Meatman

iTrader: (4)

I want to put a 91-92 front bumper on my 88. I know it can be done and I know what I need for parts. My question is......my car is a Formula so no gfx of course. I bought a mint 91-92 bumper cover and headlights for $60. Couldnt pass it up for that price.

Problem is it is off of a V6 that had gfx. So it has the to triangle shaped parts that hangs down on both sides. So....has anyone put this bumper on a Formula and trimmed that part off and made it look ok? I sure it can be done with lots of fab and it seems all of it would be hidden under front of car. Just wondering if anyone has done it??

CatmanFS

I would leave them there in case you find the rest of the gfx, then you could modify those parts and have the full set.

Meatman

iTrader: (4)

Ya but I dont want the rest of them. Plus those pieces that go in between the bumper and front tires are made out of gold. I want to keep the formula look. After some measuring and stuff today......I dont really see any way it can look good. It will bolt on yes. But the lines arent gonna match up and it will look like crap. Sucks cause its a perfect front bumper.

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

Sell the T/A front cover and pick up a base model cover... There's a couple on the classifieds right now. You may end up getting money back.

In the middle of doing this myself, at the very least, you need the following:
Headlights (or the brackets that hold the sealed beams in the headlights with all parts)
Headlight doors (your doors are NOT compatible with the 91-92 doors as I've found out the hard way, one bolt doesn't line up to hold the door and one mounting point doesn't allow the bezels to be in the proper position)
Headlight bezels
Bumper cover brackets (ALL of them, none are interchangeable except the ones holding the cover to the fenders)
Front bumper parking lights and/or fog lights with enough wire to extend the wires
Front honeycomb absorber behind the front cover (at the very least, this is needed to outline the holes you will need to cut in the impact bar for the parking and fog lights)
Bumper cover to fender air deflectors... If you have the 4-piece air dam, you only need the outer corners as they will swap with the ones you currently have.
And the impact bar if you don't feel comfortable retrofitting (cutting and drilling holes) the existing bar for the new parts.

Lots of money there, but it looks nice when it's all done.

87WS6

iTrader: (1)

Yeah I picked up all these items for mine. The previous owner of my 92 Formula swapped a 90 nose onto it. I do think the headlight doors will work. I've compared them to the 90 style and they seem identical. The bezels are what screws things up.

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

It's BOTH the bezels and the headlight doors that need to be replaced. The front mounting point that is closest to the midline of the car is off by a half inch (about). You'll see this if you hold the pre-91 and 91-92 doors together, preferably the passenger's side against the driver's side, mounting points together.

You can't use the old bezels with the new bumper cover, as the lower lip at the front of the bezel will catch on the cover (there is literally less than a quarter inch of gap between the bumper and the headlight door when assembled), and the headlights will look wrong with the large bezel covering the small sealed beam guts. And you can't use the old headlight assemblies because the center of the headlight has been moved about an inch or so higher from the base of the assembly to come over the edge of the bumper cover.

84BirdinOK

Still looking to sell your bumper cover? Mine is ripped to shreds, it came like that on the car so I removed it. Was thinking of doing a fiberglass patch but... it wouldn't be good. PM me if you want to sell it.

Troy

87WS6

iTrader: (1)

I'll check it again because I held my 91-92 covers against some from my 1985 Trans Am. They seemed identical in dimensions. The brackets seemed about the same more or less, but the bezels and the lights themselves were very, very, different. And yes, the bezel will catch the front bumper, most definitely. I bought the front clip of a wrecked car for doing the conversion back to the factory nose, headlights etc. I've got everything in my garage though it's been awhile since I've looked at those items. I wasn't going to do the installation until I was ready to paint the car.

//<86TA>\\

iTrader: (14)

the 91-92 headlight doors are definatly different. I have both laying in the garage, and they are different. One mounting tab is off quite a bit. the frames are even a bit different, so you will have to swap everything. there are also 3 and 2 wire motors, i dont know what your 88 has.

an interesting side note, the 91-92 headlight doors are 1lb each heavier than the earlier doors, they are either a different alloy or a different casting technique.