2015: Remove Bottom Part of Front Bumper

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sspearsau

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I took to the air dam yesterday, and what a great help these posts were in getting it done. Overall, simple process. Having the right tools help (would have helped me a lot). Some information on the process and lessons learned:

1) One each end of the bumped, there are 3 inches of air dam left. Everything below it was cut off.

2) I did the tape on the bottom piece that I was cutting off. I should have taped the top part. He is why: When you're cutting plastic, unless you have a cutter specific for plastic, the plastic melts. When it melted to the tape, it was no issue. When it melted to the air dam that was being left in place, unless I got it off right away, it would mold to that piece and was a pain in the rear to get off. For this same reason, I found it very important to sand and clean it up along the way.

3) If you have a cut-off wheel tool (3-inch), use it. I pulled out the Dremel with the cut-off wheels, and I did not have a shield on it. Therefore I was getting hit in the face with molten plastic and have burned all over my hands. Using a guard on it would have made a huge difference.

4) If you have some ramps, use them. I did mine in the driveway with no ramps or lift, and it made it very hard to get the Dremel low enough to get a quick easy cut. I was having to force my Dremel cord into the ground, and it created resistance as I was trying to cut along an even line.

5) It's messy because of all the plastic getting flung around, therefore I recommend doing it outside of the garage.

I have not driven the car post-cut, but I am about to take it for a road trip in the near future and will post if I notice anything irregular.

(Sorry for no pictures of the process. Phone was upstairs, and I was under a time crunch to get it done before we were leaving the house.)
 

gat0r

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for #4, the flex shaft would have helped w/ that.
 

DWTahoe

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I just trimmed mine last night. I have a small single handed sawzall with a short fine toothed metal blade. It worked great, after the cut I went back with a razor knife and smoothed out the edges that needed it. I wanted to trim more of it off but I was unsure and chicken. I knew I could always take more off but you can't put it back on...... Anyway, I was making a much bigger deal about it than it actually was. The only issue I had was my OCD trying to get the line straight. The curves and the extra extensions on the bottom really create an optical illusion.

If any body has a good way to measure it out and get good lines for cutting, that would be helpful for a lot of people, I think.
 

gat0r

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good way to measure... measure from top - down, every little bit. then tape the top part off
 
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