JS2004 Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 Hola Im having some issues with my bomex bumper, looking for some advice. The first issue is the space between headlights and the bumper. Currently as I have it after several hours of unfastening stuff and retightning the gap under the drivers side light is roughly 1/2 a cm. There is also about a 1/2 cm gap between the middle of the bumper and the side of the headlight - i can see through it basically. Over on the passenger side this is not the case, but it wont move over. Is this a normal problem with aftermarket bumpers (it is a knight-racer replica bumper). I was thinking of trying to get some sort of rubber to fill in this gap - but want to know if this is a common problem or not. The second issue is the line between the top of the bumper, between the headlights and the bonnet lip that is also between the headlights. Towards the drivers side this gap was quite small, literally 1mm, but by the time you trace it to the passenger side it has increased to about .1/2 a cm - its noticable, and its really unsightly - ive messed around with it and managed to get this line roughly the same width on each side now, but the gap is about 7mm, so its again quite noticable. Is this gap normal? I can see the screws / screw holes that are holding the top of the bumper to the front panel through this gap. Would the piece of rubber that fits the stock bumpers in that place be an option here? These two problems seem to be "linked" in a way. I can either have the gaps around the headlight, with a relatively normal bonnet/bumper gap.. or I can have it fitting nicely around the lights, but the bumper/bonnet gap looks terrible. I can get pics up tomorrow, I ran out of sunlight today and ended up working using a spot-light which isnt the best for pics. I just want it to look decent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
add heywood Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 I think thats what happens when you but replica bodypanels mate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SupraStar 3000 Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 Its a common problem for replica bumpers. I have the same with my Do-luck. Regards the gap between the bonnet and bumper you can remove the rubber gasket (long black rubber strip) from the original bumper and use that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billy bhoy Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 yea put up some pics! i had this problem about 3 year ago.i bought a full veilside kit,it was a nightmare.had the problem with the gap at the headlight. but my biggest problem was a 10mm gap from the bonnet to the bumper.HELLISH!!but i got it down to about 3mm!had to live with that. thing is if its not the origanal your alway going to have some kind of fab to do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JS2004 Posted November 20, 2009 Author Share Posted November 20, 2009 Thanks for the replies so far! this is definately reassuring that its a common problem, and not just me My knees are nackered from being out there trying to sort it lol I will get pics tomorrow. Its currently secured by only two bolts (one either side, on the wings right near the wheels) - I am assuming this is not enough and I will need to at least bolt it down to the front panel. The problem is when I add more bolts to the sides it tends to move the bumper more and make it worse! I tried to get the rubber strip from my old bumper, but the bodyshop where it had the bumper fitted and painted etc didnt keep the rubber strip (or couldnt find it) So I currently dont have one but was planning a trip to a breakers yard to get something that might fit it. Its just really annoying when I look at it because I seem to notice the imperfections more than I normally would if it wasnt my car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JS2004 Posted November 21, 2009 Author Share Posted November 21, 2009 (edited) I have taken a few pics of this now. It is only held on by two bolts, one near each wheel arch, so currently the front is moving a bit (not driving it anywhere). Ive got hold of part numbers for a rubber strip and a aluminium fixing plate which I am going to ask Mr T about price wise. Im not sure if they will be correct for sorting this out though - open to suggestions! Im heading out there to move the bonnet over to the right a little to try and get the lines either side to be as close to each other as I can. Pics: http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/7007/21112009807.th.jpghttp://img515.imageshack.us/img515/9669/21112009811.th.jpghttp://img137.imageshack.us/img137/1066/21112009809.th.jpghttp://img18.imageshack.us/img18/4485/21112009812.th.jpghttp://img297.imageshack.us/img297/5245/21112009814.th.jpghttp://img204.imageshack.us/img204/2641/21112009813.th.jpg http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/2905/21112009815.th.jpghttp://img515.imageshack.us/img515/4265/21112009816.th.jpg The first pic is the gap of the drivers side light Second is looking down showing the "lip" of the bumper fixing area third and Fourth show the holes that were already there and then also the ones drilled by bodyshop - these had small screws in them Fith pic shows the drivers side fixing bolt - theres one over the passenger side too Sixth pic is showiung a fixing hole, there used to be a bolt there which I have removed to adjust the bumper. The holes do not line up now, so I will need to drill fresh ones (anything to be cautious of here?) Seventh and Eighth pic show the line, as it currently stands with the bumper down. This is after hours of adjusting. It used to be a lot worse, the passenger side ga was large and the drivers side was non-existant. The Seventh also shows why I am going to move the bonnet slightly to the right ( Any suggestions welcomes =) Edited November 21, 2009 by JS2004 (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul mac Posted November 21, 2009 Share Posted November 21, 2009 although mine does not look quite as bad as yours i spent about 2weeks in the evenings filling and reglassing with probably about 30 + trial fittments before i was happy, unfortunately fibre glass is very rarely a bolt on proposition without some messing about. There is no magic wand you can wave, to get it right you will have to spend some time on it, if you have not got the experience a body shop could do it for you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JS2004 Posted November 21, 2009 Author Share Posted November 21, 2009 Yours is how I was hoping mine would look Paul. Its been to the bodyshop, they originally fitted it though it wasnt until I started to look at it properly that I started noticing imperfections. The front bumper bar / panel / support and radiator support all had to be replaced. I dont have the experience with fibreglass. I am assuming you fibreglass before painting. The bumper itself shouldnt have been a bad fit as it came with a fitment guarantee but the bodyshop did say they had a lot of trouble getting it on (but I wasnt sure if this was just their way of pushing the price up). I was contemplating taking the full bumper off but theres one bolt that is a bit of a pain to get to (above passenger wheel arch). I also had to push the wheel arch parts (in front of the wheel, not sure on name) into the "hooked" part of the bumper on the wheel arches as this was not done by the bodyshop. I dont think they had much experience fitting things like this - but I was just glad to have it back and I think they did their best. Currently my plan is to sort the gap between bonnet and bumper using the rubber that you get on the OEM bumpers. The gap on the drivers side headlight is a bit of a problem though. I might get away with more rubber with it being black. Im reluctant to spend any more on it right now though, already hit 1500+ to get it right =/ Just out of curiosity, when your bonnet is up - what does the lip look like and how is it fixed to the front bumper support bar? Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul mac Posted November 21, 2009 Share Posted November 21, 2009 this is the only pic i can find of the area you mention it is just bolted to the support rail i found this helped pull it into position, also found a pic that demonstrates how much work was involved around the headlight area Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JS2004 Posted November 21, 2009 Author Share Posted November 21, 2009 That seems to be the same place ive got mine bolted to. Were going to drill through it and try to pull it up a bit using bolts to the support bar. Do we need to keep a certain amount of play in them, in the event of a speed bump? I was thinking if it was under too much stress to hold it in place a speedbump would crack it, wheras if not under so much stress it may simply move it about a bit (though scrape it) The amount of work you did on your headlight is well beyond anything id be able to do - im going to have to see if I can readjust it without the fibreglass route for now. Cheers Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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