|
|
|
|
| Author |
|
|
Registered
Join Date: Oct 2022
Location: CT, USA
Posts: 149
|
front bumper removal Q
Removing my front bumper to replace a dead horn and fix the PS bellows. I removed the panels on the sides that connect the fender with the bellows and valence, and I have removed the 4 main bumper nuts. I found my parking lights held together with masking tape and rust, so I am planning to replace them while it's off.
Q is - I cannot get the bumper to pull off. The car is an '88 and has that extra beam protecting the oil cooler. Does that affect anything? It will not even budge. Not sure if it matters but - it appears that it got a tap at some point because one of the studs from the passenger side impact tube is missing and someone put a bolt through the hole. I’ll probably just replace the impact tube to be sure. Anything else to watch out for there? Car is straight, drives well and aligns with no issues. Panels and bumper are all original (bumper has sticker with VIN on it). |
||
03-12-2025, 09:35 AM
|
|
|
Registered
|
With the main bolts out of the impact tubes you should at least be able to get it to wiggle a little. Will it go back and forth just not all the way off? Maybe one of the tubes is tweaked and binding the bumper?
__________________
1982 911SC |
||
|
03-12-2025, 11:13 AM
|
|
|
'87 Targa
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: SanFrancisco Peninsula
Posts: 275
|
Below process worked for my '87
I think the hardest part was prying/manipulating the bellows to not scratch stuff. Maybe the rubber pads are sticking to your bumper?? I recall mine being stuck. I think I found a way to pry on it, in an up-down twisting fashion, to break free. BTW, leave the bumper shock nuts on until you break it free so it doesn't come crashing down.   
Last edited by WMichelsen; 03-12-2025 at 02:18 PM.. |
||
|
03-12-2025, 02:14 PM
|
|
|
Registered
Join Date: Oct 2022
Location: CT, USA
Posts: 149
|
Great pics, thanks! I got the bellows off and those big nuts on the bumper shocks but I was starting to wonder if the bumper is bolted on to that extra support bit by the oil cooler.(I guess its not!)
I will take your advice on putting the big nuts back on loosely to avoid an accident and then apply a few more ugga duggas to the situation. Cheers! |
||
|
03-12-2025, 04:46 PM
|
|
|
Registered
Join Date: Oct 2022
Location: CT, USA
Posts: 149
|
A few love taps with a dead blow hammer via a soft little section of 2x4 and we’re there. I have a new strut on the way to replace the slightly broken one, and a bunch of ss hardware to put this stuff back together. Thanks again for the help!
|
||
|
03-15-2025, 12:28 PM
|
|
|
Registered
Join Date: Oct 2022
Location: CT, USA
Posts: 149
|
Just to close the loop:
Got all the new lights in, cleaned everything up. Even Armor-all on the bottom of the ‘smile’ to help the bumper slide back into place. (I thought) Replaced the horns (low horn was dead so why not do both…) replaced the passenger side bellows which was mangled and is impossible to replace with the bumper on. Replaced the crush tube on the pass side and made sure it was level. Getting the bumper back on still had a lot of resistance, not sure why (?) I loosened up the valence to help ease things a bit and make sure the panels were straight. Now it sticks out straight (it used to go very slightly down) which is good. Between the slightly beat up bumper shock, the light housings held together with masking tape, the primer up inside the valence and some of the hardware being wrong I am guessing someone probably caught a parking berm or something and got a cheap fix. Such is life with an old car, but now it is all put right. |
||
|
03-31-2025, 07:22 AM
|
|
|
