Clear Bra, MAcarbon bumper shortening with grill install problem

Hello,

I wanted to see if anyone has had problems re-installing their US grill after pushing in their US front bumper with the shorter struts such as from MAcarbon.

I have a 1976 308 GTB. After taking off the grill and bumper to facilitate a complete front end clear bra installation (everything from windshield forward is covered in clear protection film, so I can drive it more often with less worry), I decided that it was a perfect time to put in the shorter MAcarbon bumper struts. It definitely goes in easily, and improves the lines of the car, but when I tried to put the grill back on, there was no clearance to maneuver it back in place. Has anyone else had a problem with this? Modification or cutting of the bumper is not an option for me.

In these pictures, the car has a complete front end clear bra, and protective film applied to the complete lower half of the car. Thinking of having it installed on the upper doors too, for even more protection when parking it in public areas.

The lower picture shows the grill that doesn't fit back where it came from after pushing the bumper in. The exhaust is a Stebro that will go in soon.
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I have an 81' 308 GTSi and I recently removed the front struts and replaced them with the MA Carbon Bumper Reducers. The process took a couple hours and I had no trouble getting the grill back in. The instructions were pretty clear, one I decided to read them, and everything fit well. The only thing that took time was muscling the front bumper into place and getting the nuts started on the threads by myself. The bumper is heavier than it looks and not easy to hold in place with one hand. I also like the results. I bought a 4 1/2" Prancing Horse on e-bay and plan to mount it on the grill as soon a I fabricate some mounting brackets.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Thanks for sharing your picture and your experience. I agree it was an easy conversion to do, just harder to tighten the nuts down since there is less clearance now that the strut is shorter.

What I notice from the picture is that my grill is different from yours. My upper horizontal slat extends through and past all 5 vertical slats. On your later model it looks to only extend through the middle 3 vertical slats. This would make a difference in its reinstall.

I guess I will try to remove the vertical bolt holding the strut in place and slide the bumper outwards to get the grill in place. Otherwise will have to look into other options.

Attaching the prancing horse emblem is another question. What's the best way to do this? I was going to fab some sheet
metal L brackets and use some silicone adhesive. Any other ways have been done?

Thanks everyone!

 

Mine went back in with no problems. 80' GTBI. joe
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I see a difference between yours and the others grills. Your inner two verticals don't have the jog near the bumper as theirs do. Can that be where it's binding?

 

Yes, there are several differences noticeable between my early 76 grill and the later models. Probably the early 76 models were just cut down versions of the Euro grills, and then later models had updates to better tailor it to the US models.

Almost thinking of just going back to the USA bumper struts, to afford a little more protection from parking lot bumps... goes along with the idea of why I put on the clear bra so that I could drive it more often.

 

The problem is certainly the grill. We've sold a bunch of the tubes over the years without any issue. I guess yours must be the first '76 that has been attempted. If you want to send them back, we can work something out.

As some mentioned, the bumper is really heavy. Its best to have another person assist when putting it back on.

And the tubes do pull the bumper back as much as possible without modifying anything. The best way is to have someone hold the bumper while you start all four nuts. Then you push the bumper in as you get the nuts tighter.

 

All my 1976 and 1977 have the bent bars for the push blocks of the bumper. Yours is not a North American grill, probably Euro???

It must have been slipped "behind" the bumper to hide this fact, until you put the bumper further in....

A North American grill will go around the "snaggle toothed" bottom edge of the bumper.

 

Your Euro grill is very valuable to someone doing a bumper conversion....the Euro bumper has a straight lower edge....

Get the proper North American grill and sell your old one, probably come out okay, on the money..

Also, a detail came to me, the top of the grill does not bolt up directly to those tabs sticking out from the top support, there's two little extension brackets that go there and incline the grilll out (forward), to match the outer edges of the lower valence. Can someone post a close up of those?

 

John,

I think 1976's had shorter shocks, in the first place......the protrusion gets larger and larger until on my 1977 #22641 you can see daylight BEHIND the bumper, at the ends! LOL!

It's really stupid.

That said, a recent fender bender over rode the dinky Euro repro on my 1976 #20405 and tore up a lot of vintage Italian metalwork.

I think your solid mounts offer a very fine alternative, keeping our stronger North American bumpers but doing away with the laughable protrusion mandated by DOT...there's a relief line in the bumper itself that I believe was originally to line up with the leading metal (or 'glass for the fortunate few) edge of the front clip.

Your mount results in this 'match", pretty closely???

 

I'm traveling this weekend so I can't check the exact depth. Using my '83 as a template, I made them just long enough that the inside bumper stud clears one of the body brackets by a millimeter or two. You can't go any shorter without either shortening the studs or notching the bracket.

We do not make any claims for how the tubes will perform in a crash. But I think that keeping the original bumper would help vs a flimsy euro repro. The tubes would transfer that force to the tube mounts. But I'm guessing those tube mounts might be easier to repair than front sheetmetal. But then again, i think if you hit anything in a 308 these days (regardless of what your bumpers are) the car is in for a world of hurt.

 

Hello BigTex,

Thanks for your response and insight, along with all your valuable contributions to the FerrariChat site over the years.

The MAcarbon struts do help to align the bumper ridge or "relief" to the leading edge of the car, so much better. I have attached a before and after picture of the bumper.

I am happy with the MAcarbon struts, and do not wish to return them. The Grill install problem is just something for me to be creative to work around, and is probably unique due to the variation of the grill I have.

Also, per BigTex's request, I have also attached pictures of the upper grill attachments, basically a small tab with slotted opening. Hope this is useful!
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login