Interchangeability between old front bumper and late style??

[Jimmyess333]

I'm torn between the early PT's and later PTs.
I like the later style interior but I prefer the older style bumper and headlights. Are the bumpers, headlights, and grille directly interchangeable if done together?

[ptprice]

Jimmy, I'm in total agreement with you that the earlier front ends on the PTs are the finest kind. The older ones will bolt right up for you. Fender and hood configuration is exactly the same. You'll have to get a set of earlier headlight assembles and an upper grill. You'll have two bumper configurations to chose from. The very early Pts had the full bumper appearance and the later ones like SOOO BIG have indentations on either side. There are aftermarket chrome thingies for these if you'd like. The aftermarket chrome cap for the upper and lower grill as on SOOO BIG are a nice amendment too. Go for it!

Happy Ptin', ptprice

[Jimmyess333]

Thanks

[Handy_Cruiser]

Originally Posted by ptprice

Jimmy, I'm in total agreement with you that the earlier front ends on the PTs are the finest kind. The older ones will bolt right up for you. Fender and hood configuration is exactly the same. You'll have to get a set of earlier headlight assembles and an upper grill. You'll have two bumper configurations to chose from. The very early Pts had the full bumper appearance and the later ones like SOOO BIG have indentations on either side. There are aftermarket chrome thingies for these if you'd like. The aftermarket chrome cap for the upper and lower grill as on SOOO BIG are a nice amendment too. Go for it!

Happy Ptin', ptprice

Actually, the indentions in the bumpers were there from the very first production PT Cruisers. It was the 2003 thru 2005 turbo PT's that had the bumpers with no indentions. These bumpers come down just a little further in the center too. Models include the 2003 thru 2005 GT, 2004/2005 turbo lights and the 2003 thru 2005 Dream Cruisers. All of these have turbos.

The exception to this were "most" of the 2002 Series I Dream Cruisers. These were not turbos but still had the smooth bumpers. At least most of them did. I've seen photos of some 2002 DC1's and a few in real life that did have the indentions. These could have been replacement bumper covers installed after accidents. But there seems to be too many of them for that. So I'm sticking to "most" for now.

PS: If choosing, I'd go with the turbo bumper. You will need the longer brackets, but it just looks better to me. Here's a photo comparison I put together almost two years ago:

[Fk5]

Did they all have the indentations on the rear? I think my '03 GT has indentations on the rear, but not the front. My rear bumper may have been replaced. My Dad got rear ended in that thing three times!

[Handy_Cruiser]

Originally Posted by Fk5

Did they all have the indentations on the rear? I think my '03 GT has indentations on the rear, but not the front. My rear bumper may have been replaced. My Dad got rear ended in that thing three times!

Yes. All 2001 thru 2005 PT's have the indentations in the rear.

[2step]

The '02 Dream Cruisers (the gold ones) could have started the production run with the non-turbo style front fascia, then at some point in the year switched to the style that was going to be used starting in '03 for the turbo models. Maybe?

I also remember there was even more confusion about the "Chrome Package" bumper covers because they were 2-piece fascias with the little grills under the bumper made as separate, half moon inserts. Both the turbo and non-turbos could be delivered with the 2-piece Chrome Package fascias, but they were still different sizes.

Handy and ptprice are correct. The early bumper fascias can and will fit any Cruiser ever made if also changing the headlights, etc.

I'm personally not a fan of the later style dash which was an attempt to make the Cruiser resemble the Chrysler 300. Big mistake.... but that's just me. If you like it, who am I to argue with what you like?

[Gregor47]

Does anyone have the OEM part number for the all smooth turbo front bumper?