Hi guys,
There is a wealth of information dotted around the forum, however much of it is posted in various one-off threads created by curious members - especially the new ones - who do not use the search function.
So... I thought I would use this thread as a reference guide for anyone interested in styling options for the EP3.
This thread will focus on front bumpers, lower lips/splitters, and front grilles.
The bumper, lip and grille are joined to create the front end of the EP3.
Let's take a look at the basics.
Stock Front Ends
Stock Pre-Facelift Front End:
This bumper is fitted to the original EP3, which was released in 2001. It was in production until 2003, before being face-lifted. Here is an example of a Pre-Facelift Front Bumper, Front Lip, and Front Grille:
Stock Facelift Front End:
Toward the end of 2003, Honda Face-lifted the EP3 and as far as we're concerned - for the purpose of this thread - revisions were made to the lip, bumper and front grille - let's have a look at the Facelift EP3:
Here you can clearly see the revisions made to effect the Facelift. The grille is slightly larger and fronts a larger Red 'H' badge - the Type-R badges are slightly different too. The lower lip features a little more detail with dedicated fog-light holes incorporated into the design. Underneath, and supporting both, is the Facelift bumper which has also changed to accomodate the new lip and grille.
Important points regarding Stock Front Ends:
This information is based on the assumption that none of the stock parts are modified in anyway.
- Irrespective of the car you have, whether it left the factory as a Pre-Facelift or as a Facelift - provided that you have all of the parts for a particular face, you can fit it to your car. A Pre-Facelift car can front a Facelift front end, and vice-a-versa.
- To convert a Facelift car to Pre-Facelift, it is advisable to change the wheel arch-liners; the Facelift arch-liners will not tuck behind the Pre-facelift bumper comfortably/without modification.
- To convert a Pre-Facelift car to Facelift, unlike above, it is not necessary to change the arch-liners to suit as the smaller pre-face arch-liners tuck in behind the face-lift bumper without issue.
- To convert a Pre-Facelift car to Facelift, a cooling plate will be required. The cooling plate is a Face-lift change so to effect this conversion a cooling plate will also be required in addition to your facelift bumper, grille and lip. The Pre-facelift bumper incorporates a cooling plate as part of the bumper so this was not a concern on the pre-face.
- None of the Facelift Front End is compatible with the Pre-Facelift Front End and vice-a-versa. By this I mean you can not mix and match to create a front end combining Pre/Facelift parts. For example - it is not possible to have a Pre-Facelift Grille, with a Facelift bumper and Facelift Lip. Again, this is consistent - as long as none of the stock parts have been modified.
Please consider all of these points when trying to modify, repair or when generally purchasing parts for your EP3.
Aftermarket Front Grilles
There aren't many aftermarket grille options for the EP3, in fact there are three that I know of - two for the pre-facelift and one for the facelift; let's take a look at them.
Pre-Facelift Options:
- Mugen Pre-Facelift Grille
This Grille replaces the OEM item using push-clips and double sided tape to secure it to the front bumper. Unless the car is Nighthawk Black, the Grille is usually painted in two colours. The outer section is painted in the colour of the car, whilst the inner sections are painted Nighthawk Black to give the impression that the metal Mugen badge (which is included with genuine Mugen Grilles) is floating against the black back-ground. When painted correctly (like Mugen's demo car below) the effect is exquisite.
N.B The Red H is not included with the Grille, however it can be transferred from the OEM grille. Alternatively a new one can be purchased for about £26 - the size that is used is the one that the OEM grille uses. Double sided tape is included with grille.
- FEELS Honda Twin Cam Works Front Grille
This grille is extremely rare, and pretty expensive, for something that isn't particularly impressive. FEELS are a respected Honda tuner and their demo car below displays their front grille. FEELS grilles are typically badgeless, irrespective of the Honda - it's a characteristic of FEELS styling.
This grille fits in to the recess exposed by the removal of the OEM item.
The outer edge is painted in the same colour as the car, and features a small point along the lower section of the grille (again, this is a characteristic of all FEELS grilles). This is primarily a badgeless grille with no holder for a Red H. The 'Type-R' badge is not included with the grille and appears to have been transferred from the OEM grille.
The pack will consist of the outer border which is to be painted and plastic honey-comb grille (which you can see the Type-R badge attached to).
Facelift Options
- Mugen Facelift Front Grille
This grille is essentially like the Pre-Face lift grille, however it takes into account the differences between the Pre-Face and Facelift changes. The Red H is bigger, and the outer shape, whilst basically the same, is differently shaped to allow it to be mated to the Facelift bumper conveniently - it is also different at the top, which is consistent with the changes to the OEM face-lift grille.
As you can see it is pretty similar to the pre-facelift version, but for the size of the Red H.
This grille also uses the two-colour paint scheme to give off the floating badge impression.
Whilst there is only one grille available for the Facelift EP3, the Mugen grille can be used in two ways. By removing the Red H holder, one can run the grille as below.
It is exactly the same grille however a bigger Mugen badge (not included with the grille, only the smaller one is as per the pic above) sits on a dedicated ridge in place of the Red H badge and it's respective holder.
Due to the Red H holder being removable on the Facelift grille this look can not be achieved on a pre-facelift grille.
I have seen people modify the differing Mugen Grilles to fit the opposite face they were made for. They are not straight fits, but for the face they were produced for - only via modificiation can a grille for a pre-face fit a facelift and vice-a-versa.
I can't image the FEEL's grille will fit a Facelift bumper, even with modification - as it relies on the edges of the Pre-facelift bumper to squeeze into the recess. The Facelift bumper with the OEM grille missing does not leave a recess with supporting edges unlike the Pre-facelift - so the FEEL's grille has nothing to fit against along the top-edge.
Next: Under-Spoilers/Splitters/Lips
There is a wealth of information dotted around the forum, however much of it is posted in various one-off threads created by curious members - especially the new ones - who do not use the search function.
So... I thought I would use this thread as a reference guide for anyone interested in styling options for the EP3.
This thread will focus on front bumpers, lower lips/splitters, and front grilles.
The bumper, lip and grille are joined to create the front end of the EP3.
Let's take a look at the basics.
Stock Front Ends
Stock Pre-Facelift Front End:
This bumper is fitted to the original EP3, which was released in 2001. It was in production until 2003, before being face-lifted. Here is an example of a Pre-Facelift Front Bumper, Front Lip, and Front Grille:
Stock Facelift Front End:
Toward the end of 2003, Honda Face-lifted the EP3 and as far as we're concerned - for the purpose of this thread - revisions were made to the lip, bumper and front grille - let's have a look at the Facelift EP3:
Here you can clearly see the revisions made to effect the Facelift. The grille is slightly larger and fronts a larger Red 'H' badge - the Type-R badges are slightly different too. The lower lip features a little more detail with dedicated fog-light holes incorporated into the design. Underneath, and supporting both, is the Facelift bumper which has also changed to accomodate the new lip and grille.
Important points regarding Stock Front Ends:
This information is based on the assumption that none of the stock parts are modified in anyway.
- Irrespective of the car you have, whether it left the factory as a Pre-Facelift or as a Facelift - provided that you have all of the parts for a particular face, you can fit it to your car. A Pre-Facelift car can front a Facelift front end, and vice-a-versa.
- To convert a Facelift car to Pre-Facelift, it is advisable to change the wheel arch-liners; the Facelift arch-liners will not tuck behind the Pre-facelift bumper comfortably/without modification.
- To convert a Pre-Facelift car to Facelift, unlike above, it is not necessary to change the arch-liners to suit as the smaller pre-face arch-liners tuck in behind the face-lift bumper without issue.
- To convert a Pre-Facelift car to Facelift, a cooling plate will be required. The cooling plate is a Face-lift change so to effect this conversion a cooling plate will also be required in addition to your facelift bumper, grille and lip. The Pre-facelift bumper incorporates a cooling plate as part of the bumper so this was not a concern on the pre-face.
- None of the Facelift Front End is compatible with the Pre-Facelift Front End and vice-a-versa. By this I mean you can not mix and match to create a front end combining Pre/Facelift parts. For example - it is not possible to have a Pre-Facelift Grille, with a Facelift bumper and Facelift Lip. Again, this is consistent - as long as none of the stock parts have been modified.
Please consider all of these points when trying to modify, repair or when generally purchasing parts for your EP3.
Aftermarket Front Grilles
There aren't many aftermarket grille options for the EP3, in fact there are three that I know of - two for the pre-facelift and one for the facelift; let's take a look at them.
Pre-Facelift Options:
- Mugen Pre-Facelift Grille
This Grille replaces the OEM item using push-clips and double sided tape to secure it to the front bumper. Unless the car is Nighthawk Black, the Grille is usually painted in two colours. The outer section is painted in the colour of the car, whilst the inner sections are painted Nighthawk Black to give the impression that the metal Mugen badge (which is included with genuine Mugen Grilles) is floating against the black back-ground. When painted correctly (like Mugen's demo car below) the effect is exquisite.
N.B The Red H is not included with the Grille, however it can be transferred from the OEM grille. Alternatively a new one can be purchased for about £26 - the size that is used is the one that the OEM grille uses. Double sided tape is included with grille.
- FEELS Honda Twin Cam Works Front Grille
This grille is extremely rare, and pretty expensive, for something that isn't particularly impressive. FEELS are a respected Honda tuner and their demo car below displays their front grille. FEELS grilles are typically badgeless, irrespective of the Honda - it's a characteristic of FEELS styling.
This grille fits in to the recess exposed by the removal of the OEM item.
The outer edge is painted in the same colour as the car, and features a small point along the lower section of the grille (again, this is a characteristic of all FEELS grilles). This is primarily a badgeless grille with no holder for a Red H. The 'Type-R' badge is not included with the grille and appears to have been transferred from the OEM grille.
The pack will consist of the outer border which is to be painted and plastic honey-comb grille (which you can see the Type-R badge attached to).
Facelift Options
- Mugen Facelift Front Grille
This grille is essentially like the Pre-Face lift grille, however it takes into account the differences between the Pre-Face and Facelift changes. The Red H is bigger, and the outer shape, whilst basically the same, is differently shaped to allow it to be mated to the Facelift bumper conveniently - it is also different at the top, which is consistent with the changes to the OEM face-lift grille.
As you can see it is pretty similar to the pre-facelift version, but for the size of the Red H.
This grille also uses the two-colour paint scheme to give off the floating badge impression.
Whilst there is only one grille available for the Facelift EP3, the Mugen grille can be used in two ways. By removing the Red H holder, one can run the grille as below.
It is exactly the same grille however a bigger Mugen badge (not included with the grille, only the smaller one is as per the pic above) sits on a dedicated ridge in place of the Red H badge and it's respective holder.
Due to the Red H holder being removable on the Facelift grille this look can not be achieved on a pre-facelift grille.
I have seen people modify the differing Mugen Grilles to fit the opposite face they were made for. They are not straight fits, but for the face they were produced for - only via modificiation can a grille for a pre-face fit a facelift and vice-a-versa.
I can't image the FEEL's grille will fit a Facelift bumper, even with modification - as it relies on the edges of the Pre-facelift bumper to squeeze into the recess. The Facelift bumper with the OEM grille missing does not leave a recess with supporting edges unlike the Pre-facelift - so the FEEL's grille has nothing to fit against along the top-edge.
Next: Under-Spoilers/Splitters/Lips
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