Is there a painless way of removing the ugly rear black bumper pads from a 1977 911 targa? Thanks.

 

Your best bet is to go to the '74 style, which were also standard on the Euro cars from 74 on for a few years(not exactly sure how long)a while. They are not as wide, and look better proportioned than the bulkier ones on your car. They can be had at a variety of aftermarket sources and recyclers.

Simply removing them will expose the mounting hole, and I think the overall appearance will be "incomplete"

 

Go with an IROC rear bumper, which will dispense of the pads, trim and bellows altogether, and give you 30-something fewer pounds for that 2.7L to push around town. Of course, you'll want to make the front bumper match - or not. I bought a set of fiberglass bumpers from guy recently - the IROC style in the rear, and the 930S style in the front - he was using the stock 911 bumper top, but replaced the entire rear. <img src="graemlins/burnout.gif" border="0" alt="[burnout]" />

 

Thanks, but that's not quite as painless as I had hoped. And, Thom, how's the performance with the 3.6? I've got a '78 3.0 in my '77.