*** '97-'98 front bumper conversion with pop-ups :)

[Shpyder]

You folks probably remember me asking a few months ago on how to get that Bomex lip for '94-'96 years onto my 1G. Since I'll be getting the car repainted (same color), I thought I might as well just get a whole new front.

Well, I had been debating on getting either a '99 front, or a '97-'98 front (while keeping pop-ups in both cases: very important, I love pop-ups). I ended up getting a '97-'98 front cheap on EBay yesterday. Below are pics of what a '99 looks with pop-ups, and also a '97-'98. They've both good looking bumpers, but I think the '99 adds a little more height? In any case, I should be receiving it soon, along with fog lights. The entire car will be painted,a nd I'll post pics of the finished porduct soon. (The red GT below isn't mine! Kill me if I ever put a hood scoop like that on it)

1999 front end:




1997-1998 front end:




Surprisingly, all '97-'99 bumpers are hard to come by. I had been looking around for a while before this one showed up, but I never checked any junkyards.

[VR43000GT]

Originally Posted by Shpyder

1999 front end:

Those two black Stealth 99 conversions with the pop-ups look very nice IMO. If I had some extra cash laying around I would definately pick one of those up.

[AutostradaVR4]

Originally Posted by Shpyder

(The red GT below isn't mine! Kill me if I ever put a hood scoop like that on it)

hopefully someone will...lol

that looks completely badass though man. I like the '99 style better. That red one looks f'd up, the lights are too exposed and the gaps are too big. maybe they just skrewed up mounting it though. If you could mount is better and get a little more stock snake-eye look on it, i would go for the 97-98. Much more unique.

PS. sell me your eclipse

[Shpyder]

The gap is a little greater on the 97-98, but I'll deal with it. I intended to do away with the snakeyes in the first place, but youre right, that gap is little more than what one would like. I'm actually worried about rain water hitting the headlight during driving and condensation, etc.

[Linebckr49]

Originally Posted by BlinkRA182

hopefully someone will...lol

that looks completely badass though man. I like the '99 style better. That red one looks f'd up, the lights are too exposed and the gaps are too big. maybe they just skrewed up mounting it though. If you could mount is better and get a little more stock snake-eye look on it, i would go for the 97-98. Much more unique.

PS. sell me your eclipse

i agree. with the 97-98 bumper, it will be difficult to get the pop-ups to fit right. it doesn't look very good in those pics. the outer edge doesn't line up with the bumper, and it trails away. however, i'm sure a little fiberglass from a nice body shop could make it look much better.

also, that gap below the headlight in the 97-98 bumper is way too big for the snake eye light to fit. IMO, you should scrap the snake eye light (unless you actually wanna do the snake eyes mod), and just have the body shop fill all that gap in with fiberglass.

then it would look sweet! like a corvette with pop-ups.

[Shpyder]

Originally Posted by Linebckr49

with the 97-98 bumper..the outer edge doesn't line up with the bumper, and it trails away.

That was one of my main concerns... it doesnt make sense though, since all other years line up perfectly, considering it is basically the same car throughout the years, with negligible changes in aggregate body lines as an aggregate. I want to avoid fiberglass work as much as possible, and want to try to keep cost in control. I'm hoping that those pictures show a bad install job, and that's not the way it actually should fit.

As for the snakeyes, I never wanted them in the first place, but I'm wondering how bad that gap will look in real life. For a 99 bumper, that gap is easily filled using the early model stealth corner lights (the ones that are one-peice, with both snakeyes and amber corner in the same housing). I'm almost wondering if I should cancel the order I out in for the 97-98 and just get the 99, but I got it cheap(er) than I would get a 99 for.... bah. confusion sets in.

[Shpyder]

Originally Posted by BlinkRA182

PS. sell me your eclipse

Sorry, I didnt see that before. It's gone That's why I'm being a tad generous with the GT. But yeah man, I want the 97-98 bumper because its actually very nice, plus lot of people go for people go for the 99, it would stand out. Well I guess any gen would stand out considering people always do a full conversion and get rid of the pop-ups.

[Linebckr49]

Originally Posted by Shpyder

As for the snakeyes, I never wanted them in the first place, but I'm wondering how bad that gap will look in real life. For a 99 bumper, that gap is easily filled using the early model stealth corner lights (the ones that are one-peice, with both snakeyes and amber corner in the same housing). I'm almost wondering if I should cancel the order I out in for the 97-98 and just get the 99, but I got it cheap(er) than I would get a 99 for.... bah. confusion sets in.

if you go with the stealth pop-ups, then i would paint the entire pop-up unit to match the bumper. i don't like the black color of the pop-ups against a different colored body. also, paint over the stealth snake eyes so they don't show.

[VR43000GT]

Originally Posted by Linebckr49

if you go with the stealth pop-ups, then i would paint the entire pop-up unit to match the bumper. i don't like the black color of the pop-ups against a different colored body. also, paint over the stealth snake eyes so they don't show.

That is one thing I have never like about the 1st gen Stealths. IMO it just looks out of place.

[Shpyder]

I thought I'd resurrect this from the dead instead of post a new one.

The '99 bumper is here and finally ready to be installed. The '97-'98 one did not fit without having to remove the crash bar, so I ditched that idea.

I just wanted to see if anyone knows if a write-up exists on installing a '99 bumper on a 1G, using the 1st gen stealth RT 1-piece corner lights? Basically, a write-up for the mods done to the white and black stealths pictured above? I'm ready to go, just hoping to use some extra help along the way. I've tried looking for a write-up but can't seem to find one anywhere.

[YogsVR4]

No luck. I checked the places that I know of that might have had something, but I came up short. I couldn't find anything with instructions or even a bullet list of modifications/fabrications they had to do. I've emailed a buddy of mine down in Ohio to see if he's come across anything like that.

[Shpyder]

Thanks Yogs. I've been searching forever and could only come up with pictures, but no write-ups. I guess it's back to trial and error...I'll know of the complications when I try it myself next week.

[Dreamspawn]

Could we expect a write up from you Shpyder? I was searching 3si the other day to for write ups no luck but i did come across a thread that was somebody making a 99 front end made for pop ups. Idk if you may have saw that or not.

[Shpyder]

Originally Posted by Dreamspawn

Could we expect a write up from you Shpyder? I was searching 3si the other day to for write ups no luck but i did come across a thread that was somebody making a 99 front end made for pop ups. Idk if you may have saw that or not.

Sure, I'll put up a write-up and some pics when this is done...hopefully it won't be as problematic as the '97-'98 bumper I tried.

I have seen two versions of the '99 style aftermarket bumpers made specifically for our 1G's; I think that's what you're talking about when you said you found some on 3si. Cianci and 3sx both have their versions out, but I just do not want the hassle of having a fiberglass bumper on my daily driver. One tiny nudge on that sucker and we know how the story goes...OEM rules, period (or even urethane would do...it flexes better than OEM, but hot weather can cause ripples and waves on the material and permanently re-mold it out of shape, plus most flex agent paints do not adhere well to it). That's why I'm so adament on trying to fit an OEM bumper from a different year onto my car.