Homebuilt rear bumper cover for 83?

[great white]

My 83 is "sort of" getting an 87+ body kit. I'm grafting an 87+ GT lower to the upper front bumper cover and the side skirts are also going on:




(I have the proper door moldings for the GT and the "Mustang GT" in the door skirt is going to be filled)

Probably not to the "purists" tastes, but it's my car and I like where it is going so that's all that really matters.



But the problem is the rear bumper. I just can't quite settle on a way ahead.

The easy answer is cobra rear bumper cover, but getting one here in Canada is either prohibitively expensive (close to a grand from local places, if you can find one that will order it) or the companies building them just plain won't ship outside CONUS (size).

So I'm left with modifying the stock urethane parts, but that's not that big a problem for me.



The LX style bumper is too small and doesn't go with the side skirt shape as well as the moldings not being quite right, the stock 87+ GT bumper is just too bloody big for my tastes. The big "flare" at the bottom of the GT cover is also a turn off for me:



So I've grabbed a couple pics and ideas found on the 'net and had a go at photochopping them to get a rough idea. These are about the best looking ones I've come up with (trying not to get too "ricey" looking):





This one is pretty close to what i would consider OK so far:



Some of them are OK, but that flare on the bottom is hard to do anything with. Maybe modify some of the choices above to "wrap around" the bumper cover lower edge like this diffuser example:



This is very tasty, I might be able to build something close:



But then I'm right back to needing the cobra style cover again as the base starting point. I don't think I can make the GT cover look like that without some serious work.

Any opinions or ideas on where I should go with this?

Just to refresh: getting a hold of a cobra bumper is not a practical option here.

[qikgts]

Maybe the bottom portion of a SN95 bumper would do it. I'm hinting at using the bottom portion just below the text, inside the red box below.

[great white]

Maybe the bottom portion of a SN95 bumper would do it. I'm hinting at using the bottom portion just below the text, inside the red box below.

That's an interesting thought....lots of those can be found pretty cheaply in the local yards too....

[dwbarnes]

How did you merge the two halves of the front bumper cover together? I am doing a similar project on the rear bumper of my '85, basically I want the lower half of a '87-'93 LX with the correct trim for an '85.

[erratic50]

I will be doing a similar project when I combine the 86 molding with a 93 cobra style lower rear bumper.

My approach on the sides will be spats borrowed from the SVO parts bin. To each their own - I've never loved the 87-93 GT trim personally.

Good luck on your project!

[dagenham]

How did you merge the two halves of the front bumper cover together?
Panel bonding adhesive. When done and cured the joint will be stronger than the rest of the bumper cover.

[brianj]

The angle of the picture makes the wheel opening look strange, like it's a straight line -it's not, it follows the wheel arch. It also looks much better with the body moldings black. I'll have to update with some finished pictures in a little while. Not a very good pic, but it's the only rear shot I have.