Hi team,

Hi Paul, bought True Flex front bumber back in Feb. or March. Had it sent to body shop that did car. He called and said it doesn't come close to fitting. Called Corvette Central to let them know, was passed on to two different people. Told they would contact manufacture and get back to me and the body shop. Never heard a word from them. Body shop said it had tobuild driver side out 3/8 on top and 1/4 on side, to make it look right. Cost went from 400.00 to 800.00. It looks great and had to have it for H/S. Good Luck Dick

From what I have learned there is no way to tell how good/bad the fit is going to be with fiberglass aftermarket parts. I have a friend that makes parts for Vipers. His setup is not very good and he sees a lot of variation in the way the parts fit because the shrinkage of the material is all over the place. Most aftermarket parts are not made to the standards of the factory and they don't care. They just expect you to have a bodyshop fix it for you. I got lucky with my front bumper. I was able to get it to fit with just a little bit of grinding.

A guru friend ogf mine says he would never buy tru-flex, and will always get fiberglass. If you hit something, it will crack, but you can always fix it! Also with the fiberglass one, you can either grind it, or add to it to get the lines right.

I don't think this is what Paul wanted to hear. Does not sound good Bro.

FWIW:  It's my understanding the replacement fiberglass bumper covers (including Tru-Flex) are almost never 100% bolt up.  It is much more common to have to fit them and tweak them.    I noticed Mid-America is now running a disclaimer in their catalogue to the effect these bumper covers require a bit of work. 6880Mike2008-05-12 06:05:49

Mud and sandpaper it is then!!  Thanks for your thoughts everyone!!

I know LukesVette's post is about the bumpers but I was wondering if this also applies to spoilers front or rear bolt ons? I thought maybe some day some front and rear spoilers (pace car style) would look cool and they generally come in black or could easily be painted black.

I bought a rear bumper cover from Ecklers a couple of years ago. I am ashamed to say that it is still hanging unpainted on the back of the vette, but it was a nice fit. I purchased the flex-fit bumper because I had done some fiberglas work years ago and knew that like fingerprints, no two corvette bodies are alike. I was able to get the bumper cover to fit to almost the exact set-up to the body of the car. The flex-fit allowed enough flexibility to manuver it into position. The only mud will be at the very upper corners on each side where it meets the quarters, but it will be less than 1/8". I guess the moral of my story is I don't think I would ever have gotten a full fiberglas cover to fit, but the flex-fit did  work out.

ALCON, hey there was a article in CF last month about mounting bumpers. Interresting article these guys just used fiberglass bonding/filler and just basically glued then clamped the thing on. Didn't even used bolts or brackets. They then finished it off seamless. I already have mine on and you guys are right takes lots of working with to get right. Thanks