I was looking at my car a while ago and realized that cutting off the 3 vertical bars on the bottom of my front bumper might look kinda good. However, even though the bars look fairly wimpy, they might serve some sort of purpose. Does anybody know if I can cut them off without any negative repercussions? What would be the best way to cut them off? Here's a pic...if it works....


BTW, what do you guys think of the sport grille? Don't worry, the 1 piece headlights are in the mail...

 

how did you make the sports grille? i've been interested in doing this but didn't want to ruin my oem grille. was looking for another stock grille to tinker with. if you have any instructions that'd be awesome.
eric

 

i actually bought it from SyCefiro for $250. when i got it in the mail i was really dissapointed, because i realized it was just a stock grille off a 97 I30 or something, with all the stuff cut out. plus, the mesh is PLASTIC. definately not worth 250. try tinkering with yours first. however, it does look good. i might mess with mine and try to convert it to a sports grille and make back some money.....

 

Not a fan of just the plain mesh grille.....but I have also never seen one in besides pics on the net. Anything that is an OEM cefiro part will be expensive...hence the $250.

As far as the verticle bars in the bumper, I can't imagine those do much for support, cut them and find out.....I know I would like to know how it works out.

 

i dont think you fully understand about the grille. its just an I30 grille from 97+ i think with all the stuff cut out (i can see where it was cut out) and mesh put in its place. theres paper towel around where the mesh joins the grille on the inside.

about the bars, im just worried that they might serve a LITTLE support, and when i cut them the upper horizontal bar might sag a little, and that would suck, since theres nothing you can do to fix it. do you think any of the maxima people would know?

 

Really? It's just a homemade mesh grille? For $250!!!


I really don't think that the bottom will sag. My brother did something similar to his accord and it was fine.

 

There is no way that those 3 little bars holds anything up... take the bumper off and see... There is nothing i could think of that they would be for either, besides something big flying there and damaging something in your engine... I dont know

 

That's not cool. . . .

 

those 3 bars hold the bottom thing up. If you take them off the bottom part of the bumper will begin to flap and the paint will chip off.

Then it'll crack. What you can do is get some wire mesh and make a cover for that part. You can paint the support bars the same color as the mesh and then you cant tell theyre there.

you got ripped off on the grille. I doubt you paid $250 for that. If you did then you need to have a nice talk with someone.

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so you have removed these bars on an I30 then, right.....

 

I think their purpose is more of the "oops, g/f hit one of those parking blocks" - so the bumper doesnt crack and splinter then. Not for aerodynamic issues known by the industry as "flutter". Flutter occurs when the speed of the air going over the top of a surface nearly equals the speed of the airflow over the bottom of that surface. This difference causes the surface (if free to move) to attempt to equal itself out by pitching up or down, whicever side has the different airflow.

Imagine a flag on someone's car, doin 60 on the highway. The reason the flag flaps so much is because it has relatively zero rigidity. Your I30's bumper, however, has a much greater percent of rigidity. This is why the word "flutter" is used in the aviation industry. Because you have to be going really, really fast for rigid objects, especially ones that are not hinged (such as ailerons or rudders), to experience flutter.

Just my 2 cents... id cut em and not think twice, unless of course if you frequently pass 767's on the highway.

 

I have the same grill. It is definitely not worth the $250 I paid for it either. It looks homemade. I painted mine black and put a Cefiro emblem in the middle of it. It looks good on the car, but it's just that I probably could of made one myself for a lot cheaper.

SyCefiro sells Cefiro parts, so I am not going to doubt him. I just thought the grill would look much better than it did...

 

Save the pieces you cut out, if worse comes to worse you can glue them back in. Auto body shops have a special glue for them and repainting is not a real big deal.

 

do you know this from experience, or are you just guessing? why do you doubt i paid $250 for it? i would talk to sycefiro about it, but it might take him a few months to reply......

 

I dont think that you'll experience flutter from these pieces of plastic. The urethane that the bumper cover is made out of is pretty thick and you can always glue in a piece of aluminum to support that lower peice anyway.