[Doordash4]

I wanted to try and fit the old bumper on the new Camaro because I can't stand the look but need the A10 transmission and heard there are issues with fitting the headlights on the old bumper. It would be the non-RS 2019+ Camaro which looks like it might have a chance to fit... Has anyone tried this?

I was thinking of using this 50th anniversary front bumper replica https://www.ebay.com/itm/39200558704...wAAOSwsjBhemQU

and modding the bumper it so that the newer headlights fit. Any suggestions or advice before I make the move? Thanks.

[arpad_m]

Good luck with the mod, Doordash4, and know you are not alone in your assessment of the post-refresh esthetics situation, front or back Alas, while there are threads here about rear bumper and taillight conversion, I don't recall any about the front.

The one thing that appears to be certain is that the new headlight assembly is sufficiently different from the old one to make a swap very, very, very difficult, so no matter how much pain the bumper gives you, don't even entertain the idea of changing the headlights, try to work with the new ones and adapt the bumper somehow.

Also, I heard the new 2019+ hood had a slightly different curvature, so 2016-2018 bumpers are dicey, whether OEM or replica, you may need a hood swap as well for perfect lines and proper body gaps. Hope someone with a 2019+ can confirm or deny that before you invest into this project.

Oh, and before I forget, to the forums

[The Maverick]

Originally Posted by arpad_m

Good luck with the mod, Doordash4, and know you are not alone in your assessment of the situation of post-refresh esthetics, front or back Alas, while there are threads here about rear bumper and taillight conversion, I don't recall any about the front.

My '21 to '16 "de-fresh" is a front and back project...

[The Maverick]

Originally Posted by Doordash4

I wanted to try and fit the old bumper on the new Camaro because I can't stand the look but need the A10 transmission and heard there are issues with fitting the headlights on the old bumper. It would be the non-RS 2019+ Camaro which looks like it might have a chance to fit... Has anyone tried this?

I was thinking of using this 50th anniversary front bumper replica https://www.ebay.com/itm/39200558704...wAAOSwsjBhemQU

and modding the bumper it so that the newer headlights fit. Any suggestions or advice before I make the move? Thanks.

If you are ok with a ZL1 look, I5 Autohaus has a "conversion" front bumper that fits with the 2019+ "signature headlights" (their term - but I believe they are referring to the SS and RS style). For someone who hates the refresh and is looking for a '16-18 style frontend, this may be the path of least resistance - but you would need to hear from someone who has installed one.

I am, unfortunately, way off the path of least resistance, so I can list some things that would be involved in your proposed "50" bumper swap. There may be some details that I am forgetting, but at least this should help give you an idea whether you want to get involved with something like this.

Per Gen5DIY, the '16-18 headlights are not electronically compatible with the '19+ models. Given the different shape of the '19+ headlights, some creative bodywork will be required to adapt a '16-18 style bumper. My '21 is currently going through that process (see photo in the post above).

This swap requires customizing the upper grille and filling in the areas around the '19+ headlights (you can get an idea of what might be involved in that by taking a look at the styling of the I5 bumper, particularly the black strip that runs under and up the outsides of the '19+ headlights - see the pictures on their site). Your 50 upper grille would have to be whittled down at the ends and perhaps modified in how it attached to the bumper.

I believe you have to swap in the '16-18 styrofoam absorber that fits under the bumper.

Also, the '21 RS does not have front marker lights - something I hadn't noticed about the refresh until I got mine! Gen5DIY to the rescue - they made me a custom fusebox-tap wiring harness to power the LED front markers. This is not an issue if you are converting a '19+ model with front markers, but an adapter might be required if they changed the connectors like they did with the taillights.

Finally, the raised lines running to the front of the '19+ hood don't match up with those of the '16-18 bumper, so if that sort of detail is something that might bother you, add a hood swap to the mix.

[arpad_m]

Maverick, for the grit to tackle this conversion. I'll keep a tab on this thread.

[Doordash4]

Thank you, @arpad_m for the welcome and will heed your advice about the headlights. OEMs are on sale for the low price of $1200 on eBay right now

@The Maverick - drool that is what I would like to emulate, path of least resistance or not. It looks great from the pic, do you have more that you can post/share? And do you intend to post a guide on how it's going? I can't be the only one interested

To clarify, you mean section (1) is the area that would need to be filled in for 2019+ models and (2) is the area to be trimmed, correct?

Also, are the hood lines that bad or noticeable? It's hard to tell from pics.

Thanks though for your detailed post! It's giving confidence to proceed with the plan.

[The Maverick]

Originally Posted by Doordash4

@The Maverick - drool that is what I would like to emulate, path of least resistance or not. It looks great from the pic, do you have more that you cant post/share? And do you intend to post a guide on how it's going? I can't be the only one interested

To clarify, you mean section (1) is the area that would need to be filled in for 2019+ models and (2) is the area to be trimmed, correct?

Also, are the hood lines that bad or noticeable? It's hard to tell from pics.

Thanks though for your detailed post! It's giving confidence to proceed with the plan.

No significantly different pics right now, unfortunately, and it is still a work-in-progress due to a COVID-influenced pace at the shop. I'll definitely share a more comprehensive overview once things are finished!

Your area (2) is roughly correct, but area (1) also extends up around the outboard edges of the lights.

I double checked and didn't have any pictures where the mismatch in the hood/bumper panel lines are any easier to see. It was suggested that if I wanted to stick with the '21 hood there might be a bodywork solution to modify the bumper to eliminate the mismatch, but I didn't need to explore that option since I am swapping to the '16-18 hood.

I think the mismatch between the '19+ hood and '16-18 bumper would be fairly noticeable, but people tend to have a different eye and tolerance for these sorts of things. If you do a web search and look at comparable head-on photos of '16-18 and '19+ Camaros, you can get an idea of how the spacing and curvature of the lines that run from the hood to the bumper differ between the two variants.

[The Maverick]

Originally Posted by arpad_m

Maverick, for the grit to tackle this conversion. I'll keep a tab on this thread.

Couldn't have done it without the knowledge-base here in the forums that helped me get lined up with a workable approach and an idea of the parts I needed to source! This is way past my backyard swap of a Grabber hood and Torino shaker onto my '73 Maverick... but hoping to have a '21/16 de-fresh Camaro on the road in the near future!

[mano_camaro]

@ The Maverick, were you able to complete the de-fresh?

[arpad_m]

Originally Posted by mano_camaro

@ The Maverick, were you able to complete the de-fresh?

Oh, he sure was, check this out: https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=608035

[mano_camaro]

Thanks for the info Arpad, saw this a bit late, and congrats to @ The Maverick for completing the swap.


I still have an 18' SS bumper in the basement but i want to use the '18 headlights, but the concensus is that they aint compatible.

[The Maverick]

Originally Posted by mano_camaro

Thanks for the info Arpad, saw this a bit late, and congrats to @ The Maverick for completing the swap.

Thanks, and sorry I missed your inquiry here in October! I went back and posted the link to my de-fresh post in some of the threads where I had mentioned the project, but I thought it would like spamming if I posted the link to every one of those threads.