Fiberglass Front Bumper Issue

[Nasty 6]

Hopefully somebody has a suggestion for this issue. Here goes -

I purchased fiberglass bumpers for my 86 GN a couple years ago just to lighten the car and personally I think they look better than the stock bumpers. I purchased them from Kirbans. The back bumper looks excellent. However, the front bumper seemed defective in its design. On my front bumper the small tabs that the marker lights get screwed into are too far forward which cause the parking light bezels to seat forward about 1/4" away from the bumper. The gap is easily noticed and has been an eye sore ever since I installed the bumper.
I called Kirbans to see if it was possible that my front bumper may have been a fluke and they took the time to install a parking light and bezel on one of their bumpers on shelf. They too validated that the bezel around the parking light does not seat flush and sticks out.
I can't possibly be the only one that has been bothered by the look of this defect. So I'm curious if anyone that actually cares about achieving the proper appearance for their front fiberglass bumper found a solution or modification to correct the problem. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[pacecarta]

not for nothing but that issue with his front bumpers has been an issue forever
another issue you run into is the lamp wont go back far enough because the mount is in the way ..usually the issue is on pass side lamp

what i do is thin the back of the lamp tab , then heat the back of the lamp with a torch and push it in a little so the lamp will go back
the bezel can be installed and what sticks out marked and cut back , shaped smooth on a belt sander and then respray and look fine

 

[SpeedRacerX]

Yeah, I was going to say, can the surface causing the issue be filed or sanded down so that the lens drops in further?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

 

[NY Twin Turbo]

not for nothing but that issue with his front bumpers has been an issue forever
another issue you run into is the lamp wont go back far enough because the mount is in the way ..usually the issue is on pass side lamp

what i do is thin the back of the lamp tab , then heat the back of the lamp with a torch and push it in a little so the lamp will go back
the bezel can be installed and what sticks out marked and cut back , shaped smooth on a belt sander and then respray and look fine

I want to just SCREAM! every time I see this!

And yes, I did everything you did.

I also had the tabs split and break. Kept loosing bezels for a while and sometimes found them hanging off after a bumpy ride. I had to wrap them in glass mesh and epoxy to reinforce and repair them.

I also filled the gap on top with black adhesive foam tape (the type used for window weather stripping).

 

[NY Twin Turbo]

In the end, I finally got them to look correct. Notice I'm using little hi-low hex screws to hold them on for more grip in my reinforced tabs. I can't use the speed nuts any longer on the tabs because they are too thickly beefed up.

See picture below. Please ignore the dead bugs. It is a street car, after all.

 

[Nasty 6]

I'm happy to see there was some real good feedback on this subject.

@pacecarta - If this is an old subject I'm shocked as to how Kirbans addressed me by saying it was the first they've heard of the issue. (Please see the attached email below). I truly appreciate your feedback and will attempt to follow your advice of heating up the parking light tabs so I can bend them back in order to enable them to sit further in against the bumper tabs they secure to. I hate compromising the stock OEM parts to do this tough. I wish there was a better solution where I could modify the aftermarket bumper vice the stock parts. However, I may just purchase a set of marker lights to keep in my stash of OEM parts which I have already removed to replace with bolt on modifications.

There's no question that the attention to detail within these fiberglass bumpers are poor and lack the true fitment that most people would expect. Vendors may play blind to the discrepancies but forums like these unveil the truth as others experience the same issues of concern.

@SpeedRacerX - There isn't enough material within the bumper tabs and the parking light tabs to file down in order to close in the gaps. The tabs are already so thin that they are very susceptible to breaking. The biggest flaw on the fiberglass bumpers is the way they engineered these cheap and flimsy tabs which obviously don't line up properly. It would have been much better off to have them been pushed further out allowing owners to shim the areas if necessary vice being too close and having nothing no other choice but to see the parking light and bezel push outwards away from the bumper.


@NY Twin Turbo - Your modifications turned out excellent. If I can get mine to look as good I'll be content. One way or another I will get it to work but it's pathetic that we need to go through all the ordeals to correct the fitment of a part that costs so little to make yet sells for a big profit. I also find it saddening as to how the vendors aren't QCing the products they sell and putting pressure on them for adhering to standard expectations of fitment and quality. I think if enough people raised the BS flag they'd be quick to correct themselves and their products they wish to sell.

 

[pacecarta]

heat the back of the lamp so it can be pushed in if its hitting the mount in the back
grind some plastic from the back side of the lamp where it hits the bumper tabs

as to the never hearing about it i cant say why you were told that

heres an old thread (yes i remembered it) read post#14
https://turbobuick.com/threads/fiberglass-bumpers.344482/

 

[NY Twin Turbo]

Don't get me wrong. I'm not happy with the inconvenience associated with making the bumper lights work. But at the same time, I'm able to cut a little slack to good vendor.

I guess sometimes you simply just can't get it right all the time. Or maybe it just doesn't make financial sense to re-tool the mold? I don't know.

I'm past it now. I managed to make it acceptable. I hope you can manipulate it to have the same results.

Good luck.

 

[Nasty 6]

@pacecarta - I want to thank you for the advice on how to modify the bumper in order to achieve a better fit. I plan on following your guidance and hope to get a better appearance. Based on what you described I'm confident it will certainly help if not solve the issue. I had a look at the link you provided which certainly validates your claim that this issue has been brought up in the past. I was literally shocked reading the post from Kirbans which clearly depicts them acknowledging the problem. Their follow up post also mentions that they corrected the issue. If you look at my previous post above you'll note that the response I received from Kirbans was from yesterday and it's vividly clear they were not honest with me by saying I'm the first one who brought up the issue with their bumpers but they did admit that the marker lights still do not fit properly today.

@NY Twin Turbo - It's understandable that some aftermarket parts are going to be in need of modification and some may not even fit as expected. We all take this chance when purchasing a part that isn't OEM. My intent of mentioning this issue was actually in pursuit of a solution to correct the problem and continue happily utilizing the bumper. However, when someone emails me yesterday from Kirbans after I asked them about this problem and they make it sound as if I'm the only one to ever experience this issue I can't help to question their integrity. I've purchased many things from Kirbans over the years and subscribe to their newsletter. After reading the past responses (attached below) from Kirbans on this very same issue I'm at loss as to why they'd tell me yesterday that I'm the first person to bring up the subject of improper marker light fitment on their bumpers. My email communication with them was over a 2 week period which resulted in them testing out the fitment of the parking light on one of their bumpers and validating the issue which still remains. The last attachment below explains the issue to be corrected and that statement was written a long time ago. It's clear this problem was never rectified and it's also clear that I am not the first person to bring this issue up. Again, my intent is not to slander Kirbans and I agree that they are a good vendor but l but I can't help feeling a little disappointed by seeing their claim below on solving the issue a long time ago (not true) and having no other people mention this problem to them (not true).

 

[jfsram]

How is the bumper other than the marker light mounting?

 

[NY Twin Turbo]

How is the bumper other than the marker light mounting?

Not bad. You could just through it on and it will look fine. But if your going to get a top notch body makeover, then along with the rest of a Buick, it would need some of an artist's touch before it wins any trophies.

 

[jfsram]

Do you know what brand it is? I want a smooth bumper with no impact strip and then I will install a real one. I can only find molded with impact strip bumpers and the only smooth one is from Danko. Danko has alot of bad reviews on the web.

Would love to see some pics.

 

[toofastforyou]

" by saying I'm the first one who brought up the issue with their bumpers"
I'm at loss as to why they'd tell me yesterday that I'm the first person to bring up the subject of improper marker light fitment on their bumpers.

"Nasty6", no you're definitely not the only one who's experienced that problem. I did. After trying on not one but two fiberglass bumpers (one from Kirban's and one from Danko', I think), I got rid of both and took a stock steel bumper and had all the holes filled in, removed the reinforcement (in the front only) and finally had the bumper painted. I reinstalled everything back on the car, it fits perfectly and since I drive it on the street, I "feel" safer with steel bumpers than driving with fiberglass ones which offer "0" protection in case of a mishap. I also "smoothed" the rear bumper but installed it with an aluminum reinforcement to save a little weight.

Claude.