Removed my rear bumper today!
 

I took off my rear bumper because the aluminum is all corroded around the drivers side shock...

WOW! it kinda looks cool without a bumper!! so then I took off the bumperettes (whiskers I call them) and..yeah, I made up my mind, when I repair the quarters I will smooth out the roll pan and maybe route some nice tastefull chrom tips where the bumper shocks were mounted!

What do YOU think??

Good luck in a "fender bender". Those american 5mph bumpers work very well.

yes i agree.. i have been in a fender bender.. they hit me in traffic at about 5-9 mph.. (get off the phone idiot) my bumper... not a scratch.. them.. grill pushed in.. i win

Vehicle Inspections
 

Most states (probably all) require an inspection (oops, not sure what Canada does). They look for some safety stuff.

When I was a lad, I too thought my car a '65 Volkswagen looked a lot better without and it was trying to fall off anyway, so I took it off. Went for an inspection, failed. Drove home, wired it back on, passed. Was my car any safer? No. They did not mention that I had also taken the seatbelts out. :eek:

So you might not want to go to the trouble of body work and painting without checking.

Michigan doesn't safety inspect nor emissions test any car on the road, its a free for all! :eek:

As for the bumpers, they save you much damage in minor hits, I've been hit twice in the back under 20mph, both times it messed up the other person's car pretty bad, and mine had not a scratch. :D

Around here we DO have safety inspections, but only on new cars from out of province, or write-offs that have been repaired...and they're not regular or mandatory for everyone...but my car is 30 year exempt in 2010 :D

There are also alot of roll-panned trucks and VW golfs and rabbits around here and nobody seems to have a problem with it. but yeah, if I catch heat with no bumper then it will have to go back on, albeit slightly modified. :D

However, removing that bumper eliminated ALOT and nearly all my rattles and shakes!! you wouldn't believe the leverage that heavy bumper gives to the car.. I like it off, and I will keep it off as long as possible...:cool: ;)

Lets see a picture. Sounds cool!

Pictures!
 

She's a little banged up in the rear and there's a fair amount of rust, but overall I think the absence of a bumper kinda looks cool, as I restore/modify the car, I'll probably smooth that out and nestle a couple of nice rolled chrom tips out the center....and it'll look MUCH better once the car is lowered :D

I may post some "drawings" as they come...:rolleyes:

No body has any other thoughts or opinions?

It looks goofy to me.

Crazy. Looks like the tail of a 126 instead of a 116:eek: . The car does look more modern, but that is not the reason you buy a 116.
Personally I wanted a 116 because those shock-bumper look retro cool. And if i could make them even bigger (think Caddie of the 50's) i wouls probably do it.

PFFFT you had SEATS in your bug? What kind of man are you? I had a milk crate! The cops always gave me crap but atleast I would have my seat belt on...

With the AMG rear skirt it wouldnt look so bad. This is why I like the skinnier Euro bumpers.....

Good luck in a wreck either way.

now you need to remove the front bumper or risk looking like this