my custom front bumper

[mrt2you]

I am almost finished with my custom hybrid front bumper cover for my bullitt mustang.
I joined a GT front bumper with the foglamp area from a GT500.

this is where I am as of today.
I just have to finish plastic welding the area below the grill. then plastic weld the back side of the welds for some extra strength, some finish body work on the welds, then prime and paint.



some of the tools I used on my improvised work bench, Car-O-Liner speed rack.


plastic bumper welder




the bumper stand to hold bumper while welding.



what I started with

free damaged GT bumper,


free parts from the GT500 I resurrected last summer

 

[mrt2you]

I started by rough trimming the GT500 bumper 1/2's.
taped a piece of 3/4" tape to the bumper for a guide.


after trimming



I then put a piece of 3/4" tape line on the bottom of the turn signal, same place I did on the GT500 bumper, and made a rough cut. with most of the GT bumper gone I laid the GT500 bumper on the GT bumper clamped and traced it for a guide, then cut.
pic of me finish trimming the GT bumper.


here is what the GT bumper looked like after trimming.



with both bumpers trimmed I prepped the GT500 bumper to weld the 2 1/2's back together.

I started by welding the mount areas that were torn away from the GT500 crash.

I put some foil tape on a paint stick, vice gripped it to the bottom of the bumper, and filled in the torn area.

foil paint stick.


stick clamped on the bumper. ready to weld.



after welding.



now I bolted the 2 bumper 1/2's to the GT500 lower spoiler, welded some staples to the damaged center section and ready to weld the 1/2's together.






after welding




I am now ready to start attaching the 2 bumper together.

 

[mrt2you]

to help guide me I purchased the end supports for a GT500..
they rivet like the stock GT ones and there is a screw that goes thru the lower middle skirt hole.

getting ready to trim the GT bumper. and the support installed.



before I cut I place the cut GT500 bumper next to the uncut GT.
in this pic you can see the GT turn signal is about 3/16" lower than the trimmed GT500 bumper. the guide tape on the GT bumper will go thru the alignment screw hole if it were still on the bumper. the GT500 cover the guide tape finishes 1/8" higher than the alignment screw hole, I have to cut the GT bumper a little higher than I did the GT500 to compensate.



bumper clamped together ready to weld.
I started on the edge welding about 2". the cooled the weld, adjusted the vice gripe for a tight fit. the welded another 2".

one side after welding.



the other side after welding. you can see in these pics there is a gap between the bottom of the lower GT grill opening and the top of the lower GT500 grill opening. I will have to fill that gap with pieces of bumper I didn't use..



after welding the sides under the turn signals I put the lower spoiler back on to help align things. you can see in this pic the gap I have to fill is about 1" wide. with the spoiler installed I can now weld the vertical cuts by the grill opening. to help do this I put the bumper on my bench to weld.
one side vertical wed done. you can now get a good idea what it will look like done.



other side



whole bumper. you can easily see the gap I need to fill up.
to do that I will need to install the lower grill to help hold the bumper in alignment.



when I fill the gap up, I need to bend the filler pieces both horizontally and vertically to follow the contours of the bumper. because of this I will have to use short pieces because they are easier to bend properly.
after welding in a few pieces I got another job to do so this project will be on hold for a while.

pic on how far I have gotten. on the ends I used black fillers so they are hard to see. in the middle I will be using parts of the red bumper. same as the first pic.

 

[travelers]

Sounds like it's going to be unique and a lot of work. How many hours do you have in it so far?

 

[Bagel_Dog]

Cool project, I love home made custom stuff, you're always the only one to ever have it.

 

[mrt2you]

about 20-25 hours.
I figure by the time I am done it will be around 40.
good thing I have more time than money. I could never pay myself to do this.

if I had the $$$. I would just buy a GT500 bumper, then use the entire lower part of it including the lower grill. then section the bumpers at the middle of the turn signals and the top bumper body line. doing it that way would probably be a extra $400-$500.

I have been planning to do this for about 3 months. we hit a slow period in the shop,
I work flat rate but must be here for at least 30 hours a week. if I don't it messes up my paycheck.
instead of standing around I am doing this.

by the time I am done I will have to buy a fog light switch, fog lights with pigtails, GT500 spoiler, GT500 absorber, GT500 bumper end brackets and paint and materials with everything at dealer cost.
probably about $400-$500 ready to install.

 

[Wes06]

well look at mister fancy pants over here....hah

looking forward to the end product

 

[07TR]

I am very intrigued to see the end result it looks cool so far

 

[wabirch]

Can't wait to see this one installed. Wish the wiring harness for Bullitts were ready for lamps.
Check out if you can also install auto on lights with a new switch that will tie in fogs too. I upgraded my 250 with fogs and got auto on as part of the kit.

 

[mrt2you]

yes bullitts don't have the fog lamp wiring. but that's part of the bullitt uniqueness. that wiring harness has been discontinued a LONG time ago.
i am fine for wiring for the fog lamps.
I have a extra light harness from a damaged GT I repaired a few years ago.

 

[07TR]

yes bullitts don't have the fog lamp wiring. but that's part of the bullitt uniqueness. that wiring harness has been discontinued a LONG time ago.
i am fine for wiring for the fog lamps.
I have a extra light harness from a damaged GT I repaired a few years ago.

Man i wish I had parts like that at my disposal

 

[TGR96]

Can't wait to see the end results. Post pics ASAP!

 

[Black Bullitt]

Definitely following. Very interesting build!

 

[mrt2you]

Man i wish I had parts like that at my disposal

I am a certified pack rat. I throw out almost nothing car related.
I replaced the harness in a friends almost new, 6 months old, 08 gt with 1K miles on it that was in a fender bender. the harness had several broken wires and 1 fog light end missing. the insurance co wanted to repair it but my friend disagreed. he talked to several higher ups until they agreed with him that it should be replaced.
after I replaced it I saved it. fast foreword 8 years now I need it. repaired the damage now good as new.

same thing with the GT500 bumper parts. most people would have thrown them out. I saved them thinking of doing a custom bumper in the future.

same thing with the GT bumper. it doesn't look bad in the pics. it was damaged in several areas. it was basically junk and a replacement bumper aren't that expensive. I saved it for the purpose of making this bumper. If I wasn't going to do this I think I would have tossed it. it was that bad.

I have had these parts on hand for almost 6 months, waiting for some free time to do it.


as of now I have the basic welding done. I have to fill in or heat and form into close to the proper shape before filling. plastic welding rod is much cheaper than epoxy bumper repair/ bonding material. it's also stronger, more flexible and much less likely to crack than epoxy bumper repair material.
I have used a entire pack of welding rod, 30', and need more. ordered more but the paint store doesn't stock it. they have to get it from the main warehouse. won't be delivered until Thursday evening or Friday am.

 

[07TR]

That is mad interesting man

 

[GallopingFord]

sub'd

 

[mrt2you]

the bumper is all plastic welded up, filled and primed.

I had pics of the bumper after it was welded, but I pulled a brain muscle. I left the camera on the mig welder and then used it. the welder wiped out my memory card, had to buy another one at lunch time.

here are a few pics after filling. the camera lens was dirty so they aren't the best.

 

[mrt2you]

the fillers I used.
I have never used this stuff before so I don't know how strong it is. it fills good and sands great. I guess I will find out how strong it is.
at our old shop we used Norton repair epoxies. we cut some kind of a deal with 3M when they built our new shop, so now everything we use is 3M.



some evercoat plastic filler for the final fill.



the plastic welding rods I used.
on the front



I also welded the back side for extra strength with some wider rods.

 

[mrt2you]

back side pics.
I cleaned the lens now.
they show the wider welded areas.
you can also see the edge that wraps around on the GT500 bumper is wider then the GT bumper. I would assume they made it wider so they can bolt up the lower spoiler. the 2 lower holes in this pic are where the spoiler bolts to.
the GT and the GT500 use the same fender skirt. the tab for skirt attach hole is the exact same size between the 2 bumpers, the skirt will mount without problems.





other side

 

[mrt2you]

the bumper now has the first stage prime on it.
I got chased out of the shop at closing time so no pics of this or the primer I used.
I will get pics on Monday.