California Special rear bumper vs. GT500

M

Macheesemo

New Member
Feb 19, 2004
6
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#1
To make a long story short, I was rear ended by a drunk about a month ago. I took it into the shop to get fixed and I wanted to get the rear bumper replaced with a California Special rear bumper. Turns out they were shipped the GT500 bumper. Are these the same? From a number of threads I read that the GT500 has a textured lip on the entire bottom where as the C/S is only textured on the bottom rear of the car.

This is where the headache comes in.

The shop is telling me the bumper can not be painted like the C/S because the entire bottom is textured indicating to me they ordered the GT500 bumper and not the C/S version. Plus they are telling me there is no clear line where the paint stops. They are saying the bottom lip is just a solid textured black.

Can anyone on this board with a C/S mustang tell me if the entire rear "lip" is textured or not? If it is, that would mean that the textured part can be painted and is suppose to be. I can't tell from just the pictures people have posted.

What it sounds like happened is that they ordered this piece not from Ford but from some website and trying to dump it on me.

From what I read on other threads are people saying "I think.." or "I believe" but I need a definite answer so I can go to these bastards and tell them exactly what happened since it's been a month and they obviously don't know.

Sorry for the long thread but I need some input from people who actually have a C/S mustang.
 

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#2
The only difference between the GT500 and the GT/CS rear bumper is the amount of it that's been pre-painted black. On The GT500 it's black all the way around, from wheel well to wheel well. On the GT/CS, it's only black between the exhaust cutouts (and just around them). The rest of the bumper should be unpainted plastic. They both have texture in that bottom section on the sides.

If the body shop is telling you they can't paint the textured section, they're either lazy or just want to try to charge you more. There are dozens of cars these days with textured sections along the bottom that are painted body color. The only thing they can't do is promise you a high gloss finish on that section, because of the texture.

I've got the GT/CS on my car, painted over the texture Vista Blue just like the rest of the car, and my painter (not a Ford shop) had no problems with it. He did both front and rear bumpers for me, and they both have texture along the lower edge.

I ordered my GT/CS parts from Kevin Casey, the parts manager at Clevinger Ford in Irvine, CA. They came drop-shipped directly from Ford, and are guaranteed a Ford part. I haven't even heard of anyone making these aftermarket yet, but who knows, it's always possible.

If you need more proof, I'd suggest going to a Ford dealer with a GT/CS on hand, and looking for yourself. Also, if you can find one with a GT500, take a look at it also, and compare. The black on the bottom is definitely paint on both cars, not just raw plastic.

Good luck, hope you get this resolved.

Jay
 
#4
jayguy said:
The only difference between the GT500 and the GT/CS rear bumper is the amount of it that's been pre-painted black. On The GT500 it's black all the way around, from wheel well to wheel well. On the GT/CS, it's only black between the exhaust cutouts (and just around them). The rest of the bumper should be unpainted plastic. They both have texture in that bottom section on the sides.

If the body shop is telling you they can't paint the textured section, they're either lazy or just want to try to charge you more. There are dozens of cars these days with textured sections along the bottom that are painted body color. The only thing they can't do is promise you a high gloss finish on that section, because of the texture.

I've got the GT/CS on my car, painted over the texture Vista Blue just like the rest of the car, and my painter (not a Ford shop) had no problems with it. He did both front and rear bumpers for me, and they both have texture along the lower edge.

I ordered my GT/CS parts from Kevin Casey, the parts manager at Clevinger Ford in Irvine, CA. They came drop-shipped directly from Ford, and are guaranteed a Ford part. I haven't even heard of anyone making these aftermarket yet, but who knows, it's always possible.

If you need more proof, I'd suggest going to a Ford dealer with a GT/CS on hand, and looking for yourself. Also, if you can find one with a GT500, take a look at it also, and compare. The black on the bottom is definitely paint on both cars, not just raw plastic.

Good luck, hope you get this resolved.

Jay
Click to expand...


Thanks, I plan on going to a dealership with some on hand and to take pictures to show these guys. The body shop claims that I'm wrong and that all C/S mustangs have a black lip like the GT500. Lame.

I also have a Vista Blue 07' GT :)
 
#6
Ok, here are a couple pics. Everything below the crease on both front and back is textured. You really can't see it on the back, but on the pic of the front, the paint looks dull because of the texture.

From the back, the black paint was there when the raw piece arrived from ford, with tape and plastic covering it, ostensibly to make it easier for the paint shop to paint the rest of the bumper. The tape wasn't sticking that well, so we could see that there was black paint under there, different from the raw dark gray plastic of the piece. My painter re-taped it before painting.

I've got higher-res pics, if you want to see them.
 

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#8
Do yourself a favor and order the splashguards for the rear bumper. They are around $10 from Ford and save the paint. I just put them on my 08CS and I think it looks better with them on. My bumper is painted the same as above pictures.
 
#10
Those with CS front bumper. How low does it sit to the ground? I am thinking about making the change and wonder how much lower my bumper will be. Will it clear a concrete parking stop?
Thanks.
 
#11
According to Ford, it sits 1.5" lower than the stock front bumper. I'd guess that's just about right.

I've got Steeda Ultralite springs on, so my whole car sits about 1" lower also. I've scraped mine a few times, and at work, if I get close to the curb the center section just fits over the curb, but if I were to try putting the wheels against the curb I'd hit pretty bad on both sides. I generally park a bit shallow now, to avoid curbs, parking stops, etc.
 
#12
jayguy, what is your ground clearance in the front? My GT is lowered 1.6" in the front, have the CDC Classic Chin Spoiler and have 27" front tire and my clearance is around 4 3/4".
 
#16
jayguy said:
PM sent, Macheesemo.

I second the comment about the spalsh guards. I got them, and they're unobtrusive, but also a nice touch.
Click to expand...

Where did you get the splash guards? I found some but they are large and hang down low. Is there a link to the ones you have?

I got the car back btw. They didn't paint the sides like the C/S so basically it looks like a GT500 with the entire lip black. I didn't want to argue with them any longer as there was no point and it's been a month. If they say their painters are unable to do it than I'm not going to make them do it and have it come back half assed. I will probably get it repainted in a few months by another shop who knows what they are doing.

I'm just going to get a CDC chin spoiler painted the same color as the body and maybe it will match the rest of the car.

Thanks for your help!
 
#18
Ditto for the splash guards. I got them the same time I got the front and rear bumpers, the parts guy I worked with suggested them, since they were only $10. They mount with existing screws, so of you don't like they they can be taken off in just a couple minutes, with no sign they were ever there.

You are gonna have to take pics of your new bumper and post them up here, you know. :D
 
#19
jayguy said:
Ditto for the splash guards. I got them the same time I got the front and rear bumpers, the parts guy I worked with suggested them, since they were only $10. They mount with existing screws, so of you don't like they they can be taken off in just a couple minutes, with no sign they were ever there.

You are gonna have to take pics of your new bumper and post them up here, you know. :D
Click to expand...

haha...I'll post pics of the rear bumper as soon as I can. there' s been ice/snowy weather for the past few days...but ill try to get a picture of it later tonight
 
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