Impact absorbers?
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jul 2013
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From: Raleigh NC
Impact absorbers?
I have an '88 and I'm changing out my front/rear bumpers with bumpers from a '92. Wanted to know if the front/rear impact absorbers of the '88 are interchangeable or will I need to replace those as well? Thanks
Team Owner
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On the rear you need all of the hardware and only the absorber. You may again have to add some holes to mount some of the hardware but I believe you can make do with the old bar/rear frame section actually that bolts on.
I don't know what you've bought yet but ideally it would be good if you could remove the parts from the later C4 yourself so you know where it all goes.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 405
Likes: 7
From: Raleigh NC
You need the impact bar, lights and all of the small hardware related for the front - ALL OF IT! The only thing that remains the same is the skid plate I believe. You may need to add some holes to that if you use the early one to accommodate the later hardware. The later bar likely was drilled to accept all of the hardware.
On the rear you need all of the hardware and only the absorber. You may again have to add some holes to mount some of the hardware but I believe you can make do with the old bar/rear frame section actually that bolts on.
I don't know what you've bought yet but ideally it would be good if you could remove the parts from the later C4 yourself so you know where it all goes.
On the rear you need all of the hardware and only the absorber. You may again have to add some holes to mount some of the hardware but I believe you can make do with the old bar/rear frame section actually that bolts on.
I don't know what you've bought yet but ideally it would be good if you could remove the parts from the later C4 yourself so you know where it all goes.
Team Owner
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You need all of the retainers that hold the cover to the body also in the rear. I'd guess that there would be a total of nearly 18 to 20 pieces involved to accomplish it.
Team Owner
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NO - it should be obvious when comparing the bumpers that they need to be different. Early '91 - '92 were hard plastic and egg-crate looking and the later one and all of the service ones were just white Styrofoam. Either would work for you but if you use the later one you might need to eliminate the spare tire light.
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 3,751
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From: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
NO - it should be obvious when comparing the bumpers that they need to be different. Early '91 - '92 were hard plastic and egg-crate looking and the later one and all of the service ones were just white Styrofoam. Either would work for you but if you use the later one you might need to eliminate the spare tire light.
When i did my front rear bumper update more than 10 years ago i got the complete bumpers with all the parts attached, The 84-90 impact absorbers are a totally different shape compared to the 91-96.
Everything bolted up very easily as they all are genuine GM bumpers and brackets trims and support's.
Now it all helps if your little woman helps cause us blokes cannot get our thick arms up under the bumper to tighten the top bolts etc,
Was a day of laughs trying to teach her how to tighten or remove bolts.
Last edited by gerardvg; Aug 2, 2013 at 05:50 AM.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 405
Likes: 7
From: Raleigh NC
When i did my front rear bumper update more than 10 years ago i got the complete bumpers with all the parts attached, The 84-90 impact absorbers are a totally different shape compared to the 91-96.
Everything bolted up very easily as they all are genuine GM bumpers and brackets trims and support's.
Now it all helps if your little woman helps cause us blokes cannot get our thick arms up under the bumper to tighten the top bolts etc,
Was a day of laughs trying to teach her how to tighten or remove bolts.
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Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 3,751
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From: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
However with enough patience and ingenuity anything is possible, getting the impact absorber from a car wrecking yard will save you hours of work.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 405
Likes: 7
From: Raleigh NC
The84-89 impact absorber was thin at the top and thick at the bottom, the 90-96 is thick at the top getting thin at the bottom.
However with enough patience and ingenuity anything is possible, getting the impact absorber from a car wrecking yard will save you hours of work.
However with enough patience and ingenuity anything is possible, getting the impact absorber from a car wrecking yard will save you hours of work.
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 3,751
Likes: 276
From: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
See the listing on the ebay link below you can see its an early c4 one that follows the contour/ shape of the bumper.
http://www.ebay.com./itm/Corvette-C4...item564daf07a1
http://www.ebay.com./itm/Corvette-C4...item564daf07a1
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 25,393
Likes: 2,741
When i did my front rear bumper update more than 10 years ago i got the complete bumpers with all the parts attached, The 84-90 impact absorbers are a totally different shape compared to the 91-96.
Everything bolted up very easily as they all are genuine GM bumpers and brackets trims and support's.
Now it all helps if your little woman helps cause us blokes cannot get our thick arms up under the bumper to tighten the top bolts etc,
Was a day of laughs trying to teach her how to tighten or remove bolts.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 405
Likes: 7
From: Raleigh NC
See the listing on the ebay link below you can see its an early c4 one that follows the contour/ shape of the bumper.
http://www.ebay.com./itm/Corvette-C4...item564daf07a1
http://www.ebay.com./itm/Corvette-C4...item564daf07a1