The Official 356Talk Forum

Has anyone removed the top pieces of the B/C bumper guards and re-installed just the remaining lower bumper guard pieces? How does it look and are you happy with this look on a B/C car? Thanks.

You might like the look, but to most it looks like something is missing, due to seeing them always complete. They are pot metal so welding is not an option. You would have to find another way to plug the hole, I think there is some kind of low temp solder for that.

Rubber plugs for the holes might look ok- even kind of cool.

Or mount driving lights on them.

Mike

I lost one of mine while driving, it did not look right so I picked up another one. just looked way out of proportion/balance. Now taking the bumper guards off completely is another story.

Here it is.

^^^^
I like it!!!

Unexpectedly to me, it looks quite nice.

Thanks for your feedback Walter and Martin. I kind of like it too. My plan was to try it out just temporarily but I've decided to leave it this way for awhile. I think it cleans up the look of the bumper guards and lets the rounded design of the front and rear of the car show better. I also moved the rear reflectors from above the tail lights to below the bumper which cleans up the look a bit. By running front bumper guards on the rear I was also able to install a GDP muffler and sort of hide the old exhaust body cutouts and I like the cleaner look of the bumper guards with the stainless steel twin exhaust pipes.

The restorer of my car left the bumper guards completely off as he liked the "Continental" look, and I do too. But this is very unique and blends in very well.

looks great - i think you are the 1st to come up with this - take credit before magnus walker does, one day!

It does look good, kudo's Rich. I like the upper horn grills omitted also!

I'm still enjoying the look of my bumper guard mod so I'm leaving it until I find something better.

But, on to a different mod. As I drive around on our crowded freeways and roads here in NorCal I realize that I'm in the smallest car on the road. Trucks, SUV's, 4-door sedans. It doesn't matter running around in my '65 SC I'm the smallest. And my taillights are small too...and with a 6V system...not the brightest. So, this Saturday I installed a set of LED taillights. I'm running Euro lenses so there are some issues both with our original incandescent bulbs as well as the LED replacements. (What happens when hit the brakes? Red or Yellow? Turn signals...the same way. Yellow or red?)

My new LED taillights don't solve the Euro lens problem but they sure solve the brightness problem. Even in the daytime my rear lights and turn signals are much brighter. I read that as safer in my small car. I don't drive my 356 much at night but I think they would be way, way brighter at night.

Bottom line. It was relatively inexpensive and a good mod that I'm glad I did.

Finally. After the installation I needed a test. So I hit the back roads for some spirited driving in my old 356. It flew and all the new lights worked. Brake lights, turn signals, etc. As I headed for home I stopped at an old local watering hole for a quick beer. The Round Up Saloon. I can't tell you how much the general public likes our cars. I had trouble getting in. Everyone wanted to talk about it. "Their father had one. They had one. They wanted to buy one...what is it? How old is it?, etc." It made me really appreciate how much people like these old cars.

So...it was a good Saturday. A rear light mod accomplished and a great drive on backroads ending up at a small saloon. It doesn't get much better.

i sort of like the cleaner look of the bumper guards, and the early script on the rear also adds a nice touch. Has anyone tried mounting the bumper guards upside down? I see the occasional Ebay car like that, but always with complete guards.

I removed the tops of the bumper guards and installed front bumper guards on the rear because I wanted a cleaner look. To me, the tops of the bumper guards take away from the nice rounded lines of the car both front and back. They clutter it up. Regarding mounting the bumper guards upside down; I haven't seen that and it would be difficult because the cut-away area in the guards is different on the top and bottom to fit the bumper. Two other potential problems. First, in the rear you would lose the part of the bumper guard that covers the cutouts for the exhaust. Without covering those body cutouts the car might look unfinished. Second, If you turn the bumper guard upside down you would have the large part of it sticking up and interfering with the look and lines of the rounded body just like the original bumper guards do. That's what I was trying to get away from.

And to clarify my earlier post. The problems I had with the tail lights weren't the result of the new LED lights. They were fine. It was a combination of a wiring short and possibly a bad light socket or two. It turned out to be multiple issues making it harder to diagnose. I solved it. All is good now and I'm happy with the LED tail lights.