Aquired GT/CS [GT500] rear bumper cover...
 

After driving stock for years I found a deal on a rear bumper cover. I do not have the beans to get it painted and installed yet, so it's sitting in the attic for the moment.

I am going to get a quote from the dealership I bring my ford to, and see what they charge for paint and installation. I'd love to hear from you guys that have done a similar mod, so I can see what is fair. I'll keep that in mind and add that to the cost of the axle-back I'll be getting to complete the look. Stock exhaust tips just don't cut it with a rear bumper like that. Thinking pipe-bombs, as they make the car sound dark, and not as raspy as others.

Since my stang is a GT I will be going with the gt/cs paint scheme. The GT500 would look off, since my sideskirts are bodycolor. Might end up getting a blackout panel that keeps the faux gas cap intact, and a black spoiler. Front should end up with some sort of black splitter. GT500, or otherwise. Wheels, I have my wifes old 18" cs rims, but they need to be re-chromed. I am wondering if I can get them painted flat black...

Cost for the bumper was 263, and it includes all fasteners etc, the bag closed, the bumper never installed. I don't know, but IMHO I got a great deal from the guy I bought it from.

And thus... the mods begin... Late to the game, but step one has been taken.

I'd say paint, maybe in the range of $300-$400 bucks, but I'm no expert. Installation you could do yourself! Just make sure you have a towel or padding of some sort under the rear just in case the cover slips through your finger and hits the ground haha. As far as the wheels go, you can get them powder coated black. I don't know the cost, but I do know for a fact that it'll cost a little more for you to include the labor and cost of stripping the chrome that's still on the wheels. I think you have a good plan so far for your ride! The pypes mufflers sound great from what I hear on youtube.

since you have the painted side skirts and if your not going with the full gt500 conversion paint the sides like the cali special thats what im going to do when I get mine. looks better IMO

are you sure your wifes old rims are chrome most are polished aluminum that are clearcoated they look a little like chrome and the clearcoat gets dull over time I just picked up a set and plan on stripping them with aircraft stripper polishing them out and reclearing them if you want to paint them black that would look good but IMO polished looks better

I'd say you scored a good deal on that bumper. Just depends on where you go for paint. A dealership will cost you much more than a good body shop. Might be worth shopping around. My body shop guy was looking for $200 and the man has a client that owns a 427 Las Vegas Speedway Supersnake (bastard wins every show I attend in the summer lol) so he knows what he's doing. Might be a good idea to ask around at car shows who they have their paint work done by. As for installation, it's easy from what I've been told and I'm sure there is a sticky thread that explains the install in detail. Look into Powdercoat as it will last longer and be much cheaper. Good luck and happy modding!

I'll keep this thread updated, so I'll pass on to you what I find out. +1 on the pypes. I consider them a "ricer" mod however. All they do is make more noise. But since it's a V8 that is made to sound a little louder it's all good.

No, my 17" (and yours actually) have a polished lip. Hers are definitely chrome. I am a fan of the old school wheels, but when I see the 2011< mustang rims the 10 spoke rim and the 10 spoke gt/cs rims look pretty awesome. They will also give me some more rubber (245 vs 235) on the road and give me the option of fitting bigger brakes down the line I am sure. The 17's are limited when it comes to bigger / better bakes. I might even go that route when my tires go (which I am sure have a stout 15k miles left in them so I am in no hurry).

I am going the dealer route first, they have done good by me, so I trust them. Otherwise I do have a "guy" that can do it for me. And I bet he'll charge about the same. I have seen the walktroughs, and it looks like I might be able to pull it off myself. I don't know though, with my luck...

And powder-coat plastic? Never heard of that, I just heard about powdercoating metal. Or are you referring to my wife's old GT/CS rims?

...

Damn, the mod bug has bitten hard...

I was referring to the rims with the powdercoating.

The wheels in my sig are 17" painted bullits with the polished lip. I recently bought a set of 18" polished aluminum they came off a cali special pretty sure they come standard on that model although chrome was an available upgrade they look very similar and most people wouldn't know the difference at a glance . When you said wheels off you wifes cali special just thought itt would be worth a second look for you if the were the highly polished aluminum wheels you could use aircraft stripper to strip the clearcoat off of them and polish them out to a near chrome shine for the cost of the stripper and polish. If you are sure that they are chrome disreguard just trying to help

Bakerjd: I actually googled plastic powder coating and it seems possible... Weird but true. And I have a old 50cc Honda cd50 back in the Netherlands. It has a powder coated frame, and it holds up great against rock chips. Food for thought, but I am not in a hurry. I got about 15k left. Enough time to think about what I really want when it comes to wheels.

05MineralGrayV6: I'll have to double-check now... But they are going to be blacked out regardless if I end up using those rims. I am not a fan of too much chrome on wheels, especially since the route I am taking has a fair amount of flat black bits in it.

One thing to think about when doing your bumper installation is that there's some aligning tabs at the outside (if memory serves) that Ford did a re-design on to make the edges of the bumpers fit better. It might be worth it to look into getting the newer clips to get the best installation you can. I don't believe they're a part of the install packet you get with the bumper.