Front Valence Styles

Normally associated with the full Sebring conversion kit but often fitted to the B without the full flares as seen below, and usually where the car has been de-bumpered for the clean look:

This requires a lot of fettling to get right, and often with the poorer quality ones, it appears as if one air duct is skew and the top is definitely not straight. However, when fitting to a rubber bumper car, the valence will cover the bottom of the bumper mounting plates. In the one above, the valence has been carefully body-fillered into the wings to give a smooth look, whereas for a quick fit, the join is often left exposed, with exposed bolt heads. The valence needs to be spaced out, though to match the wing profiles.

A discussion about the front would not be complete without a mention of the rear Sebring valence in this case.

Fitting this is a bit more complex than at the front although the same decision needs to be made whether to blend it in with the wings and rear or to leave a seam. The latter choice is easier, minimising paintwork, and on Phil Earl's BGT we were able to do this quite neatly with a good, flush finish.

However you choose to do it, you will first need to trim the valence to ensure a good fit, especially at the ends where it fits into the lower part of the rear wings. If this job is being done on a rubber bumper car, you will need the cone inserts under the tail-lamps (see here for more comment). Once you have that sorted then you can trial fit the valence. I had to remove my exhaust clamp and reverse it to prevent it fouling the valence. From inside the boot you'll need to drill a series of six small holes on the ledge where the body returns back under to the old valence (just below the number plate in the photo above - that ledge). The valence should then be raised up once the fit is correct all round, have an assistant mark the valence through the holes from inside the boot. Remove the valence and drill these holes. You'll need a set of clips (Halfords stock the small packets of "U"-clips) and you can then slide the clips onto the edge of the valence. The clips are designed to take self-tapping screws. Refit the valence and secure with the self-tapping screws.

At this stage, if you plane to do as Phil did, you'll need to sort out a few lengths of wood so that you can brace the valence. If you are happy with the fit and alignment then remove the valence, and apply a bead of adhesive. We used an adhesive from B&Q designed for non-porous surfaces, which was much cheaper than the automotive glues. The adhesive comes in a tube that will fit in the dispenser gun (like bathroom sealant tubes and guns). Having applied the bead, refit the valence, and fit the self-tappers. Now go around both sides ensuring a good fit, and brace the sides of the valence and leave to cure for 24 hrs or more.

As Phil had had his valence pre-sprayed, we had to be careful not to mark it, but it would be easy enough to mask up and spray it in position. Also, you will notice that Phil fitted a number plate light unit to his valence prior to fitting. Depending on the colour of your car, you could now finish off the gap with a bead of coloured silicone sealant.

In my case, I chose to blend mine into the bodywork, so I simply cheated and drilled and used counter sunk self-tappers into the wing to secure the ends of the valence. I sat the ends slightly lower than the wings to allow for a good smooth finish with the body filler.

My first attempt back in 2004 was not too bad with regard to the finish and profile, but, I took the body filler up quite high. See below. My thinking was to get a smooth look, so I also filled the two vertical seams beside each reverse light. However, I should have used lead loading to get this right as not much later, the paint and filler cracked on these seams.

This time around I have revisited this and spent a lot more time getting the profile right. It is a compound finish, and it requires a lot of patience. Firstly, because the filler settles, it has to be built up in thin layers. The one thing you will notice on fitting is that the profile of the boot does not meet the profile of the valence so there is quite a depth to fill along here to get the curve right both vertically and horizontally across the rear. I also avoided filling the seam this time. You can also see where it has been necessary to fill out to allow for the slight inaccuracies in the fit under the tail lights.

The photo above is the version fitted to the LE rubber bumper cars which fits over the existing valence.

The deep Leyland ST spoiler replaces the front valance. It reduces ground clearance slightly, as does the ducted racing version. The Limited Edition spoiler, designed for rubber bumper models, is shallower and fits onto the front valance. Both are available in fibre glass or black ABS plastic.

Moss also offer this with the fared in square fog/spot lights added.

Bryn's car below showing the Special Tuning design, this is a version available from the MGOC.

For the complete look, a rear spoiler is an option, although not to my taste, I have to say, but here are a couple of options as supplied by the MGOC, for the BGT below, and Roadster below that.

This car below parked behind my car at Silverstone 05 and at first I could not work out was different about it until I asked the owner. He welded in a 2" strip of metal along the top of the valence creating a deeper front, and then mounted the valence flush as per the Sebring valence. As you can see this allows the number plate to be fitted legally, yet not obscure the two air vents below as my plate does. Again, many owners use the stick-on plates on the bonnet, to which there is some question regarding the legality, but many owners seem to get through their MOT and do not get stopped by the police. What is clear is the use of silver on black plates for cars after 1973, this is illegal, but again many MG owners appear to get away with it.

From Frontline Costello in Bath, this alternative take on the Sebring front valence with some subtle MG SV styling overtones, seen at Silverstone 2005. Watch this space for more on fitting one of these to my car!