Write-Up: Front & Rear Bumper Modification

Here you go.

The space between the headlights and the grill is taking shape.

lookin good...

I think I'd bring the lower lip out more aggressively.

im enjoying watching the bumper take shape. it reminds me of a shark

Just make sure not to leave that sharp crease on the bumper under the headlights. Bangle's styling wouldn't blend well with something like the Riv!

A couple chops for your consideration -





Put a couple teeth in the lower opening, following the line made by the edge of the hood/inner fender. Lowered the bottom lip. In the last pic I pushed the bumper back out a bit. It's a little too tight for my tastes.

IBx1, the corners will be rounded. Just have to get everything fit first, then ease the edges.

Jack the R, I like the chop. I will have to think about it.

Could make for some sweet two tone action.

not bad. but i see the widemouth design by sqrivi flowing more with the riv body lines.

Wowzers.. I want to try this now.. And make a sick front mount

uuhhh...

I know, I know. I have been out of town here and there. It is nearing the end of the audio competition season so I have been judging at some shows. Things are crazy right now. I will post some pics soon.

Have been working on the trunk some. I have never liked the wire that hung off the trunk lid and ran under the rear deck. It makes things difficult when making trim panels in the trunk. Everything looks nice then there is a wire just hanging there. I also have shaved the trunk lock so I wanted to make a manual release just in case something happened to the solenoid. The manual release would have been challenging to do with the solenoid being in the trunk lid. Here is the solution to both problems.

Here you can see the wire in question on the right side of the trunk lid.


I decided to switch the latch and the solenoid.

First I made a clean place to weld the latch on the trunk lid.


Then tack welded the latch in place.




Next the solenoid was positioned and bolted in place.






Nice alignment and works great.

Just have to rerun the wire harness.


Now the emergency manual release cable can be run inside the trunk to the back seat area. No hinges to worry about and no wires just hanging around.

Nice, but - why wasn't it done that way in the first place? Rain?

Trunk Space?

I don't know why the factory didn't do this to start with. I like it this way much better.

The solenoid actually isn't as large as the latch. Depending on how I make the panel at the back of the trunk I might gain some trunk space. Granted it won't be much though.

Was the wire to the trunk lid light in the same harness?

Yes, I will be relocating the trunk light underneath the rear deck.

I thought about having a short flourescent bulb put under the ledge when my stereo was being installed. It would solve the problem with the lid light not lighting up the area in the back of the trunk. The higher up the trunk lid, the less of the trunk that gets illuminated.

sqrivi wrote:

I don't know why the factory didn't do this to start with.

I think it's because of rain. I looked at mine, and it'd be super hard to get the solenoid wet hung under the trunk lid.

The solenoid is inside the seal. It won't get wet. Unless you are talking about opening the trunk in the rain.

sqrivi wrote:

Unless you are talking about opening the trunk in the rain.

That's it. It may take 5 years of exposure to heavy acid rain to cause a problem, but if you're GM maybe it's worth designing for the few people who will expose their trunk to those conditions?

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