Who's ordered a prepainted body part? This fool, that's who.

My little red car seems to be a magnet for being thumped in the ass. And a few weeks ago, it got thumped in the ass again (parking lot hit and run). Long story short, this car has already been in the shop twice on the dime of various insurance companies, since I bought it six months ago. For obvious reasons, I really do not want to file a third claim.



The question is, body shop it, or order a bumper online?

Edit: Im rolling the dice and ordering online. Here's the cost breakdown.

• Body shop quote: 2500, averaged from three estimates. Does not include impact bar.

Vs.

• Painted bumper shell: $966
  • Shipping by LTL freight: $265
• Aluminum bumper with impact foam (salvage): $177 (May sell bumper. I just want the foam)
• New trunk badges: $20+$30 for total of $50
• New license plate lights: $15

Total: $1475.

I'm saving roughly 1400 bucks depending on the price of a new impact bar. Old impact bar isn't broken (I checked)... It's gone. Vanished. Like it never existed. Previous owner was obviously up to some shenanigans. But that also explains why the bumper shell will cave in under a loud fart.

Here comes the insanity. Now the fun begins.

Also, I might need a buggy whip mount for a Miata. For damn reasons.

 

Here's the damages.

The bumper was found completely caved in, but with a firm press with my hand, it mostly popped back into shape.



Mostly. It's cracked in the places where it folded in.






And this one really chaps my ass. View from ground up. Aluminum bumper is there. But the foam is supposed to be where my hand is. It obviously has decided to be elsewhere.

 

Let the fun begin. The last of my ordered parts arrived today.



In a big honking box.

New bumper is dusted in baby powder, but it looks relatively intact.

And whaddya know, the color is pretty dang close. Really close. Heck yeah, buff it and run it.




We have an install date this weekend.

 

Might as well finish this for... I don't know. Just to finish it.


First things first. Ol weird Rock Lobster don't work unless he's got redundant stands.




Bumper pulled. I don't see any damages beyond this point. I do see many tiny shortcuts taken from prior body shops though.



Transferring the wire harness and mounting brackets to the new bumper. And, of course, we're going to actually install the impact foam this time.



Congratulations, it's a baby bumper. Completely dusted in talc.




New trunk badges and we're done. Easy peasy, three hour job.



The color difference is damn subtle. I'll have to wait for a bright sunny day to really look at it. The average passerby won't even notice. And that's good enough for me.

 

Nice Job After a couple weeks of sunshine nobody will notice. Only reason you do is bc you know about it.

 

Nice work!

 

I’ve got a first generation Miata, I love it it’s indestructible. I bought it a a summer toy fully expecting to kill it in less than a year. 25 years later it’s still running strong.
I’ve owned vettes,mustang gt s , several Porsches and it’s just as much fun to toss around as any car I’ve driven.
Only problem is it’s so small many people don’t see it.
When pulling into a parking space don’t pull all the up, people will try to pull in not realizing until too late it’s already occupied.

 

good job, hard to tell the difference in the pictures

 

I’ve had factory new cars where the bumper wasn’t 100% matched to the body. Don’t stare too hard. Looks good.

 

Thanks. I bought this to be my work commuter so the miles stay off the truck. In just a few short months I find myself not wanting to drive the Tacoma at all. It's just too much fun.

 

Nice work. I have looked at the prepainted panels before and the pricing is compelling.

Don't pull the Miata all the way into the parking spaces. The people hitting it probably can't see it until it's too late. Leave that rump out so they know it's there.