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Hi All -

Bumpers are done (less paint). Being that I am using the flat Carrera trim, I was not comfortable drilling through the bumper blade and having to worry about fitting/hiding an exposed bolt head under the shallow aluminum extrusion. I built backing plates with bolts welded from behind, and bonded them to the bumper blades using panel adhesive. Came out good. That adhesive it scary stuff - very strong. Used it previously to bond brackets to 911 IROC bumpers.

So all is now dry and pre-fitted. Going to install the  Carrera decos tonight. My plan was to build an aluminum template to keep all of the holes straight. It would mimic the bumper profile cross section and have a center line to mark the holes.

Setting my OCD aside for a moment, I realized there are hundreds of you that have installed bumper decos. Before I spend a bunch of time on this template, I thought I should reach out to the group and see if there any tricks/shortcuts any of you have used to get these installed straight.

Any advice??

Thanks!

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Locate center across the length and width of the bumper, mark center on the Deco. Align center to center mark on bumper... I don't bolt the Deco to the FG bumper I use 5/16 head  x 5/8" hex head self tap screws. You will have to bend both L & R ends inboard against the bumper and install a couple of extra screws to hold it tightly against the bumper. It's a pita to reinstall the rubber some heat and WD 40 does help.

Last edited by Alan Merklin

These came from sierra madre. Yep, they are thick. However the bigger issue are the clips. They are awful. They fit very lose. I did some creative edge bending to try and secure them in the channel, but it was still hit and miss. I finally threw in the towel and cheated. I used a more industrial glue gun and put dabs on the clips to hold them until the nuts were secure. Worked like a champ.

Back to bending....

The bumper works as a decent form as you tighten the clips  (which is why those clips were SO frustrating). Getting it all tight gives you your basic shape. From there it is a good hour making very slight adjustments (I literally used my knee for 95%). The stress is knowing if you go to far you will kink the extrusion and have to buy another.

I went all in and wrapped the trim around the ends of the bumpers per the original. This required slicing off a section of the mounting channel which allowed the trim to wrap. It came out ok - but not perfect.

Will paint the bumpers tomorrow, get things mounted up and post a pic.

 Here is a pic of the extrusion.

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Last edited by Scott S

Wow. As a guy who is rapidly learning how much I still have to learn about forming and bending aluminum, that deco piece looks like a bear. I don't understand why they wouldn't pre-form that to the bumper curve before selling it. 

Only way I could see to maybe make it bend smooth would be annealing—which would make it very risky, at best to use the bumper itself to form it. Best would be to slot in a piece of steel flat bar and heat/bend it using that. What a PITA. Good on you for getting it done cold.

Last edited by edsnova

I have installed these GT trims many times, including a restoration GT.  The way we do them is to first anneal the aluminum which makes for a very tight fit and easy bends.  We actually bolt it not he first time, just as it will be bolted on when completed.  

You run the trim at full length and mark where the end of the bumpers are (on the backside of the trim).  When removed, you mitre cut the back side out of the trim to remove all of the return edge and then wrap what is left 180 degrees around the end of the bumper and bring it back to the last bolt so you can mark your drill hole.  This end bolt both holds the bumper trim in place just as the others do, and also captures the piece that wraps behind the bumper.

As for the bolts, the ones supplied suck, as you noticed.  We make our own out of 6mm weld bolts with the heads of them trimmed down to fit tighter than the factory bolts.  You have to be careful not to make them too big or they won't slide through the bends.

I know you've started your process already, but hope this helps (you or someone in the future trying this).

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