AU S2 XR8 front bumper sagging

12slots4ever · 11-03-2015, 07:25 PM

The front bumper on my XR has developed a big, floppy belly from being caught on concrete wheel stops in public car parks. I'm wondering if anyone else has had a go at somehow shrinking the belly & stiffening the whole bottom edge? Thanks George

**Uncle_Ken** · 11-03-2015, 07:46 PM

Any pics of the front?

UK

12slots4ever · 11-03-2015, 08:32 PM

I will take some 1st thing in the morning! It looks embarrassing!!!

JC · 11-03-2015, 09:26 PM

I'd pop rivet in some aluminium angle - about a metre long, 25 x 15mm angle, 2mm thick. Just make sure it doesn't interfere with the air deflector mounting points, but also you need to have it as close to the rear lip as you can to straighten out that lower part of the bumper.

**Uncle_Ken** · 11-03-2015, 09:39 PM

Lurker, go back to the FPV's

UK

12slots4ever · 12-03-2015, 08:05 AM

This is an attempt to post a picture of my problem. Yay, slowly working the PC out!!

**Uncle_Ken** · 12-03-2015, 03:24 PM

Wow that is low. JC has the best advice, you could use very long cable ties but I'd do it JC's way.
UK

12slots4ever · 12-03-2015, 04:25 PM

Yeah I like JC's fix up. I thought about cutting ultra thin & long cake slice shapes to get it flat and then cutting a full size piece of appropriate thickness ply and sliding it in, something along those lines anyway. Thanks for the advice and for getting my brain happening!!!

**FTE-063** · 12-03-2015, 06:04 PM

mik · 13-03-2015, 09:08 AM

Hmmm, that is a bit floppy......always a hazard for the oldies , stone shield/air deflector doover is gone by the look of it ?

i have always been careful to put the stone shield air deflector back on for that very reason no matter how ratty looking it gets, mine is a bit wavy and the stone shield is a bit
ratty , ive often thought about making a nice new stone shield air deflector out of aluminum sheet to hold it all uniform and neaten it up a bit, looks like that one could do something .

LyleXR8 · 13-03-2015, 09:27 AM

Mine did the same, Use expandafoam, that **** sticks like **** to a blanket, prop a piece of timber or anything you have as a straight edge, fill it up and let sit to expand out and dry, then you can run a steak knife along the back edge to cut flush, I've smashed a few bumpers smacking rabbits, hairs etc so Ive filled up the back of the bumper and now it's like an AU XR bullbar!!! They just bounce off

12slots4ever · 13-03-2015, 10:12 AM

stone shield/air deflector doover is gone by the look of it ?

stone shield, air deflector? I don't know what they look like but nothing appears to be broken off or anything like that underneath! That belly is very stiff, that is why I thought about cutting thin slices to flatten it out and there wouldn't be such tension to pull it back out of shape. Being a pensioner I need to do most repairs myself, can't afford $75 to $95 an hour for someone to drag their feet around my car!!!

mik · 13-03-2015, 10:36 AM

yeah it screws to the bit that is hanging down and holds it up a bit ....also helps to stop it catching on the gutters, ........ i did a google and one was listed on ebay for a b series , the correct name i believe is.............. "splash shield".
i did find one lonely pic of an au item.

http://s1075.photobucket.com/user/pr...73916.jpg.html

12slots4ever · 15-03-2015, 05:10 PM

What's that made of mik?

12slots4ever · 15-03-2015, 05:26 PM

Would these be broken off ends of the stone shield? I got underneath and thought they were there to protect the edges. Sorry it's upside down, don't know how to flip it! George

JC · 15-03-2015, 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 12slots4ever

Would these be broken off ends of the stone shield? I got underneath and thought they were there to protect the edges. Sorry it's upside down, don't know how to flip it! George

Nah, they're the Ford racing bodykit front bar pods. The splash shield that is missing completely screws into the holes on the rear edge of the front bar (you can see one of those holes has some sort of wire in it in your pic). Some people remove the splash shield thinking it does nothing - it does actually aid in cooling the car and with front end downforce.

If your front bar is an original (ie not fibreglass), it can be reshaped using a hair drier or heat gun on low heat setting. After that is reshaped, I'd then fit the splash shield to help keep the shape. You may also still need a brace of some sort as I previously suggested, but I'd try the free fix of reshaping first. Just get the car up on ramps to give you some decent height to work with (you will need to use some timber to get the car on ramps, as typically most ramps are too steep for the XR bar and it will scrape, so the timber helps reduce the approach angle a bit).

12slots4ever · 15-03-2015, 08:19 PM

Original body kit? It's a Tickford XR8 and the kit actually feels like plastic. The little Tickford plate States body kit and steering wheel. I don't think she has ever been smashed. She's been in the family 10yrs but an ex daughter in law had her for about 2 of those years. Speaking of hair dryers, I have double sided tape along the length of my drivers door. Would a hairdryer warp a door??? George

JC · 16-03-2015, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 12slots4ever

Original body kit? It's a Tickford XR8 and the kit actually feels like plastic. The little Tickford plate States body kit and steering wheel. I don't think she has ever been smashed. She's been in the family 10yrs but an ex daughter in law had her for about 2 of those years. Speaking of hair dryers, I have double sided tape along the length of my drivers door. Would a hairdryer warp a door??? George

Plastic is original, and hair drier is perfect for getting tape of a door - followed by wax and grease remover to get rid of all residue.

mik · 17-03-2015, 12:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 12slots4ever

What's that made of mik?

just plastic mate.

12slots4ever · 17-03-2015, 08:08 AM

Thanks guys, you have been a great help! This is the most modern car I've ever had so I don't know half of it!

12slots4ever · 22-03-2015, 12:03 PM

I will post some pics of my attempt at shrinking the plastic

Silver' · 01-04-2015, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JC

If your front bar is an original (ie not fibreglass), it can be reshaped using a hair drier or heat gun on low heat setting. After that is reshaped, I'd then fit the splash shield to help keep the shape.

+1 for this approach. This link has the shield, and the bolts. But a wrecker might be a far more thrifty approach.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/GENUINE-F...item460ff3ad5f