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Registered
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Rochester, MN
Posts: 15
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'81 Bumper/Body/Hood Seal Troubles
I have an '81 SC that has been in storage for the past few years. With the assistance of some members of this forum I got the car running and brought it home. I will admit it's not anywhere near a perfect 10 but I certainly like it. However, in storage it has developed what I would consider a serious eye-sore. The seal between the front bumper and hood has developed a nasty warp which I am afraid is due to rust. The seal has curled up with a sickening crunch sound when pressure is applied to the curl area. My guess is that the seal is has a split that overlaps the sheet metal below the hood. This sheet metal had probably rusted and is causing the crunch and curl.
Does anyone have any experience with this issue? How difficult is it to replace this seal?   Thank you very much, Josh |
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09-13-2004, 06:27 PM
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The seal can only be removed by removing the front bumper. Remove the two sheet metal screws at each end of the rubber strip and peel it off the mount, remove the bellows, and trace the wires for the turn signals back into the trunk and unplug them and push them through the grommets. Remove the bolts holding the bumper on and you will be able to see the sheet metal screws holding on the rubber "smile" that you need to replace. This is not a hard job at all.
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87 Carerra Coupe 04 GMC Yukon 07 Mazda 3 00 GMC Sierra |
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09-13-2004, 06:59 PM
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Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Rochester, MN
Posts: 15
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Toolman,
Thank you very much for your reply. It is good to hear that the replacement of the smile is a simple job. However, do you have any idea what may have caused this in the first place? The crunching in the area of the curl has me quite concerned. Does this seal warp like this on its own or is there a larger underlying problem I am unaware of? Thanks again, Josh |
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09-13-2004, 07:13 PM
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Hi Josh, The reason that parts deforms like that is because it has a metal support brace cast inside the rubber and the steel becomes exposed to moisture and oxygen and rusts. One pound of steel becomes three pounds of rust!
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87 Carerra Coupe 04 GMC Yukon 07 Mazda 3 00 GMC Sierra |
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09-14-2004, 12:07 PM
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Registered
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Rochester, MN
Posts: 15
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Toolman,
Thanks again!!! Just for clarification, the metal is in the smile and not part of the body? If so, whew... I'll sleep better tonight. I suspected rust and my concern was that the smile was split and overlapped (top and bottom) sheet metal below the hood. Thank you once again, Josh |
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09-14-2004, 12:13 PM
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Designer King
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Toronto, ON Canada
Posts: 5,499
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Josh,
The steel is encased within the plastic part of the smile. I imagine that is why Porsche used steel, thinking it was protected from rust. It still happens anyway, although I've only replaced it once on my 77.
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Paul Yellow 77 Sunroof Coupe/cork interior; 3.2L SS '80 engine/10.3:1/No O2; Carrera Tensioners; 11 Blade Fan; Turbo tie rods; Bilstein B6; 28 tube Cooler; SSI, Dansk; MSD/Blaster; 16x7" Fuchs/205/50 Firestone Firehawk Indy 500s; PCA/UCR, MID9 Never leave well enough alone |
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09-14-2004, 12:21 PM
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Registered
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Rochester, MN
Posts: 15
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Paul and Toolman,
After Toolman informed me of the correct term for the "Smile" I have done some searching and came up with all the information I need. For those interesed... Bumper smile bubbles Replacing front bumper "smile" bumper smile Thanks again, Josh |
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09-14-2004, 12:28 PM
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