After having hit a tire barrier at a local road course and many autocrosses, I have decided to attempt replacement of the shattered plastic bumper pieces. The cover itself is only scraped and a few cracks that are minor. Rather than pay big money to get it all replaced when Im only going to get it chipped up again, I figured i would replace the necessary parts myself, ordering from onlinemazdaparts.com, but its not as simple as I would like... so... here are some questions and concerns about things I've found...

The car, 06 GT w. 35k miles. Used to have foglights but the impact shattered the brackets and wire harness connectors, and Ive never used them, so they're gone.

Rusty welds... should I be concerned? What would our rust warranty even do?




There is a white powder all over the intake tube... Cant figure out what the hell it is...


Im also trying to figure out which plastic parts I need based on the schematics and what Im looking at... I think the main undertray is one huge piece, but it looks like separate pieces when I look at what I've got... see pic below.



And a close up:




I also just realized that snapping the plastic lip off the bottom of the bumper took some of the grille's attach points with it... so I need a new one of those as well... The bill is starting to climb... any advice would be really appreciated.

Thanks all.

 

Paul(I think?). I'm reviewing all you have written and your pics. If you PM me your E-mail address I can send some decent pdf files your way that will help while I review what you have posted.

Dave

p.s. perplexed by the white powder at the moment. You didn't run over a crack dealer did ya?
Have you had the nerve to smell or even taste it?


Oh...not sure about this, but usually rust has to eat all the way through and leave a hole before they will do anything about it. You might be better off taking care of this yourself with steel wool/brush, then commercial rust remover, the priming and painting. Good news is it's in a non-seen area, so paint color won't matter to terribly much. You can also use a mixture of baking soda, lemon juice, and vinegar if not too bad.......but I would prefer something like rustoleum that sometimes requires not scrapping and also acts as a primer.

 

taste it... no i have not had the nerve...
Got the attachments... they definitely helped, thanks, though they still could have done a better job, but the engineering drawings I work with at work are worse... so I guess my ideal standard is just too high.

Anyway... Will definitely try to remove the rust next time I take the bumper apart. Its currently back on semi-held in place with duct tape so i can drive to thanksgiving dinner and work until the new parts come in... Apparently even the main grille was damaged and the lip no longer can attach to it.

Bumper is in mediocre shape close up, but I got it to where it looks perfect from 6 feet away, minus one small hole/crack.

Ill post pics as i go.

 

Just putting in this order:



Some extra hardware Ill get locally.

Next to be replaced after this: dented rocker panel, cowl and wiper arms, rotor backing plates... but those are for another day.

 

To the above list, add fender liners, metal clips, and a few other things...