Front Bumper removal

[shlim8]

I followed the pelican parts article on removal of the front bumper. But after removing all the screws on top, below and on the sides behind the side indicators, I still can't remove my front bumper....

The front bumper seems to be stuck somewhere around the area of the 2 headlights. In fact there seems to very little movement of the bumper despite removing all the screw.

As I did not want to break anything or crack the paintwork, I put everything back for the day...

Question - should I pull the bumper straight off, is it fitted in very tightly or did I miss something ? The side of the bumpers (top corner) seem as though it would break if I pull the bumper straight towards the front, do I need to pull the sides of the bumper away from the body first ??

I pulled - 2 screws from the top of the bumper and at the bottom - 5 screws from the front and 2 on the sides. On the sides - total 4 plus I removed the plastic wedge rivet. Frankly I can't see any other screws that might be attached to the bumper.

What am I doing wrong ??

[Lobo1186]

for me I had to pull one side off and then the other, from the front looking at the car, kinda like an out and torward you motion, might help to have another person to make sure it doesnt fall. but once u get one side off the other will follow suit.

[jhandy]

Under the lights the bumper slides between two pieces of metal. it may be hung up there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um-h2aUJHY4

[WhipE350]

Shilim, I followed that youtube video and it came off with a little tug. Did it by myself, hardest part is getting it back, a buddy would have helped.

[shlim8]

Thanks guys, awesome, the video certainly helps, I know what I did wrong now. There is one more screw on the side under the liner. I'd thought that the the 2nd screw is the vertical one.... guess I unscrewed the wrong one ! Good thing I didn't force it....

[97 Boxster]

I will be doing mine today. Cant wait. Thanks for the great vid.

[97 Boxster]

WOW, it sure is a mess. I will post photos later. Cant believe I didnt do this sooner. This is a MUST DO for all owners. If you have never done this then believe me it needs to be done.

[WhipE350]

Oh for sure...in my case it was 11 years of compost and archeological findings, in your case almost 15 years!

[Steve Tinker]

Its not just the crap you pull out from in and behind the 4 rads thats a (cooling) problem, but in a lot of the area's around the world where theres a lot of moisture / salt / humidity the aluminium radiators corrode and leak coolant and R134A refrigerant.
The replacement rads are bg business in Europe....not so bad here in Australia.
I pulled a dustpan of junk out of each side of my rads when I cleaned them after 7 years of use - now I remove the bumper and clean out every 2 years.

[Chuck W.]

Mine is a garage queen. Bought it new in 2001 and I am just getting ready to turn 20K miles. I never drive the car in the rain. When I removed the bumper to have it repaired and repainted I was amazed at the amount of debris in the radiator and AC condenser.

[shlim8]

In the end I put in grills behind the intakes on the bumper. Not too difficult to do, although if I had to do it again, I would make the bottom of the grills flush with the intake..... (now I have to poke out leaves from the gap there !)

I'm sure it's help prevent alot of leaves from getting stuck in the rads.

I've not noticed any increase in engine temp, just in case anyone is wondering.

Side note - it's amazing how destructive the pebbles/stones can be to the bumper.... even the slats on the intakes are pitted ! Time for a bumper re-spray !

[lilredpo]

I found a dead bird once....