KuHL 951

For some reason my black car has developed the typical bulge on the lower DS nose piece in front of the wheel. Has anyone found a good way to straighten these out? My 83 had the same thing but it had a metal bracket that could be tweaked to pull it out. I haven't looked into how the 951 nose piece is braced yet. Is there a similar bracket behind the fender liner that does the same thing? I think I might have tapped a curb stop or two with the bat wing, OK I know I have

Thanks

Darwantae951

Here is my 951 with the bumper off. Please ignore the bent bracket on the drivers side, it's fixed now

I hope this gives you an idea!

-Darwin

KuHL 951

Thanks a lot Darwin. I see the bracket I had wondered about. I have a feeling mine is pushed up causing the bulge, but not as far as yours was. Do you recall if there is any other metal piece that connects from that bracket to the outer rear corner of the nose piece?

Darwantae951

That bracket that is bent in my picture has no effect on the bumper. It is what the brake ducts attach to. The only things that attach to the bumper are the pieces sticking out the sides. They are kinda hard to see in my pictures but they go along the upper portion of the bumper cover.

KuHL 951

Thanks. I can't see anything that really makes sense in the pics. I'll check out the Silver car tomorrow night and pull the liner since the bat wing is already off. I'm just trying to see what can cause that bulge because it's so common on these cars both NA and 951.

Darwantae951

I've circled in black the two pieces that branch out to the bumper cover. Lemme see if I have a better picture of them. Nothing else supports it AFAIK (I'm up there all the time, or at least it seems like I am lately...)

ehall

I believe that the nose material is actually bowed. Perhaps heat and reattaching the batwing to the nose piece will help.

Rich Sandor

in my experience, the batwing (or aftermarket splitter) if rigidly and correctly mounted, will straighten the bowed fender arches.

ehall

My experience is the same.

KuHL 951

Thanks. I'll give that a try first. I did have to do a roadside repair once at that corner after tapping a curbstop. Maybe the bat wing got tweaked and just needs to be re-aligned.

Papamurphdog

Me too. An aftermarket splitter will do the same job if the monting holes are pre drilled to a factory template. There is asupposed to be a metal bracket on the inside of the fender well under the mounting bolts and I suppose that worked when the part was new, but it dosent really attach to anythjing other than the bat wing, to help stiffen it at the tips. I fabbed a new bracket that also attaches to the hard point under the forward wheel well cover mount, both to keep the splitter from moving on the track at speed and help keep the shape of the bumper cover. Every time I dropped the splitter, the bumper cover would revert to "bulbious" and it was always a pain in the **** to remount the splitter; a better bracket on each side solved the problem. Sorry, no pictures to offer...