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Well that’s even better then, I wonder what a perfect one would go for?
It was indeed a very good result for 129 but sadly I don’t expect it to stay in UK. Re the bumpers, they are I believe the new stainless steel ones made from your template Christian, anf they look good but as Tim says they were not very well fitted being too close to the body in the middle at the front and rear. So when you come to fit yours Christian you will need to experiment with the length of shimming (i.e. the tube through which the mounting stud passes) of the bumpers to ensure about a quarter inch clearance and/or to modify the profile of the upper “trailing edge” of each bumper
Quite right, aligning the bumpers shouldn’t be a problem. On mine the spaces were made to suit, they can easily be replaced with the right length ones – my new ones are stainless painted black.
I wonder if this is another Rapide possibly bound for Kuwait or similar part of the world ?
I think that they were actually touching the body (or as good as). I did try and take a photograph of the problem and will try and upload it later (though, it’s not very good).
I was wondering whether shimming would, or could, be the answer for 129. It seemed to me that the profile of the trailing edge of each bumper might be ‘wrong’ for that car, but I can’t be sure. David, could you possibly upload an appropriate photograph of one of your bumpers for comparison, please?
Here are a few pictures of the car, with best close-up’s of the bumpers.
The pictures of the rear of the car, shows the bumper in the central area, practically touching the body.
I would suggest that while the profile and fitment of the bumper might be correct for 108, it would require a fair bit of fettling and/or shimming to fit another car, nothing is quite the same between any of these two cars.
There’s a bit of flexibility in the bumpers but it would have to be done very carefully. My original bumpers, though rusty, were undamaged and the body below was the right profile (as in not damaged or pushed in). As you point out, no two cars are the same and certainly I’ve found more than a few areas which were factory adjusted to suit – definitely a hand made car!
129 is a lovely colour isn’t it!
On my car, the front bumper is about 2 cm proud of the body in the centre behind the number plate, the rear is about 1 cm proud under the boot release button. Sorry no pics as I don’t have a digital camera (!). Interesting too that a recent pic of 125 also shows the front bumper almost or actually touching the body
You need to buy a new camera!
This is my car as found – the gap is around 10mm below the rear number plate, I don’t believe this is a result of a knock or damage…there’s no evidence to support this.
Here are some snaps……
It could be improved but it doesn’t seem to follow the line of the body that well – could be the body that’s at fault – valances are vulnerable to dings. Paintwork looks good, is it? There’s no rear window demister – is it a heated window or were demister vents not put on every Rapide? GB badge is not Ace…
I don’t think the body is particularly at fault, just that the shims are about 1 cm too short
Seeing Tim’s photos of the 3 litre reminds me that 129’s boot lid was misaligned and some 3-4 mm proud of the rear tonneau, straight on the car as Tim’s image above shows but too high at the leading edge
It also has just occurred to me – are the studs on your new bumper Christain the same length as the old template, or have these bumpers had to be too-closely mounted because the studs are shorter?
A Rapide which lives local to me, with a more generous gap (ca. 2 cm) between the body and front bumper, using more extensive shims.
I do agree with Christian, the bumper does not follow the line of the rear body.
But in the end does any of this matter, ?147k, ummh, I could buy a few new toys with that…
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