05-06 Rear Bumper Insert Fell Off, Idea for LEDs

**PatrizioD** · 02-15-2014, 10:58 AM

My rear insert that says "GTO" fell off after a nasty pothole hit recently, and was lost to the highway Gods. Looking online, people want RIDICULOUS prices for these pieces of flimsy plastic, and I refuse to be suckered into that. Originally I was looking at getting an 04 bumper and cutting it to fit the dual exhaust, but that's still pretty damn expensive with shipping and all. So here's my idea... I'm sure most of you have seen those trucks with the red LED strip just underneath the bed and above the bumper. I want to use one of these to cover the 3 holes that show white styrofoam where the insert used to mount up. I've measured the distance and its roughly 50" x 1.5" to cover the space where the insert had the honeycomb. I'm thinking either a 48" LED strip wired into the brake lights, or two 24" strips set to scroll wired into the turn signals. As for the sloped sides where it tapers down, I think some HEAVY duty stick on material in either mirror or stainless would serve well. Being lazy as I am I will most likely go for the single 48" strip wired into the brakes.

Any other ideas or suggestions? Possibly an idea to cover the ~4"x8" hole in the lower portion? Thanks for reading!
This is a quick hack job of the general idea. Keep in mind the GTO lettering won't be there on my finished project...

Click image for larger version.

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**35th-ANV-SS** · 02-17-2014, 08:31 PM

Interesting. I'd like to see pics of this project once it is complete.

**cammed goat** · 02-18-2014, 10:35 AM

Have you checked out MaverickManCarbon for his filler panels?

**PatrizioD** · 02-18-2014, 11:38 AM

I hadn't heard of MaverickManCarbon until just now, but looking at the diffusor panel, I'm not impressed with the overall look. Also given those price points, I could easily just buy a direct replacement from JHP for less. I think I'm going to stick with the LED idea. Thanks for the suggestion though, I might eventually end up getting the CF interior overlays from him.

**cammed goat** · 02-23-2014, 04:47 PM

What you COULD do is get the LED strip and smoke it out. I saw this on a Mazdaspeed 6 where the reflectors were replaced with tinted LEDs. Looked sick. You could also wire it to a switch to make it a rear-facing foglight like on the HSVs in Australia. You could get some sheetmetal and trim/roll it to fit where the original filler was. Maybe roll the outer edges so you can use some self-tapping screws to hold the new filler in place.