got tapped while at a stop light
 

the lady hit me, but not to hard. Anyone with experience that can tell me how sturdy my bumpers on my 84 carrera are? Here is a pichttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1377550016.jpg

If you can see a scrape mark in the paint, on top of the bumper under the reflector/tail lights, you'll know how far the bumper moved. The bumpers do an excellent job preventing damage in minor collisions.

Double check your license plate lights did not get cracked. As long as she is paying.........

I backed my 86 through a tire barrier, knocked over the guard rail and left the car dangling. Left apex about 80 slid through wet grass and bumper took it with only scratches. Now, if I have to complain the shocks allowed the bumper to move in (as engineered) bending my tail pipes up LOL. Wet ground allowed the guard rail to move easier than engineered and saved my a$$ probably.

Short of it, they work! And I don't even have the rubber pads on mine :)

Don't guess. Bring it to your auto body/mechanic & have them pull the bumper off & look for damage underneath

Tom

This.

Also, see my post from about a month ago where an SUV bumped me and did some genuine damage. 2.6K in damage from a light bump. He hit both the rubber bumpers and the rear reflector.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/760310-ouch-rear-ended-suv.html

Same happened to me with my 79 SC a while ago. A absent minded BMW driver hit me quite hard at a stop light. I thought for sure that there will be substantial damage to my rear. But, on inspection, I could not find anything, not even a scratch. The only thing I could detect was about on inch of dust on the bumper being pushed back by the rear bumper seal. My bumper shock mounts worked perfectly, went in and back out again. That is why I love my 70's US bumpers. The BMW was not so lucky.

by law the bumpers on cars sold in US are required to be able to take 5 mph impact with no damage. that began in early 80s, I believe.

Must have been before that. My 79 SC had them standard. I think in the eighties the federal 5 MPH standard was relaxed. Of course the no damage at 5 MPH only work when both bumpers are at the same height. Modern cars are substatially higher and the state bumper height limits are not enforced.

the requirement still exists. they are actually tougher now; they now also have standards about max repair cost from higher speed collisions (like 8 mph cannot cause more than $2500 damage, 10 mph can't be more than $5k, or something like that; I'm just making those numbers up). they announce the standards years in advance of when they become mandatory so manufacturers have time to adapt to them. porsche probably started complying earlier than required.

The big change in bumpers happened in '74, if you think about it.