Bumper/Hood Gap Adjustment (after bumper removal)

[fly300kts]

Hi Guys,

This has been bothering some of you for a while now so I am going to share some tips and show you how to get a perfect bumper/hood gap every time you remove your bumper.
You can find my previous DIY about removing the bumper here:
http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...bumper+removal
If it’s the first time the bumper is removed, you might have to loosen a bit the upper part of the adjustable support to facilitate the removal.




During the bumper removal process, there are 99% of chances that these two guys became out of rig. Let’s call that “adjustable supports”.



A close up:
The bumper sits where the red arrow points, not below



Red arrow shows the adjustable support for the upper skirt. If your car is equipped with an OEM grille, you normally don’t have to mess with this one (EBay grille is another story)



View from the top, when you will be sliding in place the bumper, make sure that this piece of rubber does not get caught and stays perfectly straight



This is the part of the bumper that slides into the adjustable support



A close up of both correctly assembled



So, you are ready to reinstall your headlights and then the bumper. Before installing the headlights, we are going to check if the gap between the bumper and the hood is correct. Without the headlights in place, slide the bumper in position. Make sure the rubber flap did not get caught; make sure the 2 screws on the side are in place in the fender. Do not install any screws or nuts, let the bumper sit in place by itself. Now close the hood to check the gap.



Not too bad on this picture but let’s assume the gap was too big:
Open the hood and without removing the bumper, raise the adjustable support:
If you turn:

Clockwise, the support goes up
Counter clockwise, the support goes down

With needle pliers, grab this plastic part an turn as necessary. Close the hood, check the gap. Repeat as necessary until the gap meets your expectations.



Now, the little trick: put couple drops of crazy glue between the plastic threads and the housing. Let dry 5 mn.



Once dry, remove the bumper. Slide the headlights in place and install only the screw for the upper tab. Do not tight the screw.
Slide in place the bumper making sure again, that the bumper tab was inserted correctly on the adjustable support and the rubber flap is not caught. You will see that the fit is really tight and you will need to pull up each headlight a bit to be able to slide the bumper under them.
Install and tight all the bumpers screws first and then secure the headlights
Voila, job done with a perfect gap



Hope this help
Let me know if any question
phil

[Inked]

Nice write up!

[rowyourown]

Phil your DIYs are phenomenal. Forgive me if I missed this while searching, but do you have one for replacing the DV? I know there are others but they don't have the detailed pictures like you always provide.

[NorcalPB]

So the bumper does have to come off to properly adjust?

[fly300kts]

Phil your DIYs are phenomenal. Forgive me if I missed this while searching, but do you have one for replacing the DV? I know there are others but they don't have the detailed pictures like you always provide.

I never made one for the DV but I will bext time I replace one

phil

[fly300kts]

So the bumper does have to come off to properly adjust?

Yes Sir

phil

[NorcalPB]

Yes Sir

phil

Damn alright that's good to know. The shop that reinstalled my new s-line bumper after my dad destroyed my old one left a massive gap on one side, of course. Good write up though! Definitely the right way to do it.

[fly300kts]

Damn alright that's good to know. The shop that reinstalled my new s-line bumper after my dad destroyed my old one left a massive gap on one side, of course. Good write up though! Definitely the right way to do it.

LOL
Don't let your Dad drive your car ever again

phil

[event]

Aw man, I really enjoyed seeing irregular gaps on every B7 that's had it's bumper removed.

[fly300kts]

Aw man, I really enjoyed seeing irregular gaps on every B7 that's had it's bumper removed.

Not anymore

Phil

[Skoinon]

Excellent write up! I have 1 question in the first 2 pictures if you turn the screw will it raise or lower the bumper?

[fly300kts]

No, it will just release the bumper tab

phil

[Ales]

nice, thank you. Now just have to get off my ass and stop being so lazy.

[fly300kts]

nice, thank you. Now just have to get off my ass and stop being so lazy.

Sorry, can't help for that

Phil

[fly300kts]

Nice write up!

Thank you. You can learn now

Phil

[Inked]

Thank you. You can learn now

Phil

lol.....ass

[FASTONE]

like always Phil awsome DYI thanks!

[fly300kts]

like always Phil awsome DYI thanks!

Your welcome

Phil

[NorcalPB]

How small is the gap really supposed to be stock? Ideally the same size as the hood/fender gap?

[airbornerifleman]

Great job! Thank you for the info

[fly300kts]

How small is the gap really supposed to be stock? Ideally the same size as the hood/fender gap?

I would say 8 to 10 mm

phil

[cbbepop]

nice writeup this will deff help when i do the sline conversion

[mr_esmit]

Any one have the part number for this?




Thanks.

[mr_esmit]

Bump

[mr_esmit]

Stealership here in Dom Rep is being a real A hole. Gonna have to order this online, just wanna make sure I get the correct part. Thanks in advance!

[mr_esmit]

Bump

[fly300kts]

Any one have the part number for this?




Thanks.

Voila. Order the rivets too, item #3 & #4



Phil

[musanoadsaba]

This thread made this so much easier. I think the key point is that the screws holding the alignment adjusters DON'T adjust the alignment.
The plier technique with the headlights removed is what needs to be done.
Thanks for this DIY.

[mr_esmit]

Many thanks Phil for this thread and all the other that make modding easier!

['mk4-turbo]

guess im gonna be following this DIY this weekend. dealer changed a module behind the bumper and now its not aligned at all.

any way of adjusting it without the bumper removal? can you access the adjustor any other way?

[beantown]

Thanks for the DIY Phil! Finally got around to truing-up my hood gap since installing the RS4 grille.

[fly300kts]

Your welcome

Phil

[nicotino15]

bringing this thread back from the dead. I used this to adjust the gap on my front bumper after removing it to change my snub mount out. Now I'm having alignment issues. I got the gap perfect, although I think it's actually too small of a gap, Im going to redo it.

The problem I have now is my right headlight sticks out a little too much (never fully removed my headlights throughout this ordeal so they should be in the same spot as stock) Also, on the adjustable support for the upper skirt on the right side is not lined up with the bumper in place, I can't figure out why as everything else is pretty good. Another problem is my hood is really hard to shut, has to almost be slammed down to lock now.

I think the cause of all this is the 3 large bolts on each side of the radiator which I removed to give some movement to the radiator and change out my snub mount. Does anybody have any tips on getting these 3 large bolts aligned properly so that I don't have these alignment issues? Could it be something else? Not sure what else I could do. The tabs are slid into the 2 adjustable bolts perfectly as explained above and everything else lines up, just not my right headlight and the hood shuts bad.

[Dcass08]

Hey Phil, I finally got around to adjusting my bumper today. A couple of weeks ago I realized both of my height adjusters were busted. I got the parts yesterday and did it today. I got it almost where I want it but I'm having an issue with the nuts for the two screws on each side. When I tighten the bottom one up it causes the bumper to bulge out and creates quite a gap. I'll post up a pic tomorrow. I think I just need to keep tweaking it but I thought I would ask and see if anyone else had that problem. Thanks.... Dan

Hi Guys,

This has been bothering some of you for a while now so I am going to share some tips and show you how to get a perfect bumper/hood gap every time you remove your bumper.
You can find my previous DIY about removing the bumper here:
http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...bumper+removal
If it’s the first time the bumper is removed, you might have to loosen a bit the upper part of the adjustable support to facilitate the removal.




During the bumper removal process, there are 99% of chances that these two guys became out of rig. Let’s call that “adjustable supports”.



A close up:
The bumper sits where the red arrow points, not below



Red arrow shows the adjustable support for the upper skirt. If your car is equipped with an OEM grille, you normally don’t have to mess with this one (EBay grille is another story)



View from the top, when you will be sliding in place the bumper, make sure that this piece of rubber does not get caught and stays perfectly straight



This is the part of the bumper that slides into the adjustable support



A close up of both correctly assembled



So, you are ready to reinstall your headlights and then the bumper. Before installing the headlights, we are going to check if the gap between the bumper and the hood is correct. Without the headlights in place, slide the bumper in position. Make sure the rubber flap did not get caught; make sure the 2 screws on the side are in place in the fender. Do not install any screws or nuts, let the bumper sit in place by itself. Now close the hood to check the gap.



Not too bad on this picture but let’s assume the gap was too big:
Open the hood and without removing the bumper, raise the adjustable support:
If you turn:

Clockwise, the support goes up
Counter clockwise, the support goes down

With needle pliers, grab this plastic part an turn as necessary. Close the hood, check the gap. Repeat as necessary until the gap meets your expectations.



Now, the little trick: put couple drops of crazy glue between the plastic threads and the housing. Let dry 5 mn.



Once dry, remove the bumper. Slide the headlights in place and install only the screw for the upper tab. Do not tight the screw.
Slide in place the bumper making sure again, that the bumper tab was inserted correctly on the adjustable support and the rubber flap is not caught. You will see that the fit is really tight and you will need to pull up each headlight a bit to be able to slide the bumper under them.
Install and tight all the bumpers screws first and then secure the headlights
Voila, job done with a perfect gap



Hope this help
Let me know if any question
phil

[fly300kts]

Dan,

Were you able to do it?

Phil

[wildcat333]

I figured out what I believe is the "perfect" bumper gap for me. I am leary/scared of using super-glue, so I just will keep doing this every bumper removal/install. I will share my measurement technique. I twisted down both bumper holder things all the way down. I marked/scratched each one at the 12 o'clock (top of the circle bumper holder). I then gave both of them 2 full turns and then one turn down to the 20 minute mark (so almost 2.5 turns up from when the bumper holder thing is all the way down). I also made sure that my bumper was ACTUALLY sitting on these bumper holders - I don't think they were properly sitting on them all of my previous times messing with my bumper. Just in case this helps anyone.

Pic of my car using this technique:

[Dcass08]

Yeah, they don't slide on the posts very easily. Mine looks about the same as yours although I'm not happy with the fit on the sides. Wish I could get that seamless look.

[Dcass08]

I got it so it looks great in the front. Just gotta tweak the sides.

[smarkle78]

After two years of having a bigger gap than $2 hooker at a frat house, I finally cleaned her up today. Wasn't sure what the problem was when I started, but a little research and this awesome DIY popped up. Thanks mans HUGE help !!!!!!

[fly300kts]

After two years of having a bigger gap than $2 hooker at a frat house, I finally cleaned her up today. Wasn't sure what the problem was when I started, but a little research and this awesome DIY popped up. Thanks mans HUGE help !!!!!!

You welcome

Phil