Bumper Mounting Repair To Front Wing, New Bumper?

[DrTim]

after a little tussle with a far-too-low-and-virtually-invisible-at-dusk bollard in Queens Square last weekend, the front n/s wing is a bit crunched and the bumper hanging off a bit on the VSX :-(. Been driving it around town but I dont think I will be going much faster then that until its fixed.

Bodyshop guy says he can't repair the wing because the bumper mounting plate has ripped off.
He has worked on my Prestige a few times and is located right next door to the indies, so I am tempted to stick with him

The O/S bumper wasn't screwed in when I got it, and this is also a little worse since the incident.
I actually suspect the n/s had also been repaired at some point.

I think the plastic bits on the bumper where the screws go into are also broken on both sides too.

He's gonna do me a quote and I'll have a go at insurance job, but I'm not sure if it will be viable. He's also gonna try and quote me for a 2nd hand wing. I'm not too bothered about how it looks as long as its fixed on OK.

Does all this sound reasonable to you guys?

Anyone got a front n/s wing (preferably in light metallic blue) they are willing to part with?.

There is a guy in Oxford selling a compete front bumper for 2.0CT Turbo n ebay. Comments?

Do I need a new bumper given the bits the screws go into look broken?

Thanks in advance.

[xmexclusive]

Hi Dr Tim

I have a pair of recovered Mk2 blue wings in one of the short term heaps but suspect they are a bit dark for a good match. Have just cut up the matching front bumper to try to reduce the heaps to make space for another car inside (must stop buying them). There are other bumpers in the long term store but you can successfully refix the bumper ear brackets using short screws and washers. I actually kept the brackets off the bumper I scrapped against such a need as the brackets sometimes rust away anyway. There is of course a Black Mk1 bumper in the way and about to be cut up but you would have to source Mk1 foglights/indicators to match.
Out of interest a temporary repair with chord and cable ties can be secure and last for many months. I know because about two years ago I tied a blue bumper back onto a blue french registered Mk2 estate. Was walking down the road past the local filling station and SWMBO said look theres an XM comming out of the car wash and its bumper has been ripped off. In the end I tied it back on for him, told him to stop regularly to check its security and got a present of a few bottles of wine that were to hand in the car. A few weeks later he turned up at home to drop off a case of very good wine. I was surprised to see the bumper still tied as I left it, temporary fixing now approved by his French garage until they could get the bits in for the insurance repair.

Regards

John

[DrTim]

Thanks for the responese xmexec.

I am slighty confused, when you say "successfully refix the bumper ear brackets using short screws and washers" do you mean refix to the wing or refix to the bumper.

Anyway, not very good pic enclosed. Bodyshop wants £300 labour to respray and fit bumper and wing, didnt even quiote for parts! I only paid £50 quid more for the car! Maybe I should just look for anogther one, I can off road it up in Herefordshire if necessary and it will drive there. If I can temp repair it for now that would be great. I may well be back for more advice. Lckly it has the little access holes for the bumper screw and I even manged to retrieve the rupper cap ofgf the n/s onfter the fight with the bollard.

Old red one still at indies with water in water out situation, they say they'll try and have a look this week. Looks like I wont be going far this bank holiday, got lumbered with friday nite work too...

btw I loaded that car up with music gear on Sat, boot full on guitars and small speakers and cables etc, one of the big biy speakers in the back seat (they are 25 kilos, I was glad I took it but glad I didnt take both). Went up Park Street in third gear absolutely no sweat, that 2.0CT engine seems to work even better when loaded!



This post has been edited by DrTim on August 19, 2008 08:37 pm

[xmexclusive]

Hi Dr Tim

Refix the metal bracket to the ear of the bumper. My guess is that the body shop intended to reuse both the bumper and the wing to repair the car. From what I can see the bumper is still well fixed at the other fixing points. I suspect that if you are not really worried about a respray then just refix the bumper ear back.

Regards

John

[techmanagain]

refix the bumper ear back....quote
If you remove the bumper fixing bracket from the car, you can then use self-tapping screws and suitable washers to screw the bracket onto the remaining plastic part on the bumper itself before refixing the bumper to the car by the single bolt (with its washer).
If you intend to change the wing for some other one, select one from a S1 or S2 car as necessary as there is a different shape at the "triangle" near the windscreen lower corner, and you want it to look perfect don't you?
The "triangle" piece itself is a slightly different shape also.
The replacemenmt of the wing itself is not a difficult job and mainly only needs a 10 mm and a 13 or 14 mm socket. Notice the different types of bolts on the inner edge of the top.
Do not disturb the two large nuts at the front, they are for adjusting the fit of the front radiator cross member and the front nosecone.

[Andmcit]

Today I've removed a pair of s1 wings and had to remove the 13mm bolts holding the top of the
headlight fan panel to get at one of the forward wing fastener 10mm's. There's a 10mm buried
down behind the mudflap than can be missed, two inside the door jamb and a small clip gripping
the bottom edge of the wing against the sill. The major 13mm bumper fastener undid perfectly
well on both sides of the k plater so you may get lucky undoing yours too, though backing off and
forwards if the threads does help with these. The bracketry holding a s2 I recently broke for spares
was so rotten the bumper came off (both ends) with just a hard pull! Not a single bolt remained
strong...

Andrew

[DoubleChevron]

That looks like very minor damage. The bumper isn't even scratched. Why don't you just whip the bumper off, re-attach the mounting bracket with some self tapping screws.... That dents very minor, you could bang that out easily, I wouldn't bother changing the whole guard unless it's really easy to find a replacement (it's impossible to find replacement bits out here !).

seeya,
Shane L.