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Old 10-03-2013, 06:09 PM
Oregon87T Oregon87T is offline
 
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Default Aluminum bumper brackets..is it possible??

I have an '87 Turbo T Non WE4..but have an aluminum front bracket. Crawling under the rear, it appears to be steel, but is painted, so I'm not 100% sure. But the front is definitely aluminum.

Is it possible that the factory mixed in some of these? It was not a factory option without ordering the WE4, was it?

I seem to remember hearing about this possibility as a "whatever was in the pile at the factory during that day/shift"


Do I have something rare here? Thanks for any input!
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Old 10-04-2013, 04:38 AM
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Lightbulb Re: Aluminum bumper brackets..is it possible??

Are you the original owner?

Does the trunk have codes for a front and rear aluminum bumper support?

If you are not the original owner, and the trunk says you have (had) both aluminum, then the car was probably rear ended at some point and the original unit was damaged. Hard for a 25+ year old car to retain all of its original parts.
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Old 10-04-2013, 10:41 AM
Oregon87T Oregon87T is offline
 
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Default Re: Aluminum bumper brackets..is it possible??

Quote:
Originally Posted by Keller View Post
Are you the original owner?

Does the trunk have codes for a front and rear aluminum bumper support?

If you are not the original owner, and the trunk says you have (had) both aluminum, then the car was probably rear ended at some point and the original unit was damaged. Hard for a 25+ year old car to retain all of its original parts.
I wondered that myself, Scott..good point. Yes, my truck sticker has them both. In some forums there were a few guys that also had these codes in non WE4 cars. Is that because of availability of bumpers at the factory that day or what is the deal here? I'm the 2nd owner, but unfortunately the original owner is very ill. I've had a devil of a time getting old service records. All I can tell is that the car is very original and clean.

Is it common for a non WE4 car to have these inserts? Would the rear bumper insert be bare aluminum, or is there a difference in the appearance between the paint on steel ones versus aluminum? I didn't have a magnet with me, but I'll have to get under there again. Perhaps the rear is aluminum still also but they got painted?

I've got to get my car to a scales. I'm curious what it weighs, exactly. It is fairly low optioned with manual seats and door locks.

Thanks a bunch. This is kind of fascinating

Last edited by Oregon87T; 10-04-2013 at 11:48 AM.
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Old 10-04-2013, 12:05 PM
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Default Re: Aluminum bumper brackets..is it possible??

I don't think we'll ever know the exact reason why the aluminum bumper support brackets were optioned only on some cars ... it seems that it is fairly consistent with WE4s, but some low option plain turbo Regals seem to get them too (and some Limiteds).

As to your particular car, I agree with Scott ... I'll be the car was repaired at some point in it's life from a little bump in the rear.
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Old 10-04-2013, 12:12 PM
Oregon87T Oregon87T is offline
 
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Default Re: Aluminum bumper brackets..is it possible??

Quote:
Originally Posted by kenmosher View Post
I don't think we'll ever know the exact reason why the aluminum bumper support brackets were optioned only on some cars ... it seems that it is fairly consistent with WE4s, but some low option plain turbo Regals seem to get them too (and some Limiteds).

As to your particular car, I agree with Scott ... I'll be the car was repaired at some point in it's life from a little bump in the rear.
Thanks Ken.

So is it safe to assume that the rear painted black is steel and that if it was aluminum, it'd be bare?
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Old 10-04-2013, 04:10 PM
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Lightbulb Re: Aluminum bumper brackets..is it possible??

Yes, but the steel ones might have even been bare.

My '87 T has the aluminum brackets.
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Old 10-08-2013, 02:53 PM
Oregon87T Oregon87T is offline
 
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Default Re: Aluminum bumper brackets..is it possible??

Just a follow up..My rear bumper bracket is black and it is aluminum. No magnetic attraction. Hmm..
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