gold94corolla's Subaru Impreza Front Bumper DIY!

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Here's what I did to install a JDM 97-01 Subaru Impreza 2.5RS bumper from Malaysia on my Corolla.

Here's the bumper unpacked!  It is very good quality, built very solid.

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/images/0016/53/26/16053562_large.jpg

It was in rough shape at the bottom, from being used.  I prepped everything for primer and paint.

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/images/0016/53/36/16053563_large.jpg

Painted!  I ran out of paint, so it never did match the right color lol.

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/images/0016/53/46/16053564_large.jpg

Then I removed everything to swap the bumpers  (I also swapped the fenders, so ignore all the rest lol, you just need to remove the head lights, grille, bumper)

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/images/0016/53/56/16053565_large.jpg

After a super quick test fit, I found that the USA crash bar was in the way (the JDM and Euro cars don't have such a big bar).  I could either remove the bar or trim the back of the bumper... I choose to remove the bar because I didn't want to modify the bumper at all.

Oh look, you can see my custom cold-air intake also lol.

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/images/0016/53/96/16053569_large.jpg

Time to bolt it on!

The sides had to be trimmed up a little (the tab cutoff with the scissors) and the drill is to drill some holes for self-tapping metal screws.

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/images/0016/53/07/16053570_large.jpg

This shows how I bolted it on the sides.... drill a hole smaller than the screw, and screw it up from the bottom so that it bites into the fender metal.

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/images/0016/53/17/16053571_large.jpg

Here it is looking from the ground up, you can see the two bolts going up into the fender.  The one screw all the way to the right was a preliminary screw to help hold it in place.  

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/images/0016/53/27/16053572_large.jpg

Note:  The bumper is actually too wide for the car, so bolting it on requires some effort.  But I got it on.  It is only held on with screws on the fenders, and it actually held on very securely!

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/images/0016/53/66/16053566_large.jpg

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/images/0016/53/86/16053568_large.jpg

I didn't like how it looked with those head lights, so I put the stock head lights back on.

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/images/0016/53/37/16053573_large.jpg

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/images/0016/53/47/16053574_large.jpg

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/images/0016/53/57/16053575_large.jpg

Then I put on some clear JDM head lights, bumper signals, and the stock mirrors.  The signal lights have HIDs in them LOL.

But take a good look at these pictures.... you can see how wide the bumper looks compared to the car, the head lights.  The bumper signal lights should line up with the corner lights, and the sides of the bumper should flare inward to match the fender curves.

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/images/0016/53/67/16053576_large.jpg

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/images/0016/53/77/16053577_large.jpg

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/images/0016/53/87/16053578_large.jpg

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/images/0016/53/88/16053588_large.jpg

And in this picture, you can see how the bumper pokes out on the front in order to compensate for being squeezed on the sides.  The corners under the corner lights are also a little wrinkled, and you can see the corners of the bumper stick out too much compared to the fender lines.

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/images/0016/53/97/16053579_large.jpg

You can see the bumper's wrinkle under the corner light, and how the bumper lights (HIDs) don't line up with the corner lights.

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/images/0016/53/98/16053589_large.jpg

Not even lowering the car helped lol.

So, time to cut the $650 bumper in half!!!  Ouch.  But you can see the overlap, how much needs to be removed.  

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/images/0016/53/18/16053581_large.jpg

And with the chunk taken out of the middle (you can see it on the ground), doesn't the fitment look 100 times better?  The bumper lights line up with the corner lights, the sides of the bumper flare in to match the fender curves, and no more strange bulges and wrinkles.

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/images/0016/53/28/16053582_large.jpg

This little bit had to come off the top, so that it could fit under the head lights properly

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/images/0016/53/08/16053580_large.jpg

To repair the bumper, you can plastic weld it back together and use fiberglass in the back, then fill the crack with bondo and smooth/paint.

Now it looks and fits perfect!  Remember, it's still held on with only the fender screws.  But still very solid!

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/images/0016/53/99/16053599_large.jpg

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/images/0016/63/00/16053600_large.jpg

That is sooooo awesome bro

Thank you for posting this

Wow it looks a million times better when it's cut. Great work Chris!

lol Kenny... yes it did! Though honestly I'd have gone with one of Scott's bumpers, if he had been selling them when I still had the car.

thats a lot of work bro, and i dont think i have the guts to cut in half a $650 bumper ha.ha.ha...
nice work... and the outcome of your project is nice and clean

Thanks. Yeah I didn't have the guts to cut the bumper... so I did have it installed for a long time with zero modifications! But I decided that I liked it, so I went ahead and cut it.

Very nice mod indeed, I would also install the fogs/spotlights in the bumper, but that's just me. Once afain, congrats on a very nice mod.

Love the mod wanna do it too, you said you swapped the fenders too what are those fenders from?

Monkeyofdespair wrote:

Love the mod wanna do it too, you said you swapped the fenders too what are those fenders from?

Ah the fenders are stock, still Corolla fenders, I just changed them while I was doing the work

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Steveakendo wrote:

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Everything should work now, you can simply click on the link and the picture will show

Im so happy someone posted a DIY on this i Have the subi bumper rn but it doesnt bolt up easily so i was wondering where id have to cut dont wanna ruin the bumper either