I've been looking to get the '99 front bumper put on my car, and from what I've seen the bumper sags a bit without at least the reinforcement bar, and either a new custom skid plate or the '99 skid plate.
The OEM bumper is around $700-$800, but all the supporting pieces add up something like another $1500. That seems to be nearly approaching what an entire front clip costs.

Does anyone have information for getting into contact with people looking to part out '99+ front clips so I can get those supporting components for the very front end significantly cheaper?
Sorry if this has been gone over. I tried searching, but maybe I searched for the wrong thing.

 

So youre saying it sags when people cut the OEM 93-95 rebar or remove it completely? I was planning on cutting the oem to save a bit of money. I cant image it being that much different. Cutting is really only for the turn signals.
After market turn signals by depo would save a few bucks. Used ones also pop up in the for sale section fairly often.

 

From what I've seen, when people use the 93-95 rebar it sags and does not look as good. Some people say it doesn't, but to me it sure as heck looks like it, though it is much better if you at least have the '99 or a custom skid plate which provides a lot of support to the bottom.
Cutting is just for the turn signals to fit, yes. That's not what causes the sagging.
With the '99 rebar, it both has mounts for the air guides but it also has 4 parts where the bumper attaches near the middle being on the turn indicators and the plate holder.

I think you could potentially build up on the center top of the 93-95 rebar to support behind the license plate holder and use a custom skid plate which may be cheaper, but I'd like to go the used '99+ parts route if I could get a hold of them. I want a proper OEM fitment and easy support for other '99 front-end parts.

Turn indicators, yeah, aren't a problem. It's the $800 '99 rebar and $400 skidplate which are my big issue. Being able to get cheaper used air guides would be nice too, but arne't required at the moment.

 

The black 1999+ rebar center vent surround does support the lower portion of 1999+ bumper cover.
Once you add all hardware and plastic bits behind 1999+ bumper covers, yes Mazda prices are insane.
In the absence of that rebar center support piece, the bottom cover center strip could possibly be stiffened with a one piece non urethane lip spoiler ? but these aren't cheap either, outside of a few FRP examples.
Bonding an OEM lip spoiler at the middle inner join, might allieviate some sag, until you touch a parking curb ( ;

If the skid plate you're referring to, is the plastic engine undertray, I suspect 1993 + 1999 versions might be interchangeable ? or easily redrilled to fit. I was told my flatter 1999+ tray will work on earlier version bumpers,
but I havent test fitted it.
Remember the laws of short supply + big demand.
Happy hunting !

 

Nope the front skid plate for 93-95 doesn't fit the '99.
It's metal, of course. Here's a picture
https://i.imgur.com/xsyKzcm.jpg
I believe the 93-95 doesn't fit because there is less of a curve to it, and might come up short near the tip.
You could surely wield and drill the matching holes, though that's some labor for a non-OEM fit unless you're doing it yourself which I wouldn't be for something like this.

And yeah, the '99 parts are in demand, for sure. I would still expect front clips to pop up trying to part those out. I just wasn't sure where to look.
Really, I think the bumper has been around the same $700-$800 for like 10 years now? I'm not sure if the supporting bits went up, but no I think they were just always expensive.

 

Ummm....I bought a new OEM under tray/skid plate for 93-95 two years ago to put on my R1 and it was definitely NOT metal.

 

Are you sure you're not, again, talking about the plastic engine skid plate?
Or maybe the 93-95 one is plastic. But it sure looks to me that the '99 one is metal. I could be wrong.

 

The part pictured above, typically called a splash shield or belly pan, is without a question plastic.

Dale

 

Anyone have any recent first hand experience installing the 99 bumper then? Are best options for a clean install in fact getting everything 99 spec (splash shield, rebar, etc)

 

not much to it really, removing the 93 bumper is the most annoying part but that's not really that hard either.

don't forget the 99 air guide if you want to be really complete. I changed the rebar, bumper, signals and air guide. My 93 splash shield seems to fit fine.

if you want to keep your 93 rebar you can try either lopping off the ends or try to widen the holes to fit. there's not really any good looking option to do that but at least you can't see it.

 

The problem with cutting the 93 rebar isn't that it looks bad when you can't see it, it's that it seems like it contributes to making the bumper itself sag.
Plus the other 99 air dam parts mount up to the 99 rebar.

 

I installed a 99 bumper over the winter. I reused the 93 rebar and enlarged the DRL holes. Here is a picture:



The oil cooler ducts are R-Magic ducts to fit the 99 bumper openings.

 

Thanks for sharing. Any other thoughts or suggestions on the install? You have pics of the finished product?
Thanks!

 

Nice work ! I would love to see a bumper installed pic, as well
Can I ask how much up + down bumper movement there is where the OEM 2 piece lip spoiler would join in the middle ?
I recently found out 1999+ bumper covers can split over time, either from certain impact stresses or possibly from fatigue, while I was looking at an older example.
So if the center vent bottom lip moves around much in the middle, while driving, the lip spoiler would either need to be replaced with a stiffer 1 piece lip, or a 1999+ style black lower brace would need to be fabricated to maintain long term bumper cover integrity, I suspect ?.
It's too bad Mazda doesn't sell this black center vent surround/support separately.

 

It's pretty straight forward. The biggest issue that I had was fitting the nuts on to the three bolts on each side of the bumper. It's a real pain to fit all three on each side because it's very cramped in that little space.

The lower centre section is indeed quite flimsy. It bends and flexes quite a bit and I recommend using an undertray if you're going to be using the OEM two piece lip. I went with a single piece lip, which added a lot of rigidity to the underside of the bumper. I plan to eventually build/buy an undertray for extra support (even with the one piece lip).

Here are a couple of pictures. They were taken before I aligned everything so the gaps are off a little bit around the hood & light covers.

...and excuse the dirt. The car has been sitting since winter hit half a year ago.

 

Whats winter?
Jk.

So all in all you only bought the DRL, lip, oil cooler guides, and the bumper itself?

 

My garage last week. RIP car season


Yes, that's all I bought. The lights are DEPO lights from Ebay. They are plug & play with the 93 connectors.

 

Wow jesus...
And thanks again for all the pointers!

 

You can also start with just a few of the pieces, and decide how you want to go after the bumper is installed. It seems everyone has a different story about how their cars went, maybe you'll find that you can cut your 93 rebar and put on the 99 bumper cover and it's fine. I know a lot of people with the 93 rebar and their 99 bumper does not sag.