shoot2score67

Here's my 997 in Los Gatos, we enjoyed a weekend ride. Beautiful day!

Look closely and you might notice center trim is not there. I took it out, after it came completely loose.

All the tabs on the bumper have broken. Trim was being held on by tape. Didn't notice that when we bought it from Sonnen.

Not sure what I can do about it. I'll post more photos this week.

Previous owner had obviously hit a few curbs, there's lots of rash underneath bumper. Would drive me bonkers if I screwed up like that. But since I paid way under list price, I feel it's part of owning an 8-year old, 82K mile car and can live easier with little issues here and there... for now. I might get quote on getting bumper replaced.

For the life of me I can't figure out why Porsche designed it like that (with tabs, multiple pieces).

Is it ok to drive without that center bumper trim?

CosmosC4S

If it's the black lip spoiler trim you're talking about, it's perfectly fine to drive around like that. Except the Porsche Gods may not be too happy with the sight!

Easy and inexpensive to replace, but if according to you the tabs ON the bumper are broken, you may have a problem...

instead of replacing the whole bumper just for that, I would just glue the new lip spoiler onto the bumper. You can't see it, and it doesn't hurt anything.

shoot2score67

This is the piece.

Driving me insane to see it unattached like this. No doubt the Porsche Gods too! lol

And yes all the tabs on the bumper are, unfortunately, broken.

gota911

Are the tabs broken off the center piece? If so, you might be able to find a replacement center piece. Some guys here have added the center (3rd) radiator so they had to remove the center piece shown in your last pic.

Another option would be to add the mesh grills on all 3 openings.

CosmosC4S

My bad, I thought it was the lower lip spoiler trim.
But in the pic, it does look like that piece is missing too??

Petza914

You should be fine driving around without that piece in there. There is nothing that holds the bumper to the car in that area, it's purely a plug for the big center opening. Instead of replacing it, add the center radiator as someone else suggested, then get a screen kit for both side openings and the center opening to keep junk out of your radiators and rocks and debris from denting the fins. It will be more expensive, but will provide some additional cooling capacity for those hot southern california days.

wc11

Crappy situation but you should be able to replace for less than $100 from Pelican or Suncoast.

slicky rick

Tim and Pete made the best suggestion for you. Cheap, stable oil temps, and It looks better too. It will also make you feel better that that damage part was actually a sign for an upgrade.

06_Black_C4S

That center opening trim piece was missing on my 2006 C4S when I purchased it about one year ago.

Some, but not all, of the bumper's tabs had broken off on the driver's side of the bumper's center opening, so installation of the replacement piece was problematic.

First I siliconed the entire perimeter of the trim piece and "snapped" that into the opening, using tape to temporarily hold the part tightly in place on the end where the tabs are missing, while the silicone adhesive cured for a day.

Everything was fine for a while, but eventually the silicone failed and the center piece pulled away from the bumper, necessitating a different solution. I cleaned the vulcanized silicone out of the joint to start afresh.

Next I tried black "racer's tape" (which is essentially duct tape) on the joint to hold the piece tight to the bumper. However, after a few trips at highway speeds, I discovered that the tape failed at the same end as before: where the tabs are missing. I had only used 4 inch long pieces of tape, top and bottom, at both corners of the opening, in order to be as inconspicuous as possible.

I was impressed by how much aerodynamic force is exerted by air at high speed on the car's nose and that center trim piece. In both instances, wind forces overpowered fastening methods.

I next tried racer's tape again, but this time used 8 inch long pieces, top and bottom, on the joint at both ends of the trim/ bumper opening.

So far, it's still holding.

I prefer not to leave the center trim piece out of the opening.

That's because I believe that allowing all of that air into a closed cavity with no means of escape, relief or venting is not a good thing aerodynamically. It creates drag and lift unintended by Porsche.

That trim piece blocks air from entering the closed center cavity, forcing it to flow into the low pressure openings flanking the center, namely the radiator openings. That's how Porsche intended this arrangement to work.

Installation of a center radiator in lieu of the trim piece is fine, but ideally it should be optimized aerodynamically with a GT3-type bumper which features the so-called "smile" or top-mounted exhaust air opening to facilitate air flow and relieve pressure.

shoot2score67

Thanks everyone for all the great ideas! I'm really amazed at the real sense of community on this board. Very helpful!

06_Black_C4S - thanks for sharing your solution, glad to know I"m not the only one with the issue. I was thinking about duct tape, but will look specifically for racing tape and give that a go. I too prefer to have that trim piece in place. If all else fails I may eventually get entire bumper redone. I'm not relishing the cost of that option though.

Petza914

There's a product called Q-Bond which is a plastic polymer that may do a great job actually repairing the tabs on the trim piece. A guy on the 928 forum used it to rebuild broken plastic tabs on his door armrest and he was very impressed with how strong it cures and made the comment "this stuff could probably be used to repair anything". Here's an amazon link if you're interested

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...ix=qbond%2Caps

shoot2score67

I don't see any lip spoiler trim. Should there be one (997.1)? There are two small lip trim pieces on left and right sides, but along main front part.

shoot2score67

Well I'm inspired by all the feedback and suggestions. Went out to garage to check on the 997. Low and behold: it still looks awesome. Sitting in it and just inhaling that leather can be an enjoyable way to spend a Tue evening (oh, yes, and World Series!).

Anyways, here's some more shots of loose trim in front bumper.

I think I will go with the racing tape and Q-Bond ideas. Both I think. If not, then might look at 3rd rad.

But there's a problem!

I put the loose trim back in and tried to manually re-attach it. The issue: How in the world do I get my hands behind the trim piece?

Seems like I can't come above from the trunk. Everything below is protected with underbody panels. So I can't push the piece into place.

Also I think I will attempt to fix the tabs first with some plastic and Q-bond. And then attempt to re-attach trim. Not the most glamorous project ever, but will bug me until suitably fixed.

Would really appreciate ideas on how to get leverage on the trim piece in this location... I must be missing something?!

Clint





















Yes, yes, I tend to take too many photos...!

gota911

Your best bet is the remove the front bumper cover. Do a search for a thread by Carrera Mike, who posted a front bumper cover removal DIY.

CosmosC4S

I'm not sure, someone else may be able to answer that question.
I thought all Carrera's have it. It's a black plastic trim that runs along the bottom of the front bumper all the way from left to right. I don't see it on yours.