March 25th, 2022 - Mugen Pro.2 Rear Bumper Install - Part Two

March 25th, 2022 - Mugen Pro.2 Rear Bumper Install - Part Two

Click Here For The Previous Bumper Install Post.

Not much happened with the rear bumper in 2020 - as the world kinda stopped, so did a lot of my work on the CR-X. But in 2021 and so far in 2022, I was finally able to make some further improvements. 

Photo from 2020

Addressing The Exhaust Height

In late 2020 I picked up an exhaust hanger from Amazon that was longer than the existing which gave more clearance to the soup-can exhaust tip on the Tanabe. The only trouble is, I couldn’t find one that would fit properly so it was kind of loose, which didn’t thrill me all that much. I had visions of it falling off with normal road and engine vibrations/movement. So in early 2021 I went back to 'the Google' to try and find one that would fit a little more snug on the mount of the car and the exhaust. After much searching, lo and behold I found one that was 10mm and put in my order for two. 

OEM Exhaust Hanger

First Exhaust Hanger (Holes Too Large)

Second Exhaust Hanger, 10mm Hole Was Just Right

Side-By-Side Comparison

Exhaust Fitment

Side Mounting Bracket

I replaced the Allen key style bolts on the side brackets with regular hex head bolts since squeezing in the wheel well with an Allen key wasn’t working well for me. I just ordered some from M6x16 bolts from Honda (93405-0601608) and installed them. Much much easier to work with. 

Side Mounting Bracket

License Plate Mounting

The license plate bracket proved a challenge. I mounted the Blox JDM/USDM adapter on the JDM mount on my car only to find out the JDM mount on my CR-X is a bit crooked. I tried bending it back into place and it made a difference, but it didn’t make a big enough difference. So I just sort of stuck the plate on for the 2021 season and hoped for the best until I could get it sorted out. 

JDM Mounting Bracket

The disappointing part was how far it stuck out. If I'd put the bottom of the plate in the little U-shaped holders near the bumper lip, it would have been angled a bit.

Blox JDM/USDM Conversion Mount

Also, the way the Honda rear plate bracket is designed, it wouldn't allow for me to use any custom hardware to mount my license plate. Granted, not a huge deal or a show-stopper, but it wasn't what I wanted. 

I also found some no-name license plate adapters on Yahoo Japan and ordered two sets to try and while they helped with how far the top of the license plate stuck out, I still ran into the same issues using the custom hardware with those because the back of the JDM bracket is straight across and doesn't allow access to the back side of the Blox bracket.  

No-Name JDM/USDM Converter

At the end of the day, I removed the OEM Honda mounting bracket from the rear bulkhead and I drilled two new holes a little closer together and used the North American license plate brackets to mount the plate. By using the North American brackets, and not having to rely on the adapters to install my license plate, I'm free to choose some decorative mounting hardware, like my replica license plate seals, on the license plate.

Tape Between The Existing Holes As A Guide

19/64" Drill Bit

Lined Up And Taped An Old License Plate
To Mark Where The Holes Need To Go

Drilled Holes

Mounted the North American Brackets

A note about removing the rear JDM license plate bracket. Honda uses two regular nuts and two rounded ones. After posting in some Facebook pages, a user replied that the rounded nuts are by design (likely a security thing?) and that I could use a pair of vice grips to remove them. 

Using Vice Grips To Remove Round Nuts

Example Of Round Nuts. If Re-Using Bracket, Regular Nuts Can Be Used

License Plate Lights

I have so many license plate housings I never bothered to buy new ones to swap onto my car. I did buy some new lenses and seals back in the day, but when I tried to mate the two together, they just looked all kinds of wrong. I decided to clean the housings but since it was still winter and I was working in an unheated garage, the water was still shut off out there. One night, when my wife was out with her friends for dinner, I took the housings into the bathroom just off the garage and used a wire brush and some warm water to clean the 30 years of road grime and dirt off them. She was not happy when she saw the pictures I'd posted to Facebook. 

Note to self: Next time, set the privacy settings on your Facebook photos when you've been bad and cleaned car parts in the bathroom sink. Thankfully, she doesn't read this blog so I'm safe haha

All Clean!

The Aftermath

The Aftermath

The bolts I'd ordered for the license plate lights last year were still a little too big but luckily in the meantime I'd found the originals (which I couldn't find last year). 

Rusty License Plate Screws

Two of the bolts are quite (surface) rusty, so when I take the bumper in to get it painted, I will have to find a way to clean them up. But they will be fine for now, so this year I will be able to light up my license plate and not worry so much about driving at night.

Hiding The Imperfections

If I'm being completely honest, this bumper is not in the best shape. I'm not complaining. For $200 CAD, it's was a heck of bargain, but there's many surface scratches and the patch job one of the previous owners attempted is an eyesore compared to the rest of the car. 

Bad Patch Job

To help everything look at least passable for this driving season, I grabbed a rattle can of NH526M from Canadian Tire (Think Target meets Pep Boys, for anyone in the USA). I didn't clear coat it afterwards but it cleaned up the bumper just enough that at a glance it should look decent, with no white gelcoat poking through.  

                                      

Adding The Rear Grills

And finally, the part I'd been waiting years to do but for some reason never got around to doing: Removing the grills from the spare Mugen bumper I'd purchased in 2007 and installing them on the bumper I bought in 2012, which believe it or not, is in better shape than the first one I bought in 2007 and that one in 2007 was $500 more expensive! 

The screws were pretty rusty near the bottom and I had to cut or damage about half of them during removal, so I had to get some replacements. Original size screw was 3mm x 20mm. I managed to find 3x12 and 3x25. Since I felt that the original size was much too long, going any longer wasn't appealing so I chose to buy the 12mm length to try them out. I was happy with how they looked once installed. 

Grill Removal

Original Screws

Replacement Screws

Original Screw (Top Side, Less Rusty)

New Screw

Original Screw

Replacement Screw

To mount them, I placed the grill where I wanted it, not that there was a lot of play to adjust anyways. Then I took my Dremel with a 7/64" sized bit and placed it in the hole and turned the Dremel on to mark where the hole is.  The reason I started the holes with the smaller bit was so that it would fit through the grill opening and not damage the grill hole. Repeat for the other 11 holes and then removed the grill. Taking a 1/8" sized bit, I drilled all 12 markings all the way through.

Mounting Holes Drilled

The awkwardness of getting the nuts on the screws with the bumper on the workbench was trying my patience, so I ended up feeding all the screws through the holes and taping the heads down with some masking tape so I could flip the bumper over and attach the nuts more easily. My patience (and my back) thanked me afterward. 

Taped Screw Heads So Bumper Can Be Flipped

Adding The Nuts

The addition of the grills made it quite clear that the license plate brackets were too low profile and would cause the bumper to sit on the grills and possibly damage them. I checked the instructions, and noticed that the original included 3mm spacers for the brackets to sit on. I checked and the second bumper still had the originals stuck on (after years of pressure). Removed them and fitted them to the license plate brackets ensuring proper fitment of the license plate and the grills.

Grills Added, Mocking Up License Plate

Rubber Spacers For License Plate Brackets

This One Measures 4mm, But Mugen Instructions Say 3mm

Sliding The Spacer Onto The Bracket

Reinstallation

Reinstalled the bumper this past weekend and I couldn't be happier with the result. It's far from perfect, but until I get it in for repairs and a respray, it will do great for me, and it makes the car looks a little more complete over the OEM rear bumper, and even more so with the scratches covered, and grills installed. 

Up next is to finish the front bumper...

Remember, this blog was written in chronological order so, you will need to click OLDER POSTS to move forward in time, and click NEWER POSTS to go backwards.