barza21
15+ Year Contributor
- 145
- 46
- Oct 11, 2006
-
Fairbanks,
Alaska
Hello everybody,
I am just trying to add some information regarding a bumper swap from a 1ga bumper cover to a 1gb bumper cover on a 1ga body. Specifically, this applies to a 1991 Eagle Talon TSi AWD. This is in no way a guide, just a bit of extra information for the DSM world to use
My original bumper was damaged due to somebody rear ending me, and it was impossible to find a stock replacement locally. I came across a 1gb bumper and decided to go for it. Things you will need to do this swap (at least I did):
Sockets, ratchets, hacksaw/saw saw/some type of metal cutting tool, hammer/rubber mallet, drill, screw extractor, new hardware to attach bumper to support (all hardware was rusted), crimping tool or soldering iron (depends which route you take).
Hardware:
First off, removed the tail lights and center section. Then, remove the bumper cover – this will require you to remove the plastic wheel well covers and going around the whole bumper cover removing screws/bolts. You might need to jack up the rear of the car for access underneath; removal of some of the internal panels in the trunk area is also necessary. The section of the bumper that extends over the rear quarter panel is held in place by bolts that will have to be accessed from inside the trunk area on both sides (behind some of the interior panels removed). Other than that, it is pretty straight forward with the exception of bolt heads snapping off due to them being rusted to death. Due to the age of the vehicle, this consumed the most amount of time (maybe if you own one that lived in the desert, it might be a different story). That will reveal everything underneath. Remove the bumper support and this is what you will see (please ignore the staging of the taillight). Taking off the rear tires might help with access, but it is not absolutely necessary. Please ignore the rear quarter panel damage; it will be properly fixed next year
The new 1gb bumper cover curves downward in the middle due to the license plate sitting in the new center section. The 1ga frame has a bracket welded on that serves as a support for the stock bumper cover (see picture above). The middle part of this bracket will need to be either cut off completely or hammered down. I chose to measure where the 1gb bumper cover would still be able to use the stock bracket for support, and I cut at the edge of where it wouldn’t, and then hammered down the un-usable section. It lays down flat enough out of the way of everything.
Proceed to installing the new bumper support (the one I purchased was pretty rusty, so I ended up cleaning it up and painting it with some Rustoleum spray paint). Make sure to either extract all the broken screws from the bumper support or just drill them out (and tap them or add rivnuts). Picture above shows the bumper support installed.
Next, the 1gb center section holds the lights for the license plate and reverse. There is one connector that sticks out of the body that provides power to these lights. The connectors used between the 1ga stock wire harness and the 1gb center section are different. The wire colors are the same, though. You will either need to get the pigtail off of the 1gb harness coming from the body or use a new connector. I opted to use a new connector.
Now we get to the part where it gets sorta tricky and the reason why I am writing this. The wiring would be pretty straight forward if the 1gb and 1ga taillights had the same amount of bulbs… they don’t. The 1ga taillight housing accepts 3 bulbs and the 1gb accepts 4. The lighting color is different as well, the 1gb has an amber section for the turn signals, where the 1ga just toggles one of the red light pairs ON and OFF. If you’re gonna tackle this, it would be advisable to get all the pigtails (connectors) from the donor car… if you can (if you can’t, then you will have to do what I did). Take the whole wiring harness (connector/light bulbs) out of the 1ga taillight housing and install it into the 1gb taillight housing (it is a direct swap in). Don’t forget the locking brackets that help secure the hosing to the body. The reason you want to do this, is because the connectors between the harnesses are different between the 1ga and 1gb. You will have to tap into the wires of the 1ga taillight harness installed in the 1gb housing and run a couple of extension wires out to the corner light of the housing to have power on that end. The connectors for the corner section of the 1ga taillight harness don’t match up with the bulb holder on the 1gb light. If you try to use the 1ga light bulb holder in the 1gb housing, it won’t work as the locking pattern is different. The solution is sitting on the original bumper support you took off earlier. A couple of the connectors on there (reverse lights connector (I believe)) will work. They lock into the 1gb taillight housing like a charm (it might need just a little bit of “fandangling”, but it works without having to grind anything down).
The 1ga didn’t have a corner running/brake light (it was just a red turning light). Regarding the turn signal lights, you will have the add an extension set of wires so that they can reach where the bulb for the amber section plugs into (closer to the middle of the taillight). That is pretty straight forward. A side note: I could’ve wired up the taillights so that the outer corner light came on with the amber turn signal, but decided against it. It is up to you, local law, etc. The lights by the quarter panels are a direct screw into the 1gb bumper cover.
Mock mount the taillights and center section (making all electrical connections) and test out the lighting all around before proceeding to the next step. You don’t wanna put everything back together and later discover that you need to take it all apart to fix it.
Mount the bumper cover onto the car. You will find out that the mounting holes are not lining up between the frame and the cover. Drill new holes as necessary. Cut the 1ga channel piece that helps hold down the bumper cover so that you can use it to hold down the bumper cover to the frame. If you are using the 1gb bumper support, you will need to make sure you’re sliding the bumper cover on correctly so that you can use additional attaching points for the bumper (you will have to be under the car and reaching up to do this). Install all the bottom bumper cover bolts that attach to the bumper support. Don’t forget to install the side lights of the bumper cover.
Next step is to make sure that the wheel well panels fit. You will have to trim some of the corners off of the plastic pieces. Drilling holes into those pieces will also be necessary so that it lines up with the 1gb bumper. If you are able to acquire the 1gb wheel well plastic pieces, I am not sure if it would be a direct bolt on into the 1ga body.
Now that all of that is taken care off, install the taillights, center section, don’t forget the license plate, interior panels, and you are done. Not bad, just time consuming.
I had a lot of rust in different areas/parts and had to sand a lot of things down and repaint. Even though I soaked all the bolts in PB blaster for hours, I ended up having to drill out 90% of the bolts that were holding the cover to the support. There were a few screws pretty badly rusted in the wheel well as well, but I was able to grab onto the shank of some of them and turn them with vice grips to get them out.
I hope this helps anybody wanting to tackle this project.
I am just trying to add some information regarding a bumper swap from a 1ga bumper cover to a 1gb bumper cover on a 1ga body. Specifically, this applies to a 1991 Eagle Talon TSi AWD. This is in no way a guide, just a bit of extra information for the DSM world to use
My original bumper was damaged due to somebody rear ending me, and it was impossible to find a stock replacement locally. I came across a 1gb bumper and decided to go for it. Things you will need to do this swap (at least I did):- 1gb bumper cover (with everything preferably: mounting brackets, light covers, lower metal supports)
- 1gb bumper support (I am not sure if it is needed, but it helped support the bumper in the correct spot)
- 1gb license plate holder center section (pigtail from the harness of the donor car – not necessary, but it will help)
- 1gb taillights (pigtail from the harness of the donor car – not necessary, but it will help)
Sockets, ratchets, hacksaw/saw saw/some type of metal cutting tool, hammer/rubber mallet, drill, screw extractor, new hardware to attach bumper to support (all hardware was rusted), crimping tool or soldering iron (depends which route you take).
Hardware:
- Assortment of bolts, nuts, washers, and lock washers as necessary to secure bumper cover to bumper support and body.
- Black plastic body fasteners (I bought a full assorted kit off of Amazon for pretty cheap)
First off, removed the tail lights and center section. Then, remove the bumper cover – this will require you to remove the plastic wheel well covers and going around the whole bumper cover removing screws/bolts. You might need to jack up the rear of the car for access underneath; removal of some of the internal panels in the trunk area is also necessary. The section of the bumper that extends over the rear quarter panel is held in place by bolts that will have to be accessed from inside the trunk area on both sides (behind some of the interior panels removed). Other than that, it is pretty straight forward with the exception of bolt heads snapping off due to them being rusted to death. Due to the age of the vehicle, this consumed the most amount of time (maybe if you own one that lived in the desert, it might be a different story). That will reveal everything underneath. Remove the bumper support and this is what you will see (please ignore the staging of the taillight). Taking off the rear tires might help with access, but it is not absolutely necessary. Please ignore the rear quarter panel damage; it will be properly fixed next year
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
The new 1gb bumper cover curves downward in the middle due to the license plate sitting in the new center section. The 1ga frame has a bracket welded on that serves as a support for the stock bumper cover (see picture above). The middle part of this bracket will need to be either cut off completely or hammered down. I chose to measure where the 1gb bumper cover would still be able to use the stock bracket for support, and I cut at the edge of where it wouldn’t, and then hammered down the un-usable section. It lays down flat enough out of the way of everything.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Proceed to installing the new bumper support (the one I purchased was pretty rusty, so I ended up cleaning it up and painting it with some Rustoleum spray paint). Make sure to either extract all the broken screws from the bumper support or just drill them out (and tap them or add rivnuts). Picture above shows the bumper support installed.
Next, the 1gb center section holds the lights for the license plate and reverse. There is one connector that sticks out of the body that provides power to these lights. The connectors used between the 1ga stock wire harness and the 1gb center section are different. The wire colors are the same, though. You will either need to get the pigtail off of the 1gb harness coming from the body or use a new connector. I opted to use a new connector.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Now we get to the part where it gets sorta tricky and the reason why I am writing this. The wiring would be pretty straight forward if the 1gb and 1ga taillights had the same amount of bulbs… they don’t. The 1ga taillight housing accepts 3 bulbs and the 1gb accepts 4. The lighting color is different as well, the 1gb has an amber section for the turn signals, where the 1ga just toggles one of the red light pairs ON and OFF. If you’re gonna tackle this, it would be advisable to get all the pigtails (connectors) from the donor car… if you can (if you can’t, then you will have to do what I did). Take the whole wiring harness (connector/light bulbs) out of the 1ga taillight housing and install it into the 1gb taillight housing (it is a direct swap in). Don’t forget the locking brackets that help secure the hosing to the body. The reason you want to do this, is because the connectors between the harnesses are different between the 1ga and 1gb. You will have to tap into the wires of the 1ga taillight harness installed in the 1gb housing and run a couple of extension wires out to the corner light of the housing to have power on that end. The connectors for the corner section of the 1ga taillight harness don’t match up with the bulb holder on the 1gb light. If you try to use the 1ga light bulb holder in the 1gb housing, it won’t work as the locking pattern is different. The solution is sitting on the original bumper support you took off earlier. A couple of the connectors on there (reverse lights connector (I believe)) will work. They lock into the 1gb taillight housing like a charm (it might need just a little bit of “fandangling”, but it works without having to grind anything down).
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
The 1ga didn’t have a corner running/brake light (it was just a red turning light). Regarding the turn signal lights, you will have the add an extension set of wires so that they can reach where the bulb for the amber section plugs into (closer to the middle of the taillight). That is pretty straight forward. A side note: I could’ve wired up the taillights so that the outer corner light came on with the amber turn signal, but decided against it. It is up to you, local law, etc. The lights by the quarter panels are a direct screw into the 1gb bumper cover.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Mock mount the taillights and center section (making all electrical connections) and test out the lighting all around before proceeding to the next step. You don’t wanna put everything back together and later discover that you need to take it all apart to fix it.
Mount the bumper cover onto the car. You will find out that the mounting holes are not lining up between the frame and the cover. Drill new holes as necessary. Cut the 1ga channel piece that helps hold down the bumper cover so that you can use it to hold down the bumper cover to the frame. If you are using the 1gb bumper support, you will need to make sure you’re sliding the bumper cover on correctly so that you can use additional attaching points for the bumper (you will have to be under the car and reaching up to do this). Install all the bottom bumper cover bolts that attach to the bumper support. Don’t forget to install the side lights of the bumper cover.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Next step is to make sure that the wheel well panels fit. You will have to trim some of the corners off of the plastic pieces. Drilling holes into those pieces will also be necessary so that it lines up with the 1gb bumper. If you are able to acquire the 1gb wheel well plastic pieces, I am not sure if it would be a direct bolt on into the 1ga body.
Now that all of that is taken care off, install the taillights, center section, don’t forget the license plate, interior panels, and you are done. Not bad, just time consuming.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
I had a lot of rust in different areas/parts and had to sand a lot of things down and repaint. Even though I soaked all the bolts in PB blaster for hours, I ended up having to drill out 90% of the bolts that were holding the cover to the support. There were a few screws pretty badly rusted in the wheel well as well, but I was able to grab onto the shank of some of them and turn them with vice grips to get them out.
I hope this helps anybody wanting to tackle this project.
