Turbo Front Bumper Retrofit
#1
Turbo Front Bumper Retrofit
I just did this on my 02 996 C2 this past weekend.
Before doing this mod I searched through many of the posts on this subject and wanted to clarify one thing:
It is not a direct bolt on!
Yes, none of the modifications that need to be done are that difficult but if anyone is thinking you pull your stock bumper, grab the turbo bumper and slide it on, it isn't going to happen.
1. you need to modify the left and right turbo grills. There's a small "L" bracket attached to the back of the grills. If these aren't removed they bump up against the silver metal bumper grill. All you need to do is carefully lever up on the bracket where it's "welded" to the main plastic piece. The bracket will basically crack at the joints and come off cleanly. If, for some reason, someone wants to reuse it you could epoxy if back on.
2. This is mostly cosmetic but the ends of the silver metal bumper need to be painted black or they'll stand out fairly obviously behind the turbo bumper. Not a big deal but makes a big difference cosmetically.
3. The big rubber intake funnels to each radiator need to be either cut back or removed completely. If left in place unmodified they will end up rubbing against the turbo bumper. I decided to just completely remove it. Not a big deal in cooling and I'm guessing it may actually improve cooling a little if you drive in stop and go traffic.
4. Because the turbo bumper is shorter than the stock one the bottom mounting tabs will not reach the stock mounting points. There are only three of them and don't do much to support the bumper so I decided to forgo fabricating brackets for now. I'll probably install some simple brackets later.
I've hopefully covered the modifications you need to do to mount up a turbo bumper. If I've missed anything please chime in.
Before doing this mod I searched through many of the posts on this subject and wanted to clarify one thing:
It is not a direct bolt on!
Yes, none of the modifications that need to be done are that difficult but if anyone is thinking you pull your stock bumper, grab the turbo bumper and slide it on, it isn't going to happen.
1. you need to modify the left and right turbo grills. There's a small "L" bracket attached to the back of the grills. If these aren't removed they bump up against the silver metal bumper grill. All you need to do is carefully lever up on the bracket where it's "welded" to the main plastic piece. The bracket will basically crack at the joints and come off cleanly. If, for some reason, someone wants to reuse it you could epoxy if back on.
2. This is mostly cosmetic but the ends of the silver metal bumper need to be painted black or they'll stand out fairly obviously behind the turbo bumper. Not a big deal but makes a big difference cosmetically.
3. The big rubber intake funnels to each radiator need to be either cut back or removed completely. If left in place unmodified they will end up rubbing against the turbo bumper. I decided to just completely remove it. Not a big deal in cooling and I'm guessing it may actually improve cooling a little if you drive in stop and go traffic.
4. Because the turbo bumper is shorter than the stock one the bottom mounting tabs will not reach the stock mounting points. There are only three of them and don't do much to support the bumper so I decided to forgo fabricating brackets for now. I'll probably install some simple brackets later.
I've hopefully covered the modifications you need to do to mount up a turbo bumper. If I've missed anything please chime in.
#3
I figured if you've seen one C2 converted you've seen them all!
But here's mine. Sitting a little high up front. Just dropped it after being jacked up so no settling.
But here's mine. Sitting a little high up front. Just dropped it after being jacked up so no settling.
#7
Thanks again.
An update.
The turbo spoiler is a bit closer to the ground and juts out a bit more.
Dropped my boy off at school today and went a little too straight into a dip and did a nice SCRAPE on the lower lip!
Have to be more careful...
An update.
The turbo spoiler is a bit closer to the ground and juts out a bit more.
Dropped my boy off at school today and went a little too straight into a dip and did a nice SCRAPE on the lower lip!
Have to be more careful...
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#9
Found the front spoiler for $400 locally which was complete with all parts.
Painting it cost more than the spoiler, $600!
So $1k all in!
Painting it cost more than the spoiler, $600!
So $1k all in!
#10
For the gap at the bottom, if you don't care for your regular C2 Bumper you can cut the bottom part and use it as the bracket. It fits perfect. The original C2 bumper has a dotted line (pre perforated) where you need to cut. it couldn't be easier. I paid $500 for mine and it came with the original paint (speed yellow) and matched my car perfectly.
See here (scroll down for the speed yellow car)
https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...lled-pics.html
See here (scroll down for the speed yellow car)
https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...lled-pics.html
Last edited by JoelPirela; 11-30-2010 at 06:16 AM.
#11
For the gap at the bottom, if you don't care for your regular C2 Bumper you can cut the bottom part and use it as the bracket. It fits perfect. The original C2 bumper has a dotted line (pre perforated) where you need to cut. it couldn't be easier. I paid $500 for mine and it came with the original paint (speed yellow) and matched my car perfectly.
The paint job was okay but the color match isn't perfect, close, but not perfect.
I thought about cutting up my original bumper but for now I'll go without it. Right now I'm thinking I may go back to original one day.
The problem for us here in Hawaii is getting large parts shipped here without costing an arm and a leg. I lucked out finding this bumper on a neighbor island. Shipping only cost me $50. If it came from the continent it'd have cost me probably more than $400 to ship!
#13
I much prefer the look of the turbo bumper compared to the original one.
#14
I prefer the look too, but since I am a perfectionist I'm worried I might not be happy with the Turbo look if it doesn't look like a factory fit. I guess I need to see one in-person to help decide.
#15
Other than the gap under the cap (which you'll never see) it's pretty much a perfect fit. You do lose the funnels for the radiators but I really don't see a problem from a cooling standpoint and you do need to paint the metal bumper inside black but that's mostly cosmetic.