"You can now get a rear bumper that does not require cutting out the reflector mounting tin."

Souk - can you expand on that?

Randy,

The guys that performed backdating on a car in England bought one. I suppose the supplier is in Europe. They/he hinted at it on a thread, but backed away from posting the source. I suppose the supplier was not ready to release his product, but they/he may be at the point now to provide the part.

If I were to do another backdate, I would buy a regular RS bumper, then get a cover like Jack Olsen had on the back of BB1 (the supplier eludes my tired brain right now). The cover spans the space between the bumper humps..it's like a license plate cover. I would attach that cover to the RS bumper and glass it all together. The bumper can then be cut-shape it to go over the reflector sheet metal. I bet that’s how the Europeans did it. Or some time sanding foam is all... It obviously won't look completely stock, but a backdate is not for the "I have to have stock parts" kinda owner.

A mold could be made from that part. Since there are not that many guys wanting backdates, the product would have limited sales….but if someone were to pay me to backdate their car, that’s what I would do. Hell, I could even make the part for you if you want, Randy. The time and nervousness of cutting the sheet metal (not that it’s a huge task), can be spent making the part! Cutting the sheetmetal out of that area also weakens the taillight area. None of it (before or after cutting) will help much in a rear end, but I can now easily flex thetail light area on my car...same as for the older cars w/o the reflector tin.

Anything is possible if you want to pay for it.

Unless you are lucky with the RS bumper, you will have to do some fabrication work to get it to fit right and have a finished look, so the work above will not add more to the project. I see alot of RS or RSR copies out there with poor fit and finish. I'm too anal to live with a some of the compromises. Hell, I've spend hours on my bumpers and they are still not as good as I want them to be, but I'm running out of time. I'll fab some better ones later, and use the current ones for the track.


This is not to scare away the backdater condidates, but knowing what one is getting into will make the task somewhat easier.


So here is my suggested backdate parts:

*fiberglass fenders (or steel if you can get good used ones. If you have the cash, new steel repros are available)
*FG hood (with RS/RSR rubber hold downs..for added safety and security I'm welding the latch bolt from my short hood to the underside of the longhood with a short linkage to release the safety hook. My hood release will still work!
*S or RS front bumper (I'm using the S-bumper, because I like the smoother look of it over the RSR bumper witht he oil cooler opening)
*the rear bumper as described above, if you don't want to cut the sheetmetal
*the rear lights you already have or buy the 911R taillights and cover from a number of suppliers
* the front lights can be 1)stock light bucket and lenses 2) 911R covers with the simplified light, or leave the light opening uncovered and run a custom fabbed light/grill that you can install over ducting to provide oil or brake cooling. You can also get 911R fenders that have the small 911R opening.


NOW EVERYONE.......BACKDATE! :)

Nice car, don't mess with it.

Go out and save a rough car for future generations.;)

I'm getting a littel confused between the original project and mine....

Souk - what would you do to save wt. on the rear of an early car - no wide fenders or anything? Would you do the above mods in your post or just buy a fiberglass rear bumper? If the former, what are the mods that relate to the 'narrow' FG rear bumper?

Oh...I see, Randy. My statements above are aimed at a '73.6+ car backdating.

For an early car with narrow fenders, I don't know of a supplier that has an RS-like rear for it. My solution would be to buy an RS rear bumper, and then modify it by cutting and turning the ends in to match the narrow fenders. Crap, the rear bumper I got from a well known supplier is crap, and I have to do that anyway, inaddition to repairing the crack that happpened in transit! The fenders are off buy 2+ inches on both sides. So unless I cut and shape the ends, I'll have wings on the trailing wheel wells .... it would be easier to pull them out for an RSR flared car. :(

Souk,

Are the "wings" of the RS rear bumper too wide for your flares? Mine were as well and having to "cut and paste" to make them fit. My flares are stock Carrera and they are going to stay that way.

Joe A

great looking car as is!

backdate if you want. ...nice to have a motronic, a/c, rust free power window/sunroof RS.

jZ

That's right Joe. I welded SC flares to my car, and I did not screw it up. Those wings are one of the compromises that I won't accept. There is some flex in the FG bumpers, but when I have to almost break the part to pull it inward to line up with my fenders....it's crap!

I wonder how many FG parts producers actually check their parts now and then. It's sloppy work in a sometimes sloppy industry with little to no quality control. I understand why, but I don't have to accept it.

Souk, what brand was it? And is there a brand you think has better quality than others?

Randy shoot me an e-mail, and I'll reveal the brand. I don't want another heated thread started.

There are brands/vendors/producers that have better luck than others, but FG parts are just not as good as steel. I would not expect fitment that is as good as steel. Heck even steel parts can be inconsistant.