Late '80s Carrera w/ Yellowbird Bumpers - Did I ruin my car?

[Carrera3.5L]

As the topic indicates, just thought I would show a few images (hopefully) and provide some info after completion of my latest project. Please read on if interested or by all means go on to the next thread if not...

Installing these Yellowbird bumpers to my narrow body Carrera did not come easy, as the bumpers were not the greatest of quality. Since I try and abide by my own policy of not bad-mouthing an individual or company, the company will remain nameless but I will say that they enjoy an excellent reputation with many people on this board so what I ended up with was a bit disappointing. Either I got a pair of "bum" bumpers or my quality standards are higher than others, and I know from past experience that aftermarket fiberglass components rarely fit properly out of the box and take some massaging to fit. Boy, did they ever! I finally gave up trying to fit them and towed the car to Vision Motorsports (stock bumpers were already removed so didn't want to drive it and risk a ticket) and asked them to turn water into wine. They also weren't impressed at all with them but my good friend Dwain Dement said he'd do the best he could with them...

Anyway, I like the look and the weight savings is a nice bonus. I weighed everything I took off and have a nice excel spreadsheet going with parts going off against parts going on since I got the car back in 2003.

The weight coming off was as follows:

Front Bumper - 17 lbs.
Front Lower Valance w/ Lip Spoiler - 11 lbs.
Front Impact Shocks - 3.25 lbs. each = 6.5 lbs.
Rubber Strip on Front Bumper - 2.5 lbs.
Front "Smiley" - 3.5 lbs.
Front W/S Washer Reservoir w/ Bracket & Hoses (after emptying contents)- 3.5 lbs.

Rear Bumper - 22.5 lbs.
Rear Impact Shocks - 3.75 lbs. each = 7.5 lbs.
Rear Bumper Pads - 7.25 lbs. each = 14.5 lbs.
Rear Valance & Screws - 2 lbs.

Total Removal Front - 44 lbs.
Total Removal Rear - 46.5 lbs.
Grand Total - 90.5 lbs.

But, subbing the fiberglass pieces in their place added the following:

Front Bumper w/ Mesh Grille - 13 lbs.
Rear Bumper w/ BMW 2002 lights - 8 lbs.
Total Add-on - 21 lbs.

Total Weight Savings - 69.5 lbs. (unofficial of course)

The foglights were retained (street car remember) for aesthetic purposes but I took the opportunity to ditch the front amber parking & turn signal lenses in favor of clear units. I think it looks better and I'm the only one that needs to like it, right?

So far I've taken a total of 212 lbs. off the weight of the car since I bought it in its stock and original configuration. It's still porky (I'm guesstimating 2,600 lbs. right now) but the added horsepower & torque from the 3.5L is welcome and helps sharpen the experience. The car is a daily driven street car, rain or shine, and losing the impact protection is certainly a risk. I guess I have to be wary of tailgaters and just cross my fingers I don't get brake checked by some idiot.

I'll be right up front and say they aren't perfect, but this is about the best I'm going to get them and to the vast majority they'll look fine. My car is a 10 ft. car anyway so the bumpers keep with that philosophy.

On to some pics I took this evening (if they come out, I'm not a computer geek and don't know how to resize, Richard (Motion) get ready for a phone call pleading for help!):











And before I forget, the Fuchs aren't going anywhere. I got the 7's & 9's for a song a couple of years ago and I'm not giving them up. The Ruf wheels look nice and would be my first alternative, but are too heavy for my liking and the car needs all the help it can get rolling forward...

Ralph

[450knotOffice]

Ralph,

Your car looks great! I mean that. Your friend at Vision did a nice job. I have to say that I'm shocked by the weight of the original front and rear bumpers and valances. I knew the front bumper was heavy because I replaced mine a year ago, but wow, 90+ pounds for the lot!

[bmgmd]

I agree. Your car looks great! It goes well with the rear flares and I'm sure the performance of the lighter weight + a 3.5 will not disappoint!

I vote for keeping it and maybe I'll see you driving around sometime...

[earlyapex]

You car looks very nice. It must be a blast with your 3.5L motor and weight reduction.

[BlueSideUp]

With that much weight removed from the extreme ends of the car it must have changed the handling a bit. Do you notice the difference?

I think it looks good, fiberglass is a lot of work to get looking correct. Are you going to add the rubber lower front air dam like the Yellowbird had?

[CBRacerX]

Very nice, I would do this in a heartbeat if I didn't worry about the impact issue. Here in crowded NJ and PA, the chance for a f-bender is high, and even careful parking can get you a bump now and again.

Sweet!

[Nickatnyt]

Awesome. If I end up keeping my SC for the long term I would love to update it with the same looks as yours.

[Carrera3.5L]

Thanks for the kind comments thus far guys, it is appreciated. I'm sure there is probably a handling advantage, whether or not I can ever notice on the street is debatable. It's a fun car to ride around in and it certainly sneaks up on some of the newer cars out now but its not a car I drag race from stoplight to stoplight or try to get in a 4-wheel drift on a freeway on-ramp with.

If I have some time tomorrow I will lower the front a tad (takes about 30 seconds to do) and although I think the rear should also come down a bit also I don't have anywhere near the time to do that before the Big Bear Run on Saturday.

The car was perfectly corner balanced prior, but as you can see the weight reduction is pretty even front to rear and except for the emptying and removing the windshield washer reservoir from the left fenderwell, the side-to-side balance shouldn't be radically different (at least that I'll ever notice putting around town). I'm not losing any sleep over it...

I've debated whether or not to add a lower lip spoiler (the provision was made in the bumper to attach one) since the car is used on the street and the last thing I want or need is to run over something and tear the whole front bumper off! I decided to hold off for a bit and see how it goes...

If I do decide at a later date to add the spoiler, I also have to decide whether to bite the bullet and buy the authentic Ruf piece or make my own. I'm not impressed with much of the various German tuners stuff, seeing firsthand that many items are no better than what is available here in North America and realizing in many cases that you are paying for a name, a poor exchange rate and high shipping/duties cost. As many of you have done previously, this can be done at a fraction of the cost of the Ruf piece, with some often yielding better results.

I'm fortunate that I go against traffic both to and from work and thus my chances for a fender bender are more remote as I am not in bumper-to-bumper traffic, but you just never know. My wife and son rarely if ever ride in the car so that also sets my mind at ease somewhat. Just have to ask my wife if my life insurance policy is paid and up to date.

Ralph

[dickster]

Very nice.

As a matter of interest (apologies if i've asked before) what muffler is that?

Oh, and in answer to your question - NO!!

[mgbruno]

Hi Ralph,
Erstens, Paulaner!!!! Ein tolles Bier! One of my favorites. The car looks absolutely wonderful! I have an 84 911 cab and don't want to put a tail on just cause I don't particularily care for tails on the older narrow body cabs. I too want to save weight. I never use the AC, so, was thinking to get rid of that. I'm gonna keep this car forever, so to heck with resale. The bumper weight savings - very interesting - and also good info. From what I can tell, the rear fenders are stock - yes? I mean not flared? Also, where would you suggest I go to get similar body parts. Hear your rec's concerning fiberglass parts loud and clear. So, if you had to do it over, what would you do? Your conversion is exactly the look I want for my car so any additional info you could provide concerning the process would be great. Beautiful car - again!

[PcarPhil]

Ralph,

I completely understand your frustration with fitting Ruf fiberglass bumpers to your car. I've been diy'ing a pair of these bumpers on my SC for a while now. Mine are finally just about ready for paint.

The biggest issue I've had with mine is fitting the turn signal housings in the front bumper. I should have just cut the housing supports off and re-glassed the supports back in.

The other issue I've been frustrated with is where the front bumper meets the hood. On my car with the 930 fender welting it just simply 'didn't look too good' up close. I went as far as ordering and installing a 964 front smile. To me this looks better and more finished, but not Ruf-correct. But hey, it's my car and I can do what I want. Perhaps one day I'll go back to 930 welting....

After saying all that.....your car looks GREAT!
-Scott

[charleskieffner]

looks great. in process doing same thing! we utilized impact bumper tubes and built NERF BARS on front and rear so in event of fender bender fiberglass will be toast but tub will remain intact. added setrab cooler in front. thanks for posting weight loss/gain. looks great! RUF RUF RUF! debating right now if we will add front rubber conveyor belt material to bottom of front spoiler! also we are adding TOW hooks thru front rear fiberglass for those days when things just dont go quite right!

[CBRacerX]

charleskieffner - love to see the internals of the Nerf bars!

[911teo]

Ralph I think your car looks fantastic.

I think the RUF treatment works better with dark colored cars.

I love it. You made it more personal! Fantastic job.

[charleskieffner]

hey i wish i had pics, but shop doesnt allow me in any more because i ask them too many questions.............LOL! just picture cutting off impact shock ends. you will have hollow tube on each side facing you. now place round tube in each impact bumber tube, and then connecting both w/one piece of tube. 3 pieces used total on front and 3 pieces on rear, weld 'em up and yer set............SIMPLE! gives decent protection to tub and if i sustain any mo damage thats why i pay INSURANCE! its not a daily driver but that just lessens the chance of getting hit, doesnt make it 100% accident free. im the one who parks it IN BFE when i do take it out somewhere!

[Wavey]

From what I can see the fit looks fine. Only questionable spot is that ripple on top of the front bumper, at the front edge of the hood. No way to flatten that out, huh? I just wonder if it could be massaged a little more to get rid of that. Otherwise, your car looks great! That's the same thing I'm doing to mine, except with an early Carrera tail and a dual center-out MK muffler. Thanks for the pics!

[jackb911]

It looks great to me, and I am a really traditional kind of guy.

IMO, the RUF style bumpers are just about the only aftermarket units that look better than the stockers on a '74-up 911. I agree with Matteo that they look better on a darker colored car because of the rubber rub strip on the factory rocker molding. It would be cool if someone made a factory style rocker molding with the rub strip molded in so it could be painted body color.

[oneblueyedog]

Now I know my car will look great when I do the same thing. I wonder what my car will look like if I have my Fuchs centers painted metallic silver. Your dark car makes the Fuchs and Ruf parts look correct. I'm biased for the Ruf look since the Ruf store is 2 miles away from me.

[JeremyD]

looks great Ralph - one of the tope cars on this site...

[motion]

Looks great, Ralph! Really updates the car a lot. I think the black centered Fuchs look just right with the new bumpers. The Ruf wheels would look more modern, but as you say, the weight penalty is just not worth it. Great job!