Rear Bumperless Ford GT?

[EasyEric]

101,

Yes, that does look good but I think going that route will reduce the much desired engine ventilation.

Eric

 

[Jason Watt]

Eric,

Well not more than with the stock bumper I'm sure...

 

[AZGT]

Looks good, but I will go for an option that will make the car look more like the concept car...

I may be wrong on this, but I think that some of the concepts were not running models, and that picture looks like it may be a a dummy car (is that the one that was up on ebay as living room decoration?). Just guessing from the general look and the black windows.

Obviously, if it is a non-running car, whatever it shows should be questionable. I would think if that back would have worked, Ford would have used it. No bumpers sure looks nice though.

My .02. If I am wrong, NEVER MIND..............

 

[ChipBeck]

Rear body hard point

They have two functions. One is to attach the bumper to the rear of the car and frame (they are about 1 1/2ft long) the other is as a hard point for the rear body and wiring harnesses.

I want to remove my rear bumper but I have a concern as the bumper also serves as a crossmember for those rails that support the rear body work. Without tying those two rails together in some manner it would appear they would lose a lot of lateral strength. I could see this leading to rattles or other body work problems. Comments??

 

[Gulf GT]

That is my current concern as well. My car is at Muscle Motors right now having the GTX exhaust put on. Since we have to remove the bumper, clamshell, etc. to install the exhaust, we are looking into options for leaving the bumper off. No question, the car looks better without the bumper, just how important is the rear bumper in lateral stress loads to the frame is the question. Maybe not much, but would sure hate to find out in a year that the rear body panels are rubbing together or causing some other mess with the clamshell.

 

[PHXGT]

That will be a good question for the rally in August.

 

[bitzman]

Comment on the Concept

The Concept that was kind of gold colored, called Petunia internally, had its frame designed over in Design and, according to the engineers, "had nothing to do with what we did" i.e. the production car frame is completely different. I asked Camilo Pardo if the car was designed to have the rear bumper easily removed and he said he doubts if any owner will do it, but did not say the whole structural rigidity depended on it being there. Whoever does it first successfully will hopefully picture his conversion on the Forum so others can follow suit. I am used to the sight of the regular bumpers but don't know how much the extended bumper Canadian models will look, maybe enough to turn me off on the bumpers.

 

[SLF360]

Bumper delete

That will be a good question for the rally in August.

So did anyone ask if the bumper delete means loosing structural strength, or can it be done without any unforeseen risk other than backing up into something with the exhaust pipes, ruining the muffler ?

I am still soooo disappointed that I couldn't absolutely make it to the Rallye miself, you guys can't imagine...

thanks for sharing hence

Stefan

 

[B O N Y]

I am under the impression that a cross member needs to be added if the bumper comes off.

 

[Yogi]

Here at Genaddi Design, when we do the rear bumper delete we add the strength inside the rear end. Something has to be done to protect the engine in the event of a rear end collision.

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