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easy L to RS bumper conversion

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90K views 123 replies 52 participants last post by  scriz  
A
#1 · (Edited)
Well this has probably been done a 1mil. times... just to be that 1 mil and one here it is again..

im going through a second swap with another L and wanted to have a RS bumper again cuz later down the road i have a FMIC to install..

On my first car i had a JDM front bumper Beam.. and i got hit and went into a wall.... lets just say it didnt end so well... and i think if i had something stronger then Tin Foil my car would have held up better..

Anyways, i do NOT want to buy a RS bumper beam, im sticking with the L...

this is Much stronger and cheaper than a JDM bumper

Instructions will go along with my pics.


1. Here i have the Regular ol L bumper beam. this is what im going to use with my RS bumper Cover
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2. I rented a Sawzall/reciprocating saw from Home Depot for 15$ for 4 hours(blades are separate)... your gonna want to buy 2 or 3 heavy metal blades, yours gonna want to get the 9 inch blade.*i used 2, but bought 3 just in case.*
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3. Cut the directly in half Horizontally.
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4.The mounting points are kinda hard... but pull the trigger all the way on the saw and its no problem. Cut along that weld area.. or close to it.
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5. should turn out something like this, you may use an angle grinder or something to file it... only if your tedious about sharp edges.
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6. it will fit PERFECTLY snug into the bumper... even WITH the fog lights.
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7. this is it on my car... no it was not bolted on... i just bolted the Beam on and slide the bumper cover on... everything looks perfect to me ..

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*** Pristine Tiger Stripes FTW****

Sticky?


people who completed this mod-

post #47 for pics.
Nandonater said:
Just did this mod and worked better then i expected!
Click to expand...
 
G
#10 ·
Well done! You can literally do the exact same thing for the Ver1-4 bumpers as well. Good choice of blade too, I have yet to find anything better than those.

Hows the new project coming along man? Got her all swapped over and running?
 
K
#33 ·
from my understanding those lower mounting points are for the RS?STi foglights. Since thats how its listed on SubarParts.com as beam W/lower foglight mounts or without, the foglight mount one is a couple bucks more so that makes sense
 
K
#34 ·
Hey azn0boi04 I live in WA and just got a 95 impreza L. looking for a bumper upgrade like you did here. Im a subie noobie so if I would like to go with a pretty cheap and easy-medium installation difficulty bumper swap. Where should I be looking? and off of what kind of car?
 
A
#39 ·
i got it off of Subaru Genuine parts.com but since the bumper was huge i had to pick it up... lucky for me they are only 45mins away.... but im sure u can find someone local on nasioc. or here... or something.
 
W
#42 ·
I already knew that when I picked it up you wouldn't think it was possible. But as long as the other side was good, I could replicate the damaged side with good hands, heatgun, and a bottle to spray water. I fixed it the weekend I picked it up from you and painted it in my garage ;p.

Basically heated it smoothed it out. Used a pen cap to fill in holes and a metal tool to spread it out. For the passenger foglight side I just made it as flat as I could with a heatgun. It didn't have to be perfect, just enough to fit in the foglight bracket and the fog light would cover the uglyness.

After a weekend, looks brand spanking new with fresh paint.
 
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