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hey guys. ill say sorry in advance for this essay.

so i had a very bad front valance on my car, so i bought an earlier front valance which was a steal and in PERFECT condition, no rust no dents nothing. it was in storage for 20ish years.

the garage i gave my car to do the work on it did not impress and i took the car from them much earlier (before the work was finished). When i got the car home i realised the ORIGINAL front valance that he took off the car he had cut up at the mounting areas on the side and made a proper mess of the valance.

So i decided to get the earlier type of front valance on and had it painted to match the car (making the foolish mistake of not test fitting). Now iv learnt that the earlier valance will not fit directly onto my car.

i will post pictures of my original valance and new valance at the end of this thread so people can get an idea. keep in mind the earlier type (the second hand one i bought) is is MINT condition.
so im basically looking for solutions so i can get a bumper onto the car. I would very much like to save my original valance as it is the look i prefer. so if anyone has any solutions or knows anyone that could fix it up that would be perfect. im based in LONDON. IF ANYONE HAS A VALANCE AVAILABLE PLEASE CONTACT ME.


THE ORIGINAL VALANCE (THE ONE I WOULD LIKE TO SAVE):







THE EARLIER VALANCE (MINT CONDITION):

so it's more like wanted: facelift front valance I'd say!

well I'm just seeing if there are any OTHER solutions to save my old one.and Urgent too as i cannot drive without a fitted front valance. also to see if i can get any advice on if it is possible to save the original valance

Looking at the damage that's been done to it, by the hack job and by corrosion, I'd say your money would be better spent finding a replacement long term, but short term, plates could be welded onto the sides in order to mount it. the other option that springs to mind is a BMW motorsport type front spoiler, as that replaces the front panel and bumper anyway. Why did they hack the sides to get it off???? Muppetry!

In what way does the early type front panel not fit? Would it be too detrimental to the inner panel work to cut it to accommodate the early one?

good job you took your car off this guy. id have been inconsolable with rage if I saw that and kicked his ass!

and how does the pre facelift valance not fit exactly? are the mounting tabs in a different place?

the mounting tabs and fittings are a perfect line up. im not sure what its called but behind the bumper the crossmember stops the valance from sitting correctly. that would have to be cut off to accommodate the valance.

i love the look of the face lift valance compared to the early one. i may try and get my currently destroyed valance fixed by a local guy.

nas i was very annoyed (nicely put) with him. 5 months and all he managed to do was ruin the car. so im very that my car looks worse than it was.

i can try and get a few pictures up of the crossmember i mean tomorrow so you can get a proper idea.

in the mean time i will try and source another face lift valance from somewhere, but they are few and far apart.

on the early models that cross member is a rounded shape the one you have is square. you could modify that a little by cutting it and re-welding it where it catches.