GT3 bumper problems... I'm Frustrated!!!
 

Has anyone else ran into this issue!? I'm so frustrated!!! After seeing some recommendations from this site on the GT3 bumper from NR Auto, and talking to the NR Auto sales rep, I thought this would be a nice, high-quality bumper...

I bought this GT3 bumper for my 986 from NR Auto. The body shop repairing my car was hesitant about working with this aftermarket bumper before I even ordered it. When it arrived, they said it has too many waves and dings in the bumper, and that it would look horrible if they installed it. In addition, the instructions with the bumper said that the front reinforcement may need to be shortened to fit the bumper, which is illegal for shops to do (according to the shop)... thinking that it was this particular body shop being paranoid, I found a different custom Porsche shop that said that they could do the work. Well, after the second body shop took a look at the bumper, they said it would cost $1500 to install it and they were pretty sure it wasn't going to look as good as it should, because of the low-quality. And the third strike comes when the Porsche dealership happened to be in the shop, they evaluated the bumper and said it was completely unacceptable for a Porsche.

So, I called NR Auto to try and get a refund, and they claim that it's the area that I'm in (Colorado Springs, CO), and I had 2 options. 1) I pay $150 shipping back to the NR Auto and a 25% restocking fee ($324). Or 2) that they could paint it for me for $600 but I would have to pay for the shipping (again) to Cali and back to CO (~$300) and I would have to pay to get it installed somewhere in CO.

What to do... what to do...

As I have mentioned many times in the past, regardless of price or prestige, all of these aftermarket body kits and aero parts require a great deal of tweaking and prep work in order to obtain a good fit and workable surface . These types of projects involve a very different kind of animal as compared to the traditional paint and repair process. Therefore, it's important to find a shop that has a lot of experience working with fiberglass, composites and the like . With that said, unless your bumper is of unusually poor quality (which is entirely possible), your best bet maybe to look for a shop that caters to the JDM/Fast and Furious crowd. Those guys tackle these kinds of projects all the time .

JD
p.s. Its disappointing to hear that NR Auto may have sold you an inferior bumper. In the past, I've heard pretty positive things about them . Good luck.

You might have some negotiating room by contacting NRA and offering them a 10% restocking fee plus shipping. Being nice and courteous can't hurt either.

Otherwise if you paid by credit card, contact your credit card company and dispute the entire price because of the low quality of the product and work it from there.

Sorry for the major PITA.

Send it back and take the hit. Sorry to hear it.

Sorry to say, but this is why I'll only run factory body parts on my cars (unless it's something small, like a side marker light or equivalent). Pony up and get a real GT3 bumper if that's the look you want.

Yeah... big lesson learned. I will only stay OEM from now on.

Gotta talk to NRA tomorrow to see what I can work out, if anything. Thanks for comments.

I really like the look of the RUF or GT3 bumper, they are the only styles I would ditch my stock one for. However as I just havent been willing to spend that much $$, and I refuse to use aftermarket fiberglass, I'm still rockin' the stocker!

I've got a fiberglass GT3 cover on my car, and it did take some tweaking to get it on and correct. I agree with looking to the JDM/import tuners to do the work. Be patient and look for someone who shows skill in their work, but may be new to the field. Agree to a price up front and stop in frequently to check the progress. Another bargaining chip may be to let them use photos for advertisement purposes or to present the car at local shows.
Good luck. The GT3 cover really does look great on the car. Oh, and there is NO factory 03-04 GT3 cover that's a direct fit for the 986.

There's nothing wrong with fiberglass as a material. An overwhelming majority of the best
"tuners" and manufactures use it. Moreover, by virtue of the fact that it can be "manipulated" and "crafted" in ways other materials can't be, it has it's benefits. It simply requires the right individual who has the experience and skills necessary to work with it .

Fiberglass takes alot of fineness to pull a clean part out of a mold. Traditionally fiberglass is going to continue curing and warping as it does. Mix the resin to hot to rush it=heat& warps. To mix cool and it will take forever to cure but a much cleaner part

In general, a bad, rushed part takes alot of filler to straighten warps . The warps need to be blocked out.. If your car is a light color, it won't show as much. If it black, I't got to be blocked out dead nuts, lany little warps will show like moguls.

Regards, pK

So glad I came across this post as I was at my wits end thinking about it myself too. I think I'll just fork out the dollars for a factory/oem kit. Might not have the dramatic look but at least its clean, and hopefully without complications with the peace of mind that it's designed to fit correctly as it should whilst sticking to the cars relative vintage without going overboard. Really hard decision which I'm sure we all have spent countless hours or days even weeks pondering about :confused:

However I assume this was all about the fiberglass version? How about the polyurethane version? Anyone tried that yet and how did it fit? Any problems?

fit is lazer perfect. Durability is light years better than fiberglass if you drive your car often, particularly on crappy roads. Fiberglass does not like to be repaired once broken. I would only use it on sideskirts unless the car is a garage queen, then maybe you can explore front and rear fiberglass bumpers. Otherwise go with polyurethane, there are some aftermarket options with this materials but not many.
I'm about to have my GT3 bumper repainted for the fourth time and virtually every single time I had it painted it took only a few months before l hear "crrrash" on a steeper than anticipated driveway, high manhole cover in a construction zone or random crap on the highway I ran over. But the K turns into a drive way are the single biggest culprit. Do yourself a favor and drive around the block.

Thanks mate, as per your very reasons, I'm trying to avoid fibreglass and stick to polyurethane. However, as you cannot alter polyurethane bumpers, they therefore need to be made to extremely high standards in terms of fitment since you can't simply add filler or file things down to shape.

Has anyone here had a polyurethane front bumper or kit installed on their boxster and is damn happy with the fitment and presentation? If so, please chime in and advise where you got yours from?

Thanks guys

is there a polyurethane aftermarket version of the GT3 bumper? I'm not aware of one. Only one I know of is the factory version which is what I have. I paid $1K. And have paid as little as $200 to paint (once already installed which is a snap). You'll easily pay that much for parts and labor on an aftermarket figberglass. no -brainer. Source a GT3 factory bumper as cheap as you can. Make sure its for 1999-2001 Carreras (or 1997-2004 Boxsters)

Yeah, NR Auto lists it specifically as the "997 Style GT3 style polyurethane kit for 986" for $2495 and includes the front bumper, lower front bumper spoiler, side sills, and a rear wrap around skirt. Have a look and see what you think.

Just checked it out on their website.
Looks good but not worth the money IMO but is this something that you can do yourself in your own garage? Does not seem that hard to do. Sure, some sanding, trimming, mock up the parts first, once everything is aligned, disassemble and off to the paint. But with any aftermarket stuff, custom work will always be needed for it to fit right. Keep shopping for a shop that can do it, there are plenty if you wheel and deal. The shops always says its hard to do so they can drive up the proj cost. Been there done that! If it looks okay to you well that's what counts.

besthttp://986forum.com/forums/uploads01/gt31373563069.jpg

definitely too expensive if you are not absolutely in love with the 997 look. You'll be spending $3,500 once everthing has been painted.

On the other hand you could have the factory 996 GT3 front bumper painted installed for maybe $1,500? skirting for $500? And add the GT3Tek Boxster Spyder bumper cover (goes over the stock bumper see PedroF's thread), which would look really good in yellow, for another $500 after painting (wait for their holiday sales). Keep the extra $1,000 towards a nice set of street wheels like the Forgestar F14's which can be had for under $1,500 for 18''.

As the forum's self proclaimed body kit expert, short of a company in California called MA Shaw, who was at one time able to source the oem GT3 bumper a few years back, I can't recall anyone else who had it. There are , however, a few high quality, TUV certified FRP versions that are available. Certain that it is, there are benefits to a bumpers and aero parts that are manufactured from polyurethane. However, take it from someone who has explored this topic ad infinitum et ultra, if an aftermarket part that is made from poly doesn't fit precisely (and I've seen plenty), you're SOL by virtue of the fact that said material cannot be manipulated. Whereas FRP can be "crafted" in any way imaginable in order to achieve a perfect fit. The downside to FRP, and carbon fiber for that matter, is that it does not withstand impact well.

p.s. That 997 GT3 bumper from NR Auto, along with all of the others,, is an abomination ! The way the areas for the driving lights have been backfilled is nothing short of a contrivance ! :barf:

Yea, stick with stock.

I've always found the 997 front end design to be weird. A not very fluid jumbled mix of a VW with a Mazda.

The 981 Boxster/Cayman design is well done, the best on any current Porsche, and should be the front end of the 991 Carrera. I'm not sure why people have such a boner for round lights. They were great on the vintage 911's but imho look out of place on a big modern Grand Touring like the 991. Ditto for those giant retro duck tails on the 997.