I cracked the bumper on my '03 C2, got a good deal on a used Turbo bumper off of eBay...

I had read on some previous threads that the only two things you need to watch out for when installing a turbo bumper on a C2 is:
a> you need the turbo "eyebrows"
b> the body shop will have to shorten the reinforcement bar

My body shop seems to be telling me differently. First of all, they recommended that I use the air ducts from the turbo, since the carreras are smaller and don't line up. So I said, ok, that sounds reasonable...

Secondly, they said the carrera's bumper bolts up on the bottom directly to the pan, whereas a turbo bumper doesn't reach to the pan, you need some kind of extension plate...

That sounded fine to me too, but now they're asking me to come in tomorrow morning (Thurs) to talk about additional parts to make the bumper work.

Obviously I haven't seen yet what they mean by additional parts, but I'm a little concerned here considering other members on the board had described their own experiences with the turbo bumper as being an easy install.

Can anybody shed some light on this? Is the body shop blowing the difficulty out of proportion, trying to take me for a bath?

 

HI STEVE I THINK YOU WERE the one that e-mailed me but here goes..

a.) you need turbo eyebrows,

answer: no u do not need to use the turbo eyebrows, i used the one form my car and i haven't had any problems, totally untrue.

b.) the body shop will have to shorten the reinforcement bar

true, u have to either buy the turbo reinforcement bar or trim your existing one whate ever you prefer...

as for the turbo ducts, you do not need to use them... u can use your original one from your C2. i used mine and mine lined up perfectly...

i doubt that porsche changed the ducting of the C2 from the 02 and 03 C2's.

if you want i will try to post pictures of my turbo conversion if you would like.

i hope my info helps...

 

Thanks for getting back to me Joe! Yeah, I'm the one that sent the email.

It's unfortunate about the eyebrows, cause I already bought those--cost a couple hundred for two little plastic pieces.

I don't know why my body shop is making things complicated--I'm going to try to straighten them out tomorrow morning. I noticed in your old posts that you used By Design, so I gave them a call earlier today, and they confirmed everything you said.

Only thing I can think of is--this is one of those old 01 turbo bumpers with those big black bumperettes. Maybe those get in the way somehow?

Anyway, if you do have any pics of the install process, that would be really helpful. Especially of the air ducts, showing that you don't have to trim those or anything.

Thanks again!

 

YEAH I HAVE PICTURES IN MY house computer, sure i willpost them for you,,ask for the big ugly bumpettes just remove them and install bumper plugs..

yes by design was the one that did the work on my car help ful people

 

FYI - the black bumperettes are unfortunately not removable...

 

OH THANKS FOR THE HEADS UP MSINDI, maybe the old owner tookt hem out of the bumper that i bought in ebay.. thanks..

bumper i bought on ebay did not have them.. im gald it didnt so i assumed it was removable. sorry for the wrong info chumpalupa.. and thanks for the heads up msindi

 

Yeah, I had just confirmed with Eric@bumperplugs that those are there to stay... Oh well, on a midnight blue car, they don't bother me too much.

Saw a black turbo with some kind of custom 5-spoke rims pulling out today... :sigh: Awe-inspiring, is all I can say... Just got this car a couple of months ago, and I'm already wishing I could upgrade.

 

ohhhh no!!!!!!! Please do not tell me your putting the 01 front bumperettes on an 03 carrera!!!! ohhhhh the horror

Have your body shop fill in the holes if it is possible ( Dr. Bill did this on his 01 TT) or scrap this bumper and ebay and get another one - you'll thank me - withing a week you will hate the warts - porsche changed them right away due to the USA customer backlash of the warts

 

Your advice sounds good. I'm a little concerned that asking anything else out of the ordinary of this body shop is going to blow their mind... but then again...why should I care about their mind, I just want my f%@!ing car back and looking beautiful

 

Steve take it to another shop then if you do not feel confident in there abilities to do this work - Nothing worse than having this shop learn(experiment) on your P-car

 

steve i couldnt seem to atach a pic to my post so i e-mailed you the pics to your e-mail it is ina zip format

 

Yes trust me I hate those darn warts!!! I've had them on my car and have forever kept meaning to nuke them.. I'm finally doing a GT2 bumper overhaul but trust me do NOT use it with those things on there...