leadfoot4

I finally got my rear fascia painted and then installed on the car. I'm glad that previous purchasers are pleased with the fit of their fascias, as the pictures seem to bear out. On my car, while the OEM fascia fit perfectly, the spoilered one does not. From 20 feet away, it looks great, but once you get closer, the areas where the fascia is "off" become more apparent. The fact that my car is black, hides some of the gaps, but they're there, nonetheless.

The areas where the fit is off, is at the tops of the rear quarters, where it seems that the fascia is about 1/4" too wide, and at the bottom of the drivers side, where the fascia curves toward the wheel opening. The radius of the curve is off, and there's a gap between the fascia and the quarter. The passenger side, in the same spot, fits quite well, however. And there's a "ripple" across the top of the fascia, I assume from the part being folded up for shipping. This is an area where black paint magnifies, rather than hides the imperfection.

Wile those areas are annoying, the real area of concern that I had, was the "recesses" behind the license plate, where two flanged retaining screws pass through the fascia, and attach it to the rear impact bar. On my fascia, these recesses are about 1/2" too far apart, therefore the screws wouldn't pass through the center of the holes, as required. I wound up "machining" most of the "flange" off and then offset grinding two metal washers, in order to secure the fascia.

Bottom line, the design of the fascia looks great, and adds visual impact to the car. However, I'd rate the fit as "race car quality", rather than "OEM quality".....











The first photo shows where the screws SHOULD pass through, as illustrated by the white colored washers;
The second photo shows the OE flanged screws that retain the fascia;
The third photo shows the panel mismatch, at the lower, drivers side (the blue tape outlines the gap);
The fourth photo illustrates the mismatch at the top of the rear quarter (again, the blue tape indicates the difference);
The fifth photo shows the washers that I created, to retain the fascia, after I ground away some of the "wall" of the recess.

And YES, in retrospect, I should have spent a LOT more time "test fitting" this fascia, before sending it out for painting.....

FYRARMS

That is unfortunate. How could that bumper be so off? I thought they all were made from the same mold. These urethane versions were supposed to fit better than the previous fiberglass ones. I really want a rear bumper with an integrated lip, but it looks like I will have to settle for an add-on SLP lip so I can retain my OEM bumper. Damn.

leadfoot4

All the early reports were, as you said, that this piece fits really well, so I jumped on the bandwagon. Let's be honest, Corvettes, like other cars, are mass produced, by assembling mass produced parts, so you could understand a little variances. However, my OE rear fascia fit the car like a glove, and it was installed as the car ran down the line. I realize that working alone, as I find myself doing, most of the time, can sometimes get awkward, like when swinging a back bumper cover around. Therefore, I suppose I had to get the fit "as close as possible", using small c-clamps and 'Gorilla Tape', then drill the mounting holes a little oversize to provide some "wiggle room", then also assume that a little heat from the sun, would allow me to get the fit "right on".

However, it just didn't work out, as I had this fascia off and on, at least 3-4 times, massaging it the best I could, and this appears to be the best that can be gotten. The only contentment I can have, is as I initially stated, a black car does hide some of the fit issues....

lewislgZ06

Leadfoot, I hate that your bumper didn’t work out better. Mine isn’t a perfect fit either, but I was able to get the gaps pretty even and lined up pretty well.
The ripples in the top of the spoiler are due to it being folded up. Mine aren’t completely gone either, and I can see how black would magnify that.
I’m still pleased with the overall appearance of the bumper, and I’ve had many compliments on it this year. It made it through the heat of summer without doing anything weird, so mine is on the car to stay.

leadfoot4

Thanks, and I appreciate the time you took, answering my "PM"s....

leadfoot4

Not to belabor this topic, but I had some free time, this AM, and I decided to do a little investigation, regarding the poor fit of the retaining screws that are located behind the license plate, as I mentioned in my previous post(s). I removed the plate and it's retainer, and measured the spacing of the recesses (as indicated by the white washers, in the picture, below), and found them to be 5/8" further apart, compared to the OE fascia. That's a pretty serious error, and certainly explains my difficulties....