Switched my rear bumper [56k]

[nuron]

I've been wanting to replace my bumper cover for a while now, since it's chipping away and all. In the 1988 models, the bumper cover is composed of 3 pieces: the long back section and the two short side panels. For the 1989 models, the bumper is one whole piece. It was a pain trying to find the correct year Camry so I can switch out mines although I've thought of trying to fit a one-piece on the car before. I was so obsesses with it that every time I saw an '88 I'd look at the bumper and had thoughts of ripping it off haha . In the Gen 2 Showoff thread, nogard mentioned that he switched out his old 3 piece unit for a single and it gave me plenty of hope ! I should have taken pictures of the bolts and nuts that I took off but I'll try to get more pictures than the ones shown in this thread tomorrow. Here are some pictures:

Bumper off



Old unit, look how clean the inside is! What could have messed up the outside?!
I also saw a dent in the metal bumper itself, meaning the car was in an accident .




Some holes didn't fit but I used a carpet cutter to carve the hole out


Not all of the holes were exact so I had to zip tie


Light coming through, viewed from the outside


Don't know what to do about this one


End result: a much cleaner bumper, I'll take pictures of the old one tomorrow.
I just have to clean off the smudges.



Old one


Don't know what this vent is used for



Thanks to nogard and tommy for the help!

[fredk]

it is a ventilation vent to change the air in the car while going down the road, chrysler invented this in the 50s and called it flow through ventilation

[nogard]

See sometimes you never know what you are capable of until you try. And it might be a little hard to do but once it's done it doesn't seem like it was that hard. And it is rewarding to overcome a challenge!

See what I mean about using cable ties. No one will ever know and it will stay on the car. Maybe a hardcore camry own like some of the ones on the board could spot it.

[nogard]

In the pic that says, "don't know what to do about this one." If it lines up sitting just the way it is in the pic. Then get yourself some 5/16" hex head self drilling screws, about 3/4" of an inch long. In my trade we call them TEK screws, they have a small built in drill bit tip. And then get a 1/4" fender washer with 1" to 1 1/4" outer diameter. This is like a regular 1/4" washer on the inside, but larger on the outside, so it won't pull through the hole you are putting it through. Then get a magnetic 5/16" bit for a cordless drill. Put the screw through the fender washer, put it on the magnetic bit. Take your drill and drill the screw through the hole in the bumper cover to the metal on the car.

Hex head screw driver (chucks in drill)



Hex head "TEK" screw 5/16" head


Fender washers, 1/4" ID, 1" to 1 1/4" OD



Hope this helps!