cutting out the black bar on 97+ eclipse bumper? [Merged 3-11]

[Eclipsei95cl]

I recently installed a big FMIC and it fills the whole opening and beyond meaning it is covered by the black piece above the opening. I have looked through some galleries and noticed some people have taken out that black piece..I really wanna do this so I can have a bigger opening for the FMIC and it looks a lot cooler. It looks like I have to cut it and it doesnt just snap out. For the people who did this what did u use for a clean cut?

 

[dave99gst]

dremell/roto-zip willl take care of it no prob.

 

[L2RTSiAWD]

I used a dremel on mine.

 

[jammer]

I know there are about a million intercooler threads in these boards, and trust me i have searched, but i cant find my answer anywhere. If i buy Slowboy's 2G fmic (i have a 99 GSX), how much cutting do I really need to do to the bumber? Basically I dont care if i have to cut tons off the back side of the bumper (the side you dont see), but I just really dont want to cut a large gaping hole on the front side (the side you DO see) because i dont want to change ANY of the "look". I am basically just wondering will this intercooler cause me to change the appearance of the front bumper (from a bystander's point of view), and will the bumper be wobbly/not stable due to cutting on the back side. Any feed back is appreciated. thanks! -jam.

 

[carwizard1]

I just trimmed mine a 1/2 inch at a time from the back untill it fit. It's a little less rigid but not enough to cause any issues. I don't have a Slowboy cooler but I've got a 12x24x3 core.

 

[jammer]

i guess i am just worried after see the pic they have on their site. If you goto the 2G intercooler, then click "see it on a 2g" or whatever, it shows a blue car (a member of this forum) who has cut a huge chunk out of the front, and would like to avoid that. will it work? or did he just cut his like that for better cooling? thanks -jam

 

[carwizard1]

He cut it that way so the entire core is exposed, for more cooling. I sure his way is better but not totally nessesary.

 

[jammer]

So would this be a good kit to go with for what i am looking for? also have you heard any pos/neg reviews about it? oh and thanks for your timely replys! -jam

 

[carwizard1]

Slowboy's a great place and that's a really good price!! This is 1/2 thicker than my core. That's 144 cubic inches bigger than my 12x24x3. I got my intercooler off e-bay for 300 shipped, bought 48" piece of 2.5" I.D. sillicone, some t-clamps, and some 2.5" ss piping, all that was like 225. Then I made brackets, mounted the cooler to the car, held up the pipe, cut it to length and marked them. Then I had a guy weld it all for 60 bucks. So thats $585 for a little smaller intercooler and pretty good piping. If I shopped around more I would have bought the Slowboy kit. Way less hassle, less time, and a guranteed fit. You can go either way but a professional kit is way easier.

 

[CanadianTSi]

Well I need to trim up my 97-99 front bumper to fit my FMIC before I get it painted.

I plan on cutting out that piece at the top of the bumper opening. Now when I trimmed my stock bumper it was warm out and I used an X-acto knife to struggle through it, now that it's cold there's no way I am getting through it with an X-acto. So i'm wondering what everyone uses to cut there bumpers??

Thanks.

 

[n0c7]

If you have a a steady hand, use a dremel with a rounded metal edged cutting disc. Even if you don't have a steady hand, after you use the dremel you can hand sand the area.

 

[StyleElements]

sawzaw (spelling?) just be careful and dont get to midevil on it

 

[dave99gst]

i used a roto-zip type bit and got it chose then sanded it the rest of the way with a die grinder

 

[JST2FST]

I would go with a dremel, one of my friends and I used it when we cut out a piece of his back bumper. Just make sure you get one of the good cutting disks, the ones that come with the dremel ( the little thin ones ) suck hardcore and you have a better chance of getting owned when the disk breaks and pieces go flying.

 

[CanadianTSi]

Ok Dremel it is, thanks guy's.

 

[BOOstGhost]

I have a 2gb Talon front end on my car and i'm buying a 24r and i was wondering if i need to cut the bumper at all to make it fit, thanks guys
-adam-

 

[CanadianTSi]

I have a 2gb Talon front end on my car and i'm buying a 24r and i was wondering if i need to cut the bumper at all to make it fit, thanks guys
-adam-

Yes you do, it's not hard just place it on and see where you have to cut and then make some cuts and place it back on and see how much more you need to cut.

 

[Eastwood95]

you should cut your front bumper for proper fitment of not only the intercooler, but the intercooler pipes as well. Also, you might want to cut extra crap off so the intercooler can have maximum face area................

 

[daltah]

What do most of you guys use to take out the ribs of the front bumper? I have a big fmic and want to open it up but dont want it to look like a hack job. Also if anyone has some close pics of theres that would be awesome.

 

[chico904]

I'd say use a dremel

 

[dsmmyth]

TSiGoesPsSsSst .

Many people have used a heated up razor blade technique btw.

 

[MrBoxx]

Die grinder with a cut-off wheel. The wheel we used wasn't quite long enough to get them all off from one side, so we had to flip the bumper over to work on it on the other side. I shaved off a little too much on the bottom, but I'm not too worried about it. I can always fix it with some sheet metal or something later. I'm just happy the damn thing is finally on after sitting in a box under my bed for a year.

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[blackGSX2g]

I used a dremel cut-off wheel. Make sure to cut from the inside of the bumper so you don't have rough edges on the outside, and so you don't accidently slip and scar the paint.

 

[dave99gst]

roto-zip + a drum/disk sander.

 

[dwdsm]

Dremel has a tool that cuts the plastic. It looks like a small cyclinder with little blades comming out of it kinda like a wood planer blade. The problem with any kind of cut off wheel is it actually melts the urathane and is a little hard to control. You need the one that has the largest diameter because it will give you the most control. I'd post a pic. but I'm on a Mac and don't know how to bring up a new window.
-dave