Pre89 versus 89+ nose and support.
 

Hello,

First of all, I did try to find info on this, just couldn't. Anyways, just a simple question...

To swap from the 88 front end to the 89 front end, I understand one needs the bumper, grills and turn signal lights.... Is the NOSE necessary? What about any "metal support" or something like that?

I guess my question would actually be: Can I do it nicely with JUST the bumper, turn signals and grills? Even if I have to drill a few holes somewhere..?

Thanks in advance to whoever replies! :-)

I've got an '87 and a '90 and prefer the front end and rear spoiler of the earlier car. The nose on the later car may be better on a turbo as it blocks the air from going in behind the intercooler.

Bumping an old thread to add some info.

There are a couple differences to the nose which are significant enough for a lot of people to swap it as well. The inside mount for the turn signals are in different locations due to the 89+ signal housing being MUCH shorter.

There is a metal and a urethane extension on the pre89 which are used to attach the nose skin to the nose frame. These extensions are in the way of the 89+ turn signal housing. Some people bend them out of the way, some cut them off and glue the nose to the frame in that spot.

The pre89 and 89+ use different grills and thus they each only have mounts to accommodate their own respective grill... you'll need to get creative again.

The pre89 had headlight washers (on all USDM turbo models and available on non-turbo models. I'm unsure about other their availability in other markets.). If you wish to keep these you will need to make adjustments to whichever nose skin you use.

And lastly, the 89+ nose support has mounts which support the upper extension of the 89+ bumper. Without this support there is typically a gap between the bumper and nose of around 1/2".