so this summer (as some people may have read) i worked to get the exterior of my car done, or mostly done atleast......one item that i did purchase was a new front bumper cover from a website called carpartswholesale.com....it was a reasonable priced bumper cover (289) whereas hawks was charging 350, i thought i made out like a bandit but then i as the summer progressed the bumper started to crap out:


now this bumper has gotten so crapped up that it has taken two fairly large chips of paint off the tip of my hood from it being mis-shapen and rubbing up against the tip of the hood....i already talked to the company about it but they refused to look at the pictures and told me "you waited for longer than the allotted time (28 days whereit took 14 to finally get it shipped to me) so they were refusing to give me a new bumper, now the price is jacked up to 380 making me believe that there was something wrong with this batch of bumper from them and that is why they do not want it back....


my question is do you guys think i should even bother trying again? trying to email them, send them letters, and call them? cuz this is ridiculous how crappy this bumper has turned....the fog lights arent even symmetrical...i had to make spacers for the driver's side one just to make it line up almost correctly...

thanks for your time and input

-brian

 

I would. A letter from a lawyer does wonders. Also post them on After Market vendors so no one else here gives them any business. Screw Them!

 

well i finally talked to them, they are willing to take it back, but they are going to inspect it to make sure that it is indeed messed up how i said it is....now the only way that they can tell is if they put it on a firebird (ive read here that birds are wider than camaros by like a half inch on each side) and i think thats what my problem is....but they are not exchanging it for another bumper, they are going to give me my money (289) back....now where do i go to find another bumper for this cheap? lol plus this one made me laugh....they told me that because i had the bumper on my car, they would not take it back...i asked them what about if it was to make sure it fit? and they said "well as long as the bumper made contact with screws to hold it onto the car, then we, under our rules and regulations, cannot take it back" lol theyre ridiculous, but hopefully i can get a new bumper soon

 

if I was you I'd get a used one from the classifieds or a junkyard. that sucks about that bumper cover and your hood though.

 

Why can't you just modify it, you know? Make it work? I'm sure it's nothing a Dremel tool and some body filler can't help.

 

im sure he could...but that defeats the purpose of buying a "new" bumper..

 

me and my dad have talked extensively about fabricating some way to make it work....but this is what my theory is that he doesnt agree on....ive read a thread on here that said that a firebird/trans am is wider than a camaro by about a half inch to an inch on each side....that is about how far its pulled in on each side, leaving me to believe that whomever manufactured this bumper probably just took measurements off of a camaro and figuered "hell....same car, right?" the problem that i can see with the bumper is that it is stretching tightly and is pulling the center inwards, creating the dimples and making the bumper hit the hood......my dad doesnt quite think that i should return the bumper, he thinks we can salvage it, and i can just move my hood back...but i dont want to do that, i'd rather have it look as factory as possible....

but one thing we can agree on is that it seems to get worse each time we look at it lol

 

lol, either work with what you have...or get one out of a salvage yard...you will get one cheap compared to that, and with a little prep you won't be able to tell the difference. I've heard of putting a piece of metal under the center nose to keep the shape but i don't know how much fun that will be. Out of two birds i haven't had this problem yet so i can't speak from experience. Good luck!

 

id just get my money back and ether look in a junk yard, ebay or craigslist cause some times u might get a beter deal on a orginal part than a crapy remake

 

yeah i am kinda planning on getting a used one...plus its damn near impossible to get an OEM one...ive been trying lol but no junk yards around here have any third gens.....at all, so i'm trying to find one online or something....i really wish my original one wasnt so banged up....i could really use it! lol oh well...hopefully i'll find one eventually! lol

 

well good luck on ur hunt

 

Yeah I can see where it sags in the middle on the pass side. Nothing you can do at this point except replace it. The aftermarket urethane did not respond to heat and reshaping last time I tried. It is a totally different material than the original noses. They use a yellow urethane now, which seems to be a million percent softer and more flexible than the original grey urethane. This is not a good thing, since there isn't much keeping the TA nose to hold its shape. I had an aftermarket nose on a TA once, that I ended up throwing out. It sagged just like yours and generally fit terrible. My $35 junkyard TA nose cone fits perfect. I see them on ebay all the time, and shipping is not at all expensive. I was shipping them for around $30. Your unfortunate lesson learned, is that the repro parts are nowhere near OE quality a lot of the time. If they send you another new nose it is going to do the same thing.

 

i would start checking on our "parts wanted" boards, there seems to be a trans am getting parted out every day. There was a t/a nose sitting in conneticut for $50, but i don't know if he wanted to ship. Good luck on your search!

 

I was selling the TA nose in CT. It's long gone.

 

naw there is another...cam91RS i think
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yea, cam91rs1 had one a couple weeks ago that noone was biting at for like $50 OBO to be picked up, not sure if he still has it and never saw pics, so i don't know condition, but i picked up a hood from him and it wasn't too bad

here's the link if interested:

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/exte...0-ta-nose.html

I don't know if that helps you at all, but they are there, just gotta look at our boards, and as mentioned, not terrible to ship when packaged correctly.

 

just for fun, i figured i'd show off how terrible that bumper was, so i took some pictures to prove the bumper's flaws and even sent them along with the bumper to the manufacturer










this last one here is the original bumper back on the car lol....yay it looks so sexy! lol

 

what was wrong with the original that you went aftermarket in the first place??? Just curious? Or is there damage we don't see in the pic above?

 

yeah theres some damage you cant see....the winter when i first got this car (winter of 04) i slid on some ice and hit a pole dead center in the bumper....it did no real damage to thehoney comb shock absorber but it messed up the bumper big time and put a split in it.....so it has the indents like the brand new one had, except worse because of the pole....it got no damage to the body at all....just the bumper got mis-shaped and the only way to get it back to how it kinda looked was to heat it up with a heat gun, but that only lasted until the next summer when it sagged again, it was only a temp fix until i got a new bumper but who would've guessed id be confronted by the same problem again with the indents
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thats what it looked like up close....that was taken last spring before i started on the bodywork

 

yea sorry to hear that though. Glad you got them to take the bumper back but it sux that you gotta go out and get it repainted! Like i said i would suggest getting a used one, even if you can't find anything around you, i would assume that it shouldn't be more than $50 to send one to you so i would just keep my eye open, ask on the threads, look around, try and get one that is still mounted to a car so you can see the pics to see if it's sagging already or not, and then make provisions once you get it to fix the problem ahead of time (i.e. put a piece of metal to the shape of the nose under there and bond it) so that you won't have to deal with the sagging issue later on. Good luck!

 

yeah, thanks for the advice, i plan on painting it myself, but i need to go out and buy more clear now lol....oh well, it never stops lol....by the way, i pm'd you about your ability to get your hands on another bumper near you? cuz around here, the shortest waiting list for a 3rd gen at the junkyard is 6 people and theres no salvagable noses aroudn here either....

 

i think your just in luck was at my junk yard and they have 2 birds sitting there will check on them tammaro and that really sucks about the hood and front

 

if your talking about PMing me, i haven't gotten it yet. I wish i would've known that you needed it, i would have picked up the bumper for you when i took the 3 hour trip out to CT from my house to get the T/A hood i picked up. It was $50 for the hood and $50 for the bumper, but i don't have the rest of the body kit do i didn't pick up the bumper. But yea i'm more than 3 hours away and i don't know the next time i'm going down to LI...i can let you know if you haven't gotten one by then, like i said i never saw it, but you can talk to him, see if he still has it, see if you like the pics, and then i'll talk about when i can pick it up if he can hold it for me, it's a little over an hour to an hour and a half into CT from the way i go to LI so i mean i would wanna tack a lil for gas but i don't mind it if you don't.

 

i thought that you said that you had a bunch that you were selling at one point...maybe im confusing you with someone else lol but yeah, it wont be until about roughly another 4weeks until i get my check from that gay website

 

well it probably will be in the next 4 weeks i go down, lemme know if you still need it or if you find someone else to provide you one. You must have me mistaken for someone else, lol. i don't know where you are, but if you see something in NY or in the lower tri state area, i'll see if i can pick it up for ya if noone wants to ship. till then good luck and stay off those icy roads :-p!

 

I just read through this thread and have one question.
When you first installed this new bumper,did it fit perfectly as a new one should or did the gaps appear the same as they do in the previous pic. like the fender area and hood area?
If that gap on the fender was there when you initially installed the bumper,my guess is you have some other damage somewhere.
I know you stated that the honeycomb part was not damaged on the front inner bumper but,that doesn't mean the metal inner bumper itself wasn't damaged.(how hard did you hit that pole?)
If there is damage to the metal part of the bumper, you can end up with problems exactly like the ones you currently have.
Good luck though with the return process.

 

when i first installed it i did not have those gaps...it was hard fitting it up but i examined everything....i took off the honey comb shock pad and examined the steel bumper behind the nose and that was in perfectly fine shape....when i hit the pole i was at an estimated 5 (tops) m.p.h.....it actually split the front of the shock pad in half cuz i nailed the pole dead center, but i say that there was no damage to it cuz the way that it split in half it held itself together still lol it sounds like i didnt care when i put it together but i did....i also did buy a new shock absorber pad and that didnt help either.....the sides of the bumper pad were perfectly fine on the old one too though.....either way the stock one that i put back on fits so much better and im very happy about that, because that means (hopefully) that when i get a used one it'll fit on fine
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by the way, has anyone heard of this site?:

http://www.iautobodyparts.com/46658-...nt_bumper.html

they are offering this bumper for awefully cheap so i called them...they said its so cheap because they are just refurbishing the used bumpers.....does that sound right at all? ive never heard of anyone doing that

 

looks legit...read shipping costs...that may be where they get you...read thier warranty service...i see it says lifetime...and read their return policy. If everything looks good all you can do is try it.

 

what i'm mainly concerned about is that they told me on the phone "refurbished" but on their site it says "trans am model - remanufactured" now, remanufactured meaning that they clean it up and such or meaning aftermarket?

 

remanufactured...doesn't that mean they take them in and rebuild them?! how would you "remanufacture" a bumper??? unless it was aftermarket...good call. IDK...maybe try a new thread with the aftermarket vender AND product review forums...ask if anyone has any experience with them and see if you get any responces...either that or do a search to see if anyone has used them. That would be my only suggestion...either that or ask them if you say you refurbish old ones why is it "remanufacture" online?? and what does remanufacture mean to you guys? ya know? only way to find out is ask questions, and i woudl suggest calling them so you potentially get another operator, get a 2nd opinion within the same company

here is a twist...call them up refering to their aftermarket bumpers....see what they say...if they correct you saying that sorry they aren't aftermarket, they are original OEM that we have refurbished...then i would feel a little more comfortable myself with them. Just a couple pennies on my end

 

i do body work for a living....and ive yet to see an atermarket part that was better than oem, or even close for that matter.......i cant tell you how many times ive cussed a BLACK fender or nose because it wouldnt line up.....But then what can u expect....the aftermarket parts were made from differnt molds and stamps....no wonder they wont line up.....my advice is use oem componnets where ever possible

 

i did call them once and they said theyre remanufactured and so i asked them "like refurbished?" and he says yeah...so i said so what youre telling me is that these are used OEM bumpers that youre taking in, painting and then re-selling? and he was like 'ummm......yeah, i think' so i wasnt too pleased with that....i asked him if they had any correlation with carpartswholesale.com (which is where i got that piece of crap bumper from) and he was like....ummm, i dont really know, we sell our products on a lot of sites and that sounds like it may possibly be one of them.... so i dunno too much lol

and yeah ive realized that all these aftermarket parts are crap, anything that is "aftermarket direct bolt on" means 'alright, hack off the fender, drill holes in your rims, and then throw a rock through your window and there ya go! now that radio will fit right in!' lol

also before i shipped out the bumper i looked on the back for a manufacturer, i found it...."auto-lighn" i did a search on google and found nothing, it had a toll free number on a sticker, my dad called it and got the "this line has been disconnected" message so atleast i dont have to worry about that company anymore lol

 

yea...at this point it doesn't sound too promising dude...i'd say junk yard...look on here...or possibly expand your search...most junkyards in your state will do their best to ship things to ya...you can try that...find a junkyard that is on the network in your state and see if they have any junkyards that will supply you with one. A pick-n-pull would be your best bet and cheapest. Otherwise bite your lip, get your lighter out...and burn a few hundred dollar bills and get a real one if they even still make them or available OEM anywhere. Otherwise your going to be square one and pissed off twice as much the second time around if you do end up with an aftermarket "remanufactured/refurbished" bumper, lol.
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i'm going to a pick and pull monday...how much you looking to spend and whats your zip???? maybe i might be able to help ya out...who knows what they got...the idiots there don't keep any inventory of even the cars they got, but who knows you may get lucky

 

yeah i checked with my local dealership, they dont make the OEM bumper anymore, and theres none floating aroudn in dealerships anywhere in nj, and thanks for the offer of the junkyard, maybe in like a month if youre back out there i'll let you know but right now ive got no money and am waiting for that check to come for the bumper.....thanks again though

 

not a problem, like i said i'm all over new york, binghamtom to albany, and down to NYC/LI all the time throughout the year, you need me to check on something i will do my best. Does classic industries offer us a bumper yet???

 

i dont believe so

 

damn...third gens are just SOL on almost anything nowadays. Can't wait for 5th gen it kick in...thats usually how things kick in...by the time third gens cam out aftermarket jumped on 1st...fourth gen kicked in 2nd came into the scene as a classic car to restore...we're at that stage in our lives but we never had the 5th gen fbody to continue the cycle like the mustangs do...hopefully it will work out like it normally does...5th gen shows up and 3rd gets sum love for being a part of that history and some aftermarket NOS parts will be brought about. Still can't believe there will be no 5th gen bird to speak of...so so sad, lol. Anyways, anytime...let me know when that check comes in and i'll see what i can do if anything to help ya out.

 

i heard there will be 5th gen birds....made to look like a 2nd gen firebird.....but alright, well when i get some money i'll let ya know lol thanks a lot man

 

well i got my money back recently from that damn company...anyone know of anyone selling any bumpers here? im not looking to spend very much for i have no job and im commuting to my local community college which costs me a 1/4 tank eachtrip lol and 3 times a week lol, not fun....so anyone here selling any? especially around here? cuz it would be awesome to not have to pay for shipping lol....thanks
-brian

 

if I were you I'd try posting a wanted add, and maybe even a thread in the north east section asking if any locals have any bumper covers. good luck and glad to hear you got your money back.

 

I don't know, a lot of years have gone by since 3rd gens were new. Some of these cars are 25 years old! I think what we've got, is what we've got

 

I have an 05 classic industries magazine and they have repro for $315, of course plus the shipping, sometimes companies have cheaper shipping to businesses with loading docks. The number is G6176 for 85-90 Trans Am GM.

 

He said cheap, lol

 

lol yeah, i need it cheap, but thanks though, if i cant find one for cheap then i guess i'll get one full price this summer when i finally have a job again lol...hopefully i will be able to find one on here for cheap sometime soon
thanks a lot guys
-brian