Front license plate screen

[Rich Z]

Well I contacted Starcraft about their tiger shark bumper fascia and they pretty much just blew me off saying they aren't making them and don't know when or if they will again.

So yeah, that's the ticket, right when nearly all the C5s are out of even the extended warranties, and some needing new paint jobs for at least the rock chips on the front bumper, and lots of people may be thinking about modding their cars, NOW is the time to stop making a product that seems to have been in demand enough for them to SELL OUT of them.

[shakedown067]

Welcome to the C4 world. It'll now be all about the C6 and C7 for aftermarket parts, the rest of us get thrown to the way side.

[Z06 Rocket]

Originally Posted by shakedown067

Welcome to the C4 world. It'll now be all about the C6 and C7 for aftermarket parts, the rest of us get thrown to the way side.

Too true. I experienced it with the C4 I used to own, and am now hearing it with the C5. They focus on the newest model and the one previous to it.

[Rich Z]

I guess I just don't understand the logic too much. I would think that cars out of the factory warranty and extended warranties would be much more likely to be candidates for mods than cars fresh off the showroom floor. But maybe it's just my own perspective coloring my thoughts about mods lately.

I did get a reply back from Starcraft and they are claiming that the problem is with their supplier for those bumpers. They can't get an ETA from them for the product. So I guess they've got too much business on their hands...

[shakedown067]

It's all about the money. Typically for the most part, the guys that have the money to spend on their car usually have the latest model or next to latest model (no warranty, time to mod guys)...then the rest of us are usually trying to keep it running first, mods second. For instance, I've seen quite a few people over the past 4-5 years try to come out with new parts for the C4 to have sales just tank after their first or second large orders. Before the C6 came out, there were actually quite a few cool parts you could get for the C4, like nice racing stuff, that haven't been available for years now. Looks like its already starting for the C5 crowd.

[Rich427]

I believe it is purely just supply and demand. If the demand is there, then suppliers will continue to produce. But once the demand falls off to the point that they have inventory on their (and their retailers) shelves, then someone has to make a decision whether this is a profitable product any longer. I think it is just that simple.

Just my opinion!

Rich

[shakedown067]

Exactly! i just way over complicated it.

[Rich Z]

Well, I went with PLAN B on this. Found a used Tiger Shark front bumper on Ebay that is claimed to be in good shape. Some guy bought a car with it and took it off to convert his car to a race car. Not sure why he didn't just leave it on. But at least I presume the bumper has already been fitted to a C5, so all the fitting has already been done to it. And it comes with the lower spoiler, which is normally an optional add-on. He doesn't know the manufacturer or anything about it, so yeah, it's somewhat of a gamble. But I didn't have very many other options available if I want to get one of these things.







I think it is fortunate that he didn't know it was an aftermarket highly sought after body panel, because had he used "Tiger Shark" in the title, bidding might have gone way higher than I was willing to pay for it. Apparently there are a LOT of people looking for these things. The only way I found it was because I was actually just browsing through ALL of the "C5 Corvette" parts and accessories section and absolutely just stumbled upon it.

It's painted black, obviously, so I will have to strip the paint when it comes time to mount it and have the car repainted. Hopefully this won't prove to be yet another real bad idea.

[Benjamin]

I would leave the paint alone on it and leave it up to whoever does the paint.

you can EASILY do more damage than good removing good solid paint from a urethane / fiberglass / carbon fiber bumper.

if the paint is in good condition, the painter will likely block sand to check for flatness, primer (since it is going for a complete color change) then wet sand it and paint over with base coat / clear coat.
Like with the body of the car, if there are any minor dents / dings they will use filler and sand it flat, prime the area, wet sand the entire car and base coat and clear coat.

if you take it down to the bare material, the painter will have to seal it, then primer, block sand, use filler in the low spots, block sand, re-prime, block sand, wet sand, base coat, clear coat.

so in my opinion I'd leave it alone until the painter decides what is best.

[Rich Z]

Originally Posted by Benjamin

I would leave the paint alone on it and leave it up to whoever does the paint.

you can EASILY do more damage than good removing good solid paint from a urethane / fiberglass / carbon fiber bumper.

if the paint is in good condition, the painter will likely block sand to check for flatness, primer (since it is going for a complete color change) then wet sand it and paint over with base coat / clear coat.
Like with the body of the car, if there are any minor dents / dings they will use filler and sand it flat, prime the area, wet sand the entire car and base coat and clear coat.

if you take it down to the bare material, the painter will have to seal it, then primer, block sand, use filler in the low spots, block sand, re-prime, block sand, wet sand, base coat, clear coat.

so in my opinion I'd leave it alone until the painter decides what is best.

Yeah, sometimes I just need to leave things to the experts, I suppose. It's not like I could just take it down to the metal and not worry about removing material I WANT to keep there. I've read about people using a razor to remove paint, and of course chemical removal. But both sound rather tedious and with some drawbacks.

Speaking of which, who around this area does good work in this department?