Elephant ears

janet80

janet80

lovin' my X
The looks of the elephant ears on the front bumper are beginning to bother me. They seem so ungainly. I want to know...

1. Do they serve a truly useful function?

2. If I remove them do I have to fabricate anything to fill a void?

Next....all about that warped plastic bumper trim panel...:whistle:
 
If you are talking about panels to replace the warped plastic bumper attrocities, I think I can fabricate those. I just don't know what the car would look like without them. Does anyone remove them?
 
Janet...

I believe the only thing that REALLY matters is the front spoiler itself. Whether or not you retain the stock one or not, is of no consequense... but you MUST have one to scoop and direct air up and through the radiator. Keep that in mind along with the problem (in stock form) that once the air is through the radiator... it now must make a 90 degree turn DOWN the back side. That's why most racers vent the radiator UP and OUT though the front trunk!

As for the ears... they are just for aesthetics, and (watch out... a rare OPINION coming from me...) I think they look rather good, considering the bar bumper and all. I prefer the early spoiler and bumperless... especially for racers, but like the look of all this stuff on TOURING cars.

Please DON'T TOSS THEM though... especially the RF one. My wrecker had a 17 to 1 ratio of spares as the RF is the one that usually gets wacked on curbs and parking stakes.

(I have ONE spare left and its been repaird 23 times or more!) HA!
 
janet80 said:
The looks of the elephant ears on the front bumper are beginning to bother me. They seem so ungainly. I want to know...

1. Do they serve a truly useful function?

2. If I remove them do I have to fabricate anything to fill a void?

Next....all about that warped plastic bumper trim panel...:whistle:
Click to expand...

My daughter is presently doing this with her X.

If the ears do serve a useful purpose I have not noticed it with my already modified 1.5 car, or any 1.3 car I have owned/driven.
Once you have all the plastic off you will have holes. We are doing the paint so it's a minor issue to fill em, but I have seen pictures of cars on this forum where they have been filled with a plug.

You will need to fab up a spoiler to get the air into the radiator. The 1.3 bolts right in, but I would not suggest purchasing one from me because I would just be ripping you off.
BTW, I did offer to purchase other less expensive ones after everyone complained, but to date I have had ZERO offers... I wonder what unobtainium sells for? By the gram, ounce, pound, or Kilo?
 
I just bought a perfect steel front air dam...

...for under $100. Just have to keep your eyes open, or wait until we get our fiberglass production going again at Midwest-Bayless( stay tuned).
 
Touche~ Chris

I am happy to see you are not sensitive to the jabs and can laugh about it. Very good!

I am not sure about how you measure unobtanium , or where to get it, but I do think that as in many things it is all in the eye of the beholder.
Bob
 
OK, I just can't resist

I think your $450 spoiler is a bargain. I picked up a very nice used one for $126 and will put four to six hours of body labor to fit it, and repair the minor damage that it has, then sand blast it for another $75 (even clean ones have some rust and anything less than sand blasting is just that) and then I will etch coat/ prime / sand and then it will be recycled to look like your brand new spoiler. Now it is ready for paint. (Another $150.)
cost 126 126
repair 200 300
blast 75 75
prime 75 75
paint 150 150
Total $626 to$726

Huhhmm, perhaps unobtanium is cheaper than I thought.
I can't even say I am greener by refurbishing since actually buying the new old stock is greener. Oh-well. Live and learn.

Bob
 
Thanks for all the good hints, folks. I will be saving all the salvageable parts of the 1980 as I remove them. My 1970 124 Spider taught me to save as many bits as I can. You never know when your old part is in better shape than somebody else's old part! By the way, if anyone wants rebuildable Spider brake caliper cores (broken bleed nipples and frozen pistons), you can have them for free, just pay a :eyepop:gazillion:eyepop: dollars to cover how much it would cost to ship the darn things!
 
What else do you have from that 70 spider. Im always looking for parts.
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