RLM bumper - painted and installed, with Pics!!
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 7,353
From: Upland CA
RLM bumper - painted and installed, with Pics!!
Well it took a LOT longer than I expected but I finally have my former jsmith RLM bumper painted and installed. I will recap the process which can be found on another thread. I bought the bumper from jsmith and first repaired some damage. There were cracks in the fiberglass and one of the grill notches was missing. I repaired those with fiberglass and bondo. But I did some modifications that I felt were improvements to the bumper.
First, I was not ever going to use the stock fugly grill and all bumpers come with a bumper notch in the middle of the bumper as seen here:
I filled in the notch with fiberglass and smoothed it with bondo. The body guy I took the bumper too perfected it so it is completely undetectable.
I always liked the corner lights on the OEM bumper but never liked the style of the big round light. I decided to cut out an opening and install a strip of LED lights. I didnt use the cheap flexible strips, but one with an actual housing and a clear lense and I installed it in the exact place where the OEM lights resided relative to the corner of the car. It gives the car a bit of an updated look.
I also wanted to match my upper Street Scene mesh grill for the lower grill. I bought another Maxima grill which is almost exactly the right size for the lower opening. Even the curve of the grill and the curve of the bumper was almost perfect. I had to bend the overlapping parts backwards and still maintain the curve. I then bought some picture hangers and took the tabs and fiberglassed them to the edge of the grill. I slid the grill over the tabs and then pressed the tabs down, thereby locking the grill in place.
I wanted the bumper to have a perfect fit to the car, so I fiberglassed the holes over and then re-drilled the holes to the bumper was flush with the fenders on the side, and had nice lines on the front with little gap.
And the result was this:
The paint was done by a guy who paints jets in Chino If anyone needs someone to paint, let me know. The paint job was super.
First, I was not ever going to use the stock fugly grill and all bumpers come with a bumper notch in the middle of the bumper as seen here:
I filled in the notch with fiberglass and smoothed it with bondo. The body guy I took the bumper too perfected it so it is completely undetectable.
I always liked the corner lights on the OEM bumper but never liked the style of the big round light. I decided to cut out an opening and install a strip of LED lights. I didnt use the cheap flexible strips, but one with an actual housing and a clear lense and I installed it in the exact place where the OEM lights resided relative to the corner of the car. It gives the car a bit of an updated look.
I also wanted to match my upper Street Scene mesh grill for the lower grill. I bought another Maxima grill which is almost exactly the right size for the lower opening. Even the curve of the grill and the curve of the bumper was almost perfect. I had to bend the overlapping parts backwards and still maintain the curve. I then bought some picture hangers and took the tabs and fiberglassed them to the edge of the grill. I slid the grill over the tabs and then pressed the tabs down, thereby locking the grill in place.
I wanted the bumper to have a perfect fit to the car, so I fiberglassed the holes over and then re-drilled the holes to the bumper was flush with the fenders on the side, and had nice lines on the front with little gap.
And the result was this:
The paint was done by a guy who paints jets in Chino If anyone needs someone to paint, let me know. The paint job was super.
Last edited by DeusExMaxima; Jan 10, 2011 at 11:08 AM.
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 7,353
From: Upland CA
I am planning to autocross still. My original bumper was the victim of four feet of water pooled on a freeway onramp 2 weeks ago during very heavy rain. I recovered the bumper but the Stillen lip got torn off
Nice Mark, glad my bumper got a new lease on life, and when did you get the hood? I'd get blk overlays like my silver ones, ties it all together nicely! Now be careful driving up driveways etc with that fresh paint job!!! You saw where mine was cracked before you fixed it so you know what can happen!!!
And Prophecy99, I did go GTR awhile back and had this up in my garage...
Previous life:
New life:
And Prophecy99, I did go GTR awhile back and had this up in my garage...
Previous life:
New life:
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 7,353
From: Upland CA
Nice Mark, glad my bumper got a new lease on life, and when did you get the hood? I'd get blk overlays like my silver ones, ties it all together nicely! Now be careful driving up driveways etc with that fresh paint job!!! You saw where mine was cracked before you fixed it so you know what can happen!!!
I got the hood ages ago. I was also thinking about the hood overlays like you have. Ill get a hold of Andy (Bluebat) today. I might be doing a secret project with him regarding certain overlays so Ill ask him bout the hood overlays.
BTW, on its maiden voyage around the block, the cops were already on to me and I had to ditch them at the local hospital. Maybe it was all those lights on it....
Last edited by DeusExMaxima; Jan 11, 2011 at 12:38 PM.
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 7,353
From: Upland CA
Thanks!! Id love to get a pic but there is no power in the wiring and I checked all the fuses. Im gonna have to do some diggin to find out why. When I do, Ill get some pics of the cornering lights
Thanks J. I will be VERY careful with the low bumper and I might be going with 20's to help raise my car up a little. I also may install a small splitter to protect the underneath and give it a slightly more aggressive look.
I got the hood ages ago. I was also thinking about the hood overlays like you have. Ill get a hold of Andy (Bluebat) today. I might be doing a secret project with him regarding certain overlays so Ill ask him bout the hood overlays.
BTW, on its maiden voyage around the block, the cops were already on to me and I had to ditch them at the local hospital. Maybe it was all those lights on it....
I got the hood ages ago. I was also thinking about the hood overlays like you have. Ill get a hold of Andy (Bluebat) today. I might be doing a secret project with him regarding certain overlays so Ill ask him bout the hood overlays.
BTW, on its maiden voyage around the block, the cops were already on to me and I had to ditch them at the local hospital. Maybe it was all those lights on it....
.Bat
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 7,353
From: Upland CA
