Rear bumper for 350i

[KKson]

Although the paint on my Wedge is not too bad the one area that really bugs me is the back bumper which has two visible bulges in it where the steelwork is no doubt bubbling and festering under the GRP.

I don't want to take the car off the road yet to sort it our but I see Steve Strange has two bumpers for sale on eB at the moment. The correct twin pipe one for mine at only £52 looks pretty ropey. There is a second for £87 which is better but has holes for twin pipes.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TVR-350-REAR-BUMPER-TVR-...

Looking at the two it looks an easier job to repair and fill the spare exhaust hole and cut a larger hole for the twin pipes. Anyone got much experience with this? I used to do a fair bit of fibreglassing of canoes donkeys years ago so I'm presuming it's pretty much the same.

[adam quantrill]

Hi Kieth,

if you're handy with fibreglass then I would recommend you take your bumper off, cut out the bulges and glass in new mounts made with stainless steel.

This is what I did with my 350i one (although I was lucky that the bubbling went inwards and didn't spoil the paint so I didn't have to respray. I did however have a worrying moment with the bumper hanging off driving down the M11 because the original mount had disintegrated!)

Apart from retaining the same bumper you will find it will fit perfectly - quite often replacement panels need a bit of fettling around the edges. Also even if you get a replacement it's only a matter of time before the mounts corrode too.