Real Creamsicle - questions on originality, keeping it 100% original Options

[Rmvr53]

I've a question for the esteemed panel.
I have a real creamsicle (ok its my daughters) that was sitting too close to the house when it burned down. Most rubber/plastic items melted and I have replaced the lenses etc but I am at a quandry on the rubber nerfs on the front bumper. I am temped to remove them and repaint the bumper and leave them off since the lines of the car are much cleaner without them. As for the rubber top cap I have a fiberglass replica (Carl Rudolph) I'm installing in place of the rubber top.

Thoughts?

Bill F

[Tom_T]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif) with Jeff & George - keep it as Original, & it will be worth more to boot!

Mikey914 (Mark) under vendors on 914world sells som repro bumper tops F&R which look EXACTLY like OE - but are made with better non-porous rubber & SS innards that won't likel;y ever rust nor get tthos ugly "dimples". The OE stock ones were carbon steel with "not-always-so-closed-cell" polyurethane synthetic rubber, which allowed water to seep in & rust the mild steel inside causing those dimples & rusted studs, etc.

I saw in person one of his Repros on the Front (NLA in OE anymore anyway) & an OE on the rear of SoCalAndy's yellow 72 (see cars of the month here), & could NOT tell the difference. That convinced me not only to go with his repro front, but also for the rear for the better product reasons (over the OE one I'd already bought), for my early-73 914S/914-2.0 resto! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

As for refitting the AC - AA offers a modern AC running on the new R134 Freon & the compressor only robs 1-2 HP (vs. 5-10 on older VPC or DPD dealer add-ons). If you keep the AC - ask George at AA if you can retro-fit his "new" system into the original dealer option under the under-tire evap cover & into VPC under dash console in your/daughter's LE to keep it looking as delivered from the dealer, but running more efficiently, with the "safe" Freon & less HP lost. I looked into this route for mine using a DPD set-up to still look period correct for CW reasons - because lack of AC in SoCal was a problem for me, but George & others here advised me not to add it, since mine was not that way from a dealer originally.

If you have the original bill of sale &/or other docs from the dealer showing the VPC, then a CW could either keep that update, or reinstall the original VPC stuff (keep that if you do the update), and it would still pass muster IIRC at PCA concours stuff.

If you need a pair of the NLA front tits (rubber bumper guards) - I ended up with 3 pairs in VG-Excl condition, of which I'll be putting the best 9.9 of 10 set on mine, but the other two are almost as good at say 9.2 & 9.5 - with the former having had the studs replaced on the backside, but cosmetically great on the front (visible) side. I also have that NIB OE rear bumper rubber topper if you need one of those & don't want to use the repro. Otherwise PM Mark under member Mikey914 here for the repro front &/or rear. I wouldn't use the FG one on an LE or nice 914 or resto at all.

PM or email me if you want any of those parts above.