The Official 356Talk Forum

I am in the process of turning my newly acquired C into a mild outlaw, so will probabty be solely responsible for more activity on the Outlaw forum....

My plans are to remove the bumpers, so my quesiton is what are you guys doing with the holes on the sides of the cars that are visible when the rear bumper is removed (in the bumpe recess). I am not looking to have them welded shut as my plan is to not do anything to the car that can not be easily reversed. So, what options exist that are kind of cool?

Thanks - Farrell

Hi Farrell,

My car had the support bracket hoes previously filled and painted over and is now sporting custom, period tube "racing bumpers" (much like an AC Cobra) which I have become very attached to. I am looking forward to seeing what kind of response you get to your question. Do you think anyone will suggest you attach curb feelers to those holes? Hmmmm, maybe a trip through an old J.C. Whitney catalog? LOL

Hard to think of anything other than a body color painted plug that would not have a whimsical element.

Do you plan on running any thing to replace the bumpers? BTW, I consider your color combination to be the best.

KTF,

Rick

#727
'58 Speedster

Thanks Rick. I am going to run some nerf bars but am altering them so they run very close to the body - I think some of them stick out too far. For the fronts, I drilled some holes in them and am running soem NOS Marchal lights - kind of rallye look I guess.

For the holes behind the bumpers, I am wondering if I could adapt a couple of the Porsche crests from the hubcaps to work - the silver ones, not the colored ones. If they are to small, I could mount them to a round aluminum plate, craft a rubber seal and jb weld a bolt to the back of them. That way I could stick a piece of falt aluminum over the threaded bolt and a nut that could be tightened down to hold them like the torsion bar covers are done.

Farrell,
Many years ago I also took off the bumpers and faced the same dilemma. My solution was to install two side marker lights that were wired to the tail lights. I think they were trailer marker lights of some sort but they were about 2 - 2 1/2 in diameter and looked like they belonged on the car. They were also about $2 each as I recall, I'm sure they're more now but not much. If you don't like them when you're done just toss 'em. The other thing I did on an A car was to go to the hardware store and buy a couple of sink plugs. These are chrome discs that have a threaded shaft attached to them and are used to cover pre drilled holes in a new sink base that aren't being used, like a sprayer hose hole. I used them to cover the holes for the bumper guard support holes. On a black car I rattle canned them black and the holes went away. You could match the paint color of your car close enough at FLAPS to make the holes disappear. I hope that helps. KTF

I would go to the craft store and get some large googly-eyes to attach with double-stick tape. In fact as I am running nerf bars until I finish my bumpers, this weekend I will be doing that to my car. Of course not everyone is a googly-eye aficionado like myself . I can't help it.

How about bolting on a couple of the Iron Cross torsion bar covers - bet they'd fit right into that recess. Just a thought . . .

Thanks guys. All good ideas.....except maybe google eyes......

You have two easy options:

Plastic plug you can paint, such as



http://www.heyco.com/Hole_Plugs/product ... Hole_Plugs

or vinyl self adhesive sheet you will shape as you like

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Self-Adhesive ... 0755262819

on my outlaw, i have nerf bars, and for the side "holes" i used 914 side markers, wired with 6v bulbs - i did this because its an outlaw, and here in the foggy pac nw, this adds a safety factor - not too many folks seem to like the look, but its reversible, and this 356 has no matching #'s, paint codes, etc

on the nerf bars, i would avoid putting them too close to the body - i was rear ended (slow speed) by another 356 on a tour with his stock bumper on my nerf - my nerf was pretty toasted, and folded a bit onto the body, causing a bit of damage - if it were closer it would have been worse

hope this helps

brad in seattle

So, I decided on the crest from a hub cap, I think it has an outlaw touch to it. I JB welded a bolt to the back of it and made a gasket for the back of of it to keep from marring the paint. I think I like it.

-Farrell

I like it too, nice choice

Years ago when I auto-crossed my car without the bumpers installed I recall the rear fender being pretty flexible without the support and solid anchor to the brace inside. The flexing caused the paint to craze as it stressed it around the tailpipe cutout area. At any rate I think I would fashion some decorative plug with a rubber buffer inside to anchor the fender.

The crests I made up have a bolt long enough to capture the same internal brace that the bumper did. I did this because i noticed how much the fender flexed without it being secured to soemthing. I then have a rubber disc between the crest and the outer fender to provide some protection from scrtaching and vibrations.

- Farrell

Farrell,

Bumperless is next to godliness. Only your Maker is going to keep your sheet metal from being transformed by some absent minded driver or, fixed, non movable object. Sure, I appreciate the cleanliness of a smooth tub without bumpers. However, having been rear ended by an F-150 in our 911, I can also appreciate the utility of real bumpers.

Have a look at my projects approach to having something to ward off the less gifted drivers which seem to too often inhabit the byways of our favorite haunts. And those forward mounting holes in the rear fender panels, I'm going with corner marker lights attached so that all the finder hardware is kept integrated together.

https://porsche356registry.org/categories/4/albums/38

Electrical box plugs for closing holes in breaker boxes etc. are a possable option. Took over riders off an a car and needed to plug body holes for support bracket. Electric plug fit perfect. Snapped in with no mods, had painted to match.