I have searched and seen atan888's work on his 993TT done in San Fran, and that's a very nice work for $900. However, I am wondering if there is any even less expensive way of making the US training bumpers go away.

How are those annoying bumperettes taken off? Is it like the rear where the bumper cover has to come off?

What happens if the bumperettes are taken off? A big gaping hole between the fog light and the turn signal light, for sure? Can't I buy the Euro fog light and signal light covers and install these? (I am sure it's not that easy, but what exactly makes it impossible: screws don't match?)

What about Turbo S and fog light version: if that is installed does it cover up the hole left behind by bumperette removal?

Someone's gotta make the fog/turn signal light (or light covers) that just mimic the Euro bumper look....

Thanks.

 

The plastic insert on the front pops off, giving access to two bolts (10mm?) that hold the bumperette on. Take one of yours off and you will see that there is a gap in the bumper above the line of the fog/turning lights.

 

Jim,
Removing the bumpie reveals an ugly gash in the cover. I'm working on a solution to heal the wound without the pain of removing the cover and repainting it.

 

https://rennlist.com/forums/diy-993-1995-1998/197319-diy-filling-bumperette-holes.html

 

Mark:

Ouch!!

Did not come across any info pointing to the ugly defect. NOW I understand why the expensive Euro bumper or extensive reconstruction like the one described in atan888's post would be necessary.

Porsche really stuck it to the Americans: your idiotic DOT wants ugly bumperettes: here you go, we'll make sure your ugly bumperettes can't come off too easily.

 

The cheapest fix that I have seen attempted was to use the Euro clear corner lens and trip the bumperette leaving just a stub that covers the rectangular cut-out opening. The "bumper-stub" was as not that noticeable on a dark car from a far distance...there might be a way of trimming it even further (ie flatter) so that the remaining stub does not protrude as much. Pictures were posted on Rennlist some time ago.

 

for me it was the cheapest way than buying a euro bumper and having it painted.

 

Why not just have the bumperettes painted?

 

Leave it on or have it done right. If you can get a shop to repaint your bumper and fill the holes for $900 it's a pretty good deal. Our cars are infamous for rock chips anyway.

 

How about doing the DIY that John D did? (DIY forum, 993 section, near the bottom of the page.) Pretty simple, but PM me if you're going to do it and would like a couple of tips.

-Jim

 

John's write up looked pretty good, but I'm not sure it would work on every color. I asked Euro Pros about this and Jack there said doing the fill and paint will eventually crack and look bad over time. He said the sun will make it apparent what you did. My guess is that white, like John's car, wouldn't show this as much as darker metallic colors. My car is midnight blue metallic, so I'm sure it would be tough to do. I will eventually get a Euro front bumper and do it right.

 

A couple of things that John left out was to, before using the filler, 1) taper the cut-out about 1/4", 2) sand the paint off at least 4" around the cut-out and 3) clean, sand and prep the back side area around the cut-out. Tapering the cut-out and sanding/prepping around the cut-out will virtually eliminate cracking.
The filler that John recommends is an excellent product for this application. After I did the filling, I had the body shop sand the area, then prep and paint the whole bumper cover.

Without realizing it, I pushed hard on and around the filled area several times while installing/aligning the bumper cover and had no problems then or now.
Chances are that anyone doing this would probably like to have the cover re-painted anyway, so matching a small spot isn't an issue. I had my cover completely repainted and, a year later, am about to put a "clear bra" on it.

Agreed that the project isn't everyone's cup of tea, though.

-Jim

 

a while back I asked the guys at 'bumperplugs' if they ever looked into a plug for the hole(like they have for the license plate holes, etc). he said it wouldnt be hard to make or that expensive once it was produced but he doesnt see the demand...

....what would you pay for a set of color matched plugs for the holes? let them know...

....maybe we can get a GB and get him to produce a bunch of sets since he already has the paint colors for most of our car

 

I would be interested. Maybe he needs to tell us what it would cost with a minimum order and then we can decide if it makes sense.
Ron

 

I'd get in on that.