Sheesh, your car is pretty.
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Sheesh, your car is pretty.
What are you doing about the plastic pillars? Are those painted body color too now? Or did you go RT sail panels?
I've swapped rear bumpers on fully stock cars with NOTHING but the following:
jack/stands
phillips/flat-head
10mm socket/ratchet
There are other tools that can make it easier, but in all, the job is really quite simple. Should have the stock bumper off in <1hr assuming all stock shields/brackets are intact.
removal is the easy part. modifying it for a different bumper & re-installing the new one is a bit trickier.
you can just drill out the welds for the center rear mount & re-weld it higher on the back so it fits the r/t. it's rather simple...just make sure you get it in the right place, and level. you can't do it on the sides, so you need the r/t mounts, or go without them (like i am). everything else stays the same...bumper wise.
for the lights, you'll need to drill out one of the mount holes on each side for the r/t lights, since the corner caps don't fit in both holes on the frame like the r/t's do. if you can get the white-plastic that fits in those holes, and the little rubber "condoms" that goes with it, more power to you. i wasn't able to get them for mine. afaik, the reverse light harness is identical between r/t & es/base, so that's plug & play. just swap in the r/t tails harnesses on each side & hopefully you don't need a blinker box (i think these were also the same across all models of stealth).
p.s.
you'll need to paint the a-pillars black if you're going with black sails. it'll look "off" otherwise. i'll buy the e/s ones off you for $10 shipped. :) heck, i have a set of r/t's i don't think i'm going to use at all. you'd need to paint them though.
Cutting and welding you say? I didn't anticipate that. I have welded before, so I'm sure I can do it, I just didn't think it would be that different under all the plastic.
I think I have everything else I'll need. The bumper I got came with the mounting brackets on the corners. I even have the little nipples for the tail lights. I'm saving the sails for last, just in case I run out of time before the NG.
Thanks for the tips!
sure thing. if shooter wasn't a social-recluse and florida3s was still working, i might've be able to link you to the thread he did when we converted my car. i've got pics.....somewhere.
p.s.
you don't need the mounting brackets for the bumper. you need mounting brackets for the frame. the bumper "sandwiches" between them. i'm 99% certain what you have is the top metal piece that goes OVER the bumper, which the bolts then fasten onto. what you need is the BOTTOM piece, which welds to the frame around the base of the corner area that the corner caps fit on. i, myself, do not have this bottom piece, and i've been trying forever to get some...yet it seems as though very few people can decipher what i'm looking for--let alone are willing to cut/drill them off the car. so my car sits w/o...for now. again, not a game stopper...but you won't be able to bolt anything there, and you'll likely have a gap between r/t tail & bumper--just a small one.