, to ensure that all residue and release agents were removed so as to not affect the primer and paint. Minor mold lines were removed as well and they were good to go. The photo above was taken at the body shop as I couldn’t wait to throw one on to see how it looked.

The install took just minutes and they are very firmly mounted on the bumper now. Contrary to my usual routine with freshly painted parts, these were actually not wrapped in 3M which some find surprising. I may yet cover just the fronts of them (and leave the underside bare), but my reasoning is that it’s only going to be a matter of time before they are scraped since they sit so close to the ground, so they’ll likely be seeing some paint touch-ups as time goes on.

Roof rails:

After seeing an ST owner paint his, I knew this was something I wanted to have done to the sedan. We were unsure of the exact procedure for removing these but in no time we had them off. A trim removal tool made short work of prying them free, and the remaining clips easily popped off.

There are 5 clips on each side, and they attach to provisions on the roof. They’re easy to remove but firmly hold the trim in place.

Re-installation was simple too. They clip into the underside of the trim and if you look at the top middle of the clip, you’ll see a tiny locating pin that fits into a corresponding spot on the trim itself. That lines up each clip with the mounting points on the car and takes out any guesswork.

Snapped back in place, they made a very noticeable change to the car’s appearance and help it look a little more upscale.

Washer nozzles:

The washer nozzles were a last-minute addition, one which I didn’t even think of during my first stop to the body shop. I ended up picking up a new set (I’ll explain why in a second) and dropped them off after. Since the roof was to be rid of its black plastic trim I thought I’d go one step further and make the hood one colour as well.

I picked up new parts for a couple of reasons. First, I didn’t want to be stuck without them even for just a few days, as a clear windshield is obviously important for safety. Second, since these were so inexpensive I figured it’d be cheaper to buy new ones than to have the body shop spend the time cleaning and prepping the old ones fully. They have seen various detailing products over the last few years so there was sure to be residue to clean off, whereas new ones wouldn’t have been exposed to those.

All of these parts were super easy to install (I wasn’t timing, but I’d say they could all be installed in under 10 or 15 minutes) and have made a massive improvement in the Focus’ appearance. Of course I like how it looked before but it’s even better now, in my opinion.

So that was it, right? Well, with them installed I was happy – but Mario and I didn’t stop there. We knew one more piece was needed, and the next day we got to work. More on that soon.

-Bill