Uh ho, I am gonna need a new front valence

[Aurel]

I hit a foreign object this morning on the parkway. I think it was a wooden palet .
My front valence took the hit, and my licence plate is gone. So now I am in the market for a nice replacement. What are your suggestions for a 78 SC with impact bumpers?
And are front plates mandatory in New Jersey? Unfortunately I think they are.

[sfoster13]

I have one that you can have for free if you come pick it up. I'm in Westchester.

[dad911]

I'll bet you can pull it out pretty straight.

You should climb under and inspect the oil lines, make sure they aren't dented, and that the suspension is ok.

Need front plates in NJ. If you can't find it, they will make you change #.

[Aurel]

Originally Posted by dad911

I'll bet you can pull it out pretty straight.

You should climb under and inspect the oil lines, make sure they aren't dented, and that the suspension is ok.

Need front plates in NJ. If you can't find it, they will make you change #.

So I just went look for my plate, and could not find it. I found about 5 plates on the shoulder, none mine . And on my way back, an alarm starts ringing in my truck: flat tire !!!. Not a good car day. Fortunately I was able to make it home, but maybe I should take tomorrow off?

[schoward]

Try to pull that damage out yourself - just for the heckuva it.

I ran over my daughters tricycle with my SC last year pushing in the valance real nice. After I was done cursing, I grabbed the license plate bracket and pulled hard. POP! The valance sprang back into perfect shape with no dimples. It is a surprisingly thin piece of metal.

If no work, go get that free one! Or consider upgrading to a carrera valence w the built in-fogs. Many have done so.

[Zeke]

I'm doing some minor straitening of my front and rear valences. I do metal work regularly. They are not a piece of cake. When you get done trying to make the bottom straight and level, you then have to apply the schutz texture to the areas you hammered on.

I can think of easier metal bumping jobs. If you can get a free one in good shape, I'd be all over that.

[80-911SC]

Originally Posted by milt

I'm doing some minor straitening of my front and rear valences. I do metal work regularly. They are not a piece of cake. When you get done trying to make the bottom straight and level, you then have to apply the schutz texture to the areas you hammered on.

I can think of easier metal bumping jobs. If you can get a free one in good shape, I'd be all over that.

Milt, that is why people compliment you on your work so much, as you idea of minor straightening is quite a bit different.

Milt best of luck with your repair, it is a pleasure to read your posts and an honor to see you craftsmanship ...........

Aurel, thats a bump, but the advise above is the ways to go ..........

[Aurel]

Originally Posted by sfoster13

I have one that you can have for free if you come pick it up. I'm in Westchester.

Thank you for the generous offer. PM sent.

[TibetanT]

Aurel:

Sorry to see this damage on your car.

I would hazard a guess that your oil lines are fine, but do check your front A/C compressor for damage and your horns. The horns are plastic so I would bet one is cracked if not both.

Good luck with this.

[T77911S]

heres mine. looks exactly like yours. i hit a big piece of a tire at night. banged mine back out.

LOOK at my "new" spoiler

[chuckr]

It is pretty easy to repair... Mine got dented about a year ago... took it off straightened it out
put it back on, it's not perfect,but unless you look really hard, it is not noticeable

[Aurel]

Well, I decided to pull it back and straighten it myself. I am quite happy with the results. Not perfect, but will do the job until I do more extensive body work for a repaint, sometime. By the way, I used body panels plastic pins (GM, Ford, Chrysler) to reattach the rubber chin spoiler. Worked like a charm and made the job a lot easier. Here is the results:

[tcar]

Originally Posted by schoward

Or consider upgrading to a carrera valence w the built in-fogs. Many have done so.

If you do, you have to also put in a Carrera windshield washer reservoir (smaller) as the SC reservoir interferes with the recessed foglight on the L side.

I've heard that you also need to reposition the horns and the trombone oil cooler.

The Carrera valence is much nicer looking, though.

[GWN7]

To save yourself the hassel of getting new plates, take your rear plate to a sign shop and they will beable to copy it as a sticker. Clean and degrease the old location where the plate was and apply.

[Aurel]

Originally Posted by GWN7

To save yourself the hassel of getting new plates, take your rear plate to a sign shop and they will beable to copy it as a sticker. Clean and degrease the old location where the plate was and apply.

Great idea! I wonder if that is legal in NJ though...may have to check on that.

[chuckr]

looks great, congratulations on a good repair job!

[GWN7]

Originally Posted by Aurel

Great idea! I wonder if that is legal in NJ though...may have to check on that.

As long as it matches the rear plate you shouldn't be bothered about it and if you get pulled over I'm pretty sure it won't be about the plate.

My 08 truck came from a state that doesn't require front plates. So no mounting bracket for one. GM wanted $80 for the bracket. I had a sticker made for the truck and the 69 911 which doesn't have a front plate bracket either. 2 years later, no problems yet with anyone.

If I did get stopped about it I would argue that the plate belongs to me (I payed for it) while the requirement to have both front and back plates is a government regulation to allow authorities to be able to identify a registered and insured vehicle from both the front and rear at any time and the sticker allows this by virtue of being the same government issued alpha numerical sequence on both ends of the vehicle.

Then tell the officer your being "Green" by recycling

[Aurel]

So I went to sign shop to get a replacement plate done. The guy kind of freaked out and said he could not do it, would go to jail... So I will just get replacement from DMV. It is probably cheaper than what the sign shop would have charged anyways ($6 or $11):

State of New Jersey - Motor Vehicle Commission

[tcar]

Be sure to CANCEL your old plate.

Had something similar happen and suddenly parking tickets started coming in the mail.

I even talked to a lawyer. I had to pay them before I could get new plates the following year.

[nesslar]

Check your truck tire for embedded plate.....