Garth S

I have the front bumper cover off ( prompted by a recent collision with a big bird ....) and will have it repainted this week, along with the hood and colour blending into the fenders after repairing stone chips ( then the entire front clip clear coat will be resprayed): the headlight washer nozzles are removed, so now is the time to fill the holes and delete the system .... if that's the better thing to do??

I am leaning to the delete, as it suggests a cleaner cosmetic line - and I never use them anyway: having said that, are there any negatives to this surgery?

BTW, the square holes in the cover are being filled, but bumperettes are being retained - may even buy a new pair to freshen up the look, as these are shop worn.

Jason - I see your post today on the similar topic , doing both front & rear covers

Mark in Baltimore

The two downsides that I can think of are a thinner wallet and an arguably lower resale value since the car has been molested. Also, will the plastic filler shrink and reveal the presence of the old holes? The upside is that it looks so much cleaner.

If I had a choice, I'd do it. But if you saw what I've done to my car and how little I value orginality in my 993, you'd look for other opinions.

MarkD

Hmmm.... if you are going to fill these holes, be sure they weld a piece in to fill it, no filler. My .02c

As for pros-cons, Mark pretty much covered it.
Personally, I like the shaved look

Nuff

Shaved definitely looks better than full bush ... er ... I mean better than with headlight washers.

Stealth 993

Have them weld in metal, then clean it up! It looks cleaner, & neater. But I wanted mine, & didn't want to spend the extra $$, it's about $1500 to get it done, that is also covering the fender respray.

Mark in Baltimore

Mark,

I know a body shop can weld in a disk of steel, but won't it require plastic filler? Unless, of course, they use lead, which I doubt most places do.

FLA997

Mark-

You've got one of the coolest looking 993s on the board!

I shaved mine..welded metal. No regrets.

Mark in Baltimore

Rob,

Thanks! My car ain't as cool as yours.

Did the shop use all metal? I always worry about plastic filler/bondo/whatever shrinking after a few year's time. I've seen it, and it's not pretty.

FLA997

Mark-

I actually had them shaved back when the car was GR, and they appeared to weld in enough metal to finish it off with a fine grit grinder so the metal area was seemless. I'm not sure if filler was used at the time (or after - I really know nothing about bodywork), but it held up like a charm for a year and a half with no "signs" that work was done there. When the car was resprayed recently, my body shop made no mention of concerns in that area. Like you, I've seen some "nightmare-ish" results of similar attempts in only a few months.

I would think (and hope) a competent shop could do this with lasting results.

rome

Personally, I like to keep the car as close to stock as possible (suspension aside)...

jdistefa

Brazilian

quasr

Stock is best IMHO. I actually replaced the plastic jets because they had picked up wax and turned a lighter color.

Garth S

.
.
. .... or one could always mount one nozzle in the center - to spray both ways, so to speak ....

I'll ask the shop about fill techniques: my concern about welding would be getting adequate corrosion protection on the reverse side, as it is a small enclosed pocket below the headlight - had been thinking of fiberglass cloth/resin as the support piece, but I'm not the expert.

Price? TBD - but quoted $300 for the cover only, or $600 total to add full hood, mirrors, and whatever is req'd on fenders to fill chips and get a colour blend ( ~50% of fender area) ..... so unlikely to be too much additional $'s

Chuck W.

I did mine and like the look...

MarkD

what he said...
and if a little filler is needed to level the area, no big deal if done properly.