Now that I have gotten my 88' DL mechanically sound the rest of the project is ready to happen in the next month or two. I want to lower the car a few inches(2wd why not?) and have alreay started to strip the clear coat and paint off for the body work. What I haven't decided is wether to shave the bumpers off or not and what color to paint it. I have a few friends who are genius metal workers so that wouldn't be a big deal. So has anyone tried that and has pictures? and green or dark blue? Gotta finish this before I can find my XT project.

Doc:

 

I don't know the DL's too well, but some of the low-level model EA82's came with the "light-weight" front and rear bumpers. These are kinda cool because they were soild black, and were not intended to blend into body side molding. The more common "heavy-weight" bumpers had the molding and 2-tone paint treatment.

Either style can be customized, but the lightweight type might be better for lowering, since they are physically less bulky. I think they would be easier to blend in, or contrast, depending on your color scheme.

 

Sorry I don't have any pics yet, but you might want to look around and see which style appeals to you more, before doing your project.

 

good luck, John

Didn't make myself quite clear after re-reading my post, I was thinking of completely taking the bumpers off and have my friend fill it in with pieces molded to the rest of the front and back body line. Oh and yes mine has the light weight black ones on it atm.

Oh I see...

The back side is ideal for going "naked". All you'll need to do is fill in the cutouts where the bumper slides into the unibody.

The front may be a little more of a challenge. You'll have to decide if you want to keep the front valance (below the bumper). If you decide eliminate it, you can fashion just about any front end look you want. For example, you could do the "boxy" treatment.

If you keep it, you'll be limited to the existing countours of the valance and fenders.

 

good luck, John