Nick's "lvndpst" Restoration (and Slight Modification) Thread

Very crude example. I plan to take my sweet time with my dremel to make it happen.

madmike1157 said:

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You can take that finger and put it in one of your oil leaks.

Right now I still have two more inches to cut off. I purposely did that so I can safely incorporate the tabs. If they dont work the way I want them to, then I can cut them off and still glue it on like the rest of em.

Here is what I am up against there, though. I do not want to glue it to the flat face of the bumper trim line. I want to go under that, and that part of the bumper isnt flat. It is at an angle where the two mating surfaces would not sit snugly against each other as if I were gluing it to the face of the trim like others before me with LX bumpers. My plan was to "hang" it under there, and fill the void between the two surfaces with said bonding adhesive. So the adhesive is still in the equation, its just not the sole thing holding the bumpers together, because the two surfaces do not jive just right.

See the angles up under there on the front face? Its not just a 90 degree flat spot to glue to under there. Now the side will glue fine under the trim, but that front face is a bit tricky with what I am trying to accomplish.

madmike1157 said:

I was thinking that the cutline bonded directly beneath the body side molding up higher.

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I can certainly attempt to bond just the '03 bumper cut line to the underside of the body molding, but I hate that its just a thin line of adhesive being the only thing holding it. Why not have the tabs protruding through the stock bumper on the front, and then the glue it on both the inside and outside? The body molding is not separated on the GT bumper as it is with the LX. The GT bumper is one solid piece with the molding just incorporated into it, so I can cut the slits and slide the '03 bumper right into the stock bumper from underneath, then adhere it on both sides.

Honestly, I think we are on the page, and just dont know it. I am not attempting a puzzle what so ever, and think I understand what you gathered from my crude pic. I am going to continue forward as I had planned, and you may find that its completely different than you are thinking.

I tell ya what, I dont know how local businesses survive these days with the online competition. Our good buddy @Davedacarpainter recommended a bonding adhesive to me for this project. I got online to find where I can buy it. I see it can be bought from Walmart, or a few local auto parts stores I have in my area. I didnt want to order it online, because a) I wanted it this weekend, and b) I make an honest effort to shop locally. Instead of driving all over town, I call my local O'Reilly auto parts to see if they truly have it before succumbing to Walmart. They have it on hand, but they do not have the applicator gun that is "needed" for it. I ask how much the applicator gun is, thinking its just a fancy caulk gun after all, and they reply, "We can have it for you on Saturday morning for $110." That is just the applicator gun! I politely state they can hold up on ordering it in for me. I ask how much for just the adhesive. He states it is $71... I say, well crap, I can understand you guys charging $10 more than your online competition, but I just cannot swallow paying twice as much. So, I just bought it online, in the exact same volume, for $35 with free shipping. I could have had the adhesive AND the applicator gun for $79 total, but chose to forego the gun. O'Reilly's would have had me $181 for both... So needless to say I will not be getting any gluing done this weekend, but I plan to get it ready to snap into place, have it all sanded and scoured, and be ready for the adhesive when it gets here.