How To Repair A Butchered Front Bar

[34GeeTeeTee]

Ok, as the title states... I NOW have a front bar that has been butchered by an unprofessional clown and i now need options to repair it....

The car is an R34 GTT and it has the standard front bar which i wish to retain.

Easiest fix is to get a new one and cut it correctly but at the moment i do not have the cash to do so and figured there are plenty of clever guys on SAU that may have a solution.

Problem 1) the bar was cut too far and now sits nearly and inch back from the intercooler.....

Problem 2) the black plastic sections to the left and right of the bar that feed air through are cut up and even broken due to the cooler piping location.

Plan was to get the cooler remounted properly and straight, however judging by the size of the thing its still going to fit that far forward, is there a way to make either a black mesh section or possible a fiberglass insert that still retails the original shape but instead of 2 vents it becomes 1 with the fibreglass moulding around the piping?

Next problem i face is how do i regain the bar that has been molested? Can you fibreglass, fill & paint?

Basically i know absolutely NOTHING about bodywork but i do know that my front bar now looks like a huge pile of sh*t and i want it fixed....

I have circled the problem areas in red -

If anyone has any thoughts on a cheap fix then i'm keen to hear.... Alternatively if someone has a cheap enough white bar i am also happy.... The car looked tough and now it looks dodgy

Please help

Cheers

Mat

[89CAL]

have you got some old bits of plastic from the front bumper?

If so grab them and the front bar and take it to a plastic welder and get them to repair some of the bar, then you should be able to give it another go

[34GeeTeeTee]

have you got some old bits of plastic from the front bumper?

If so grab them and the front bar and take it to a plastic welder and get them to repair some of the bar, then you should be able to give it another go

No, the workshop scrapped them before i noticed what they had done so its not really an option...

[buzz350]

only thing i can think of personally is ask a crash shop if they have any left over bumpers they arent using, normally on the inside of the bumper they have a code on it saying (pp or pe or abs etc) normally pp is the common plastic made for bumpers, but check your own aswell.

then go get it plastic welded, i know some crash shops do plastic welding but depends where you are.

hope this helps

[J34]

Can you get some close ups of the problem areas? i know the black parts you mean but how bad are they?

You might need to get a 2nd hand bar and start again trimming a little then trial fitting until you get it just right. Took me and my old man about 5 goes but it sits nice and flush.

PS the top mount looks tough

[34GeeTeeTee]

only thing i can think of personally is ask a crash shop if they have any left over bumpers they arent using, normally on the inside of the bumper they have a code on it saying (pp or pe or abs etc) normally pp is the common plastic made for bumpers, but check your own aswell.

then go get it plastic welded, i know some crash shops do plastic welding but depends where you are.

hope this helps

Thanks for the info champ!

Can you get some close ups of the problem areas? i know the black parts you mean but how bad are they?

You might need to get a 2nd hand bar and start again trimming a little then trial fitting until you get it just right. Took me and my old man about 5 goes but it sits nice and flush.

PS the top mount looks tough

Sure can, i have to take them for the workshop responsible to see so i will post them once i have them.... I really want to hide the pipes and am considering black mesh in front of the cooler to protect it and to continue the stealth theme.....

Cheers mate, i sorta regret doing the high mount at times because i just want to drive the damn thing, but then think about the potential it has and keep at it

[sky017]

cheer up mate , doesnt look bad at all . i had to do the same thing to my r34 when i installed my fmic. in my opinion i cut it right to the line of the paint , rather then keep all the plastic as it would look like dogs breakfast seeing a bit cut out to suit pipes . but if your that worried about it , get the mesh , paint it black and fit it yourself , most people do that.

[34GeeTeeTee]

cheer up mate , doesnt look bad at all . i had to do the same thing to my r34 when i installed my fmic. in my opinion i cut it right to the line of the paint , rather then keep all the plastic as it would look like dogs breakfast seeing a bit cut out to suit pipes . but if your that worried about it , get the mesh , paint it black and fit it yourself , most people do that.

I forgot to get the close up pics... When you see them you will see why i complained... I have decided i will blank off where the pipes go with something and mesh in front of the intercooler after i cut it straight, the cut done on the bar varies by about 10mm from one end to the other, its so dodgy!

[Stevoss]

if you were to get it engineered i know Athol has got my mate to put the wog mesh infront of his cooler, so i would be looking at doing that anyway.

[ARTZ]

yeah it doesnt look to bad in the pic..maybe just cut it so its at least straight if thats your worry, dont matter so much if it sits flush, as long as the cut is neat it will look clean..

Mesh can be bought form supercheap , otherwise if your really anal about it just source a new front bumper and start again cause its the only way you will be truly satisfied..

If theres one thing I know about cars its that they are like women.. that is the closer you get to them the more you notice the little things that are wrong with them..sometimes you just have to stand back a distance and look at her from someone elses eyes, then you realize its not as bad as you think...

my car is f**ked, the panel gaps are all out, there 3 different shades of grey paint, the dog has run all over the roof and scratched it, and theres about 4 million cable ties holding it together, but everytime I see it leave my house on a towtruck I think, you know it looks pretty good from a distance.....lol

nice turbo btw..

[34GeeTeeTee]

if you were to get it engineered i know Athol has got my mate to put the wog mesh infront of his cooler, so i would be looking at doing that anyway.

Fair enough, i think ill get some black mesh and do it....

yeah it doesnt look to bad in the pic..maybe just cut it so its at least straight if thats your worry, dont matter so much if it sits flush, as long as the cut is neat it will look clean..

Mesh can be bought form supercheap , otherwise if your really anal about it just source a new front bumper and start again cause its the only way you will be truly satisfied..

If theres one thing I know about cars its that they are like women.. that is the closer you get to them the more you notice the little things that are wrong with them..sometimes you just have to stand back a distance and look at her from someone elses eyes, then you realize its not as bad as you think...

my car is f**ked, the panel gaps are all out, there 3 different shades of grey paint, the dog has run all over the roof and scratched it, and theres about 4 million cable ties holding it together, but everytime I see it leave my house on a towtruck I think, you know it looks pretty good from a distance.....lol

nice turbo btw..

It was more of an issue that i asked this shop NOT to touch the front bar... I would have cut and test fit over and over until it was neat and flush... The paint on the car isnt the best but i was planning on having it re-done in just the stock white at some stage, now it just looks like a cheap R34 banga......

On the woman note, Agreed AND they also cost you

Oh and thanks, the turbo is what started the whole build..... Simple turbo swap i said...... I failed at the simple swap and got carried away