Euro Smile Cure?

[NSXGB]

I've done a search but could not find anything definitive.

Has anyone got a cure for the infamous euro smile?

I have my bumper off at the moment and without seeing it beforehand figured a bit of angled aluminium to strengthen it would do the trick. Now it's apart, that idea won't work because the number plate lights get in the way. Unless the plate lights were modified too...

My other idea was to maybe glue a cotton reel shaped piece of plastic to the inside of the actual bumper and use the middle screw hole under the 'smile' to self tap upwards into the cotton reel to pull the surround upward where it should be. Just concerned that the force required to straighten the smile may slightly distort the bumper.
I have not taken any pictures at the moment, just hoping somebody can point me to a thread with a tried and tested solution first...

[NSX 2000]

I thought the only "cure" was to get a Carbon Fibre surround :dunno:

I wonder if Dixon could make some up?

[m666 edd]

The long term cure I was thinking of was a jdm / usdm bumper!

[Nick Graves]

With the 'Lude, I replaced the constantly-breaking plastic pins with nuts & bolts & that seemed to work - for a while until the assy slipped down again.

I've not actually taken it apart so dunno HTH it's meant to stay together, aside from friction.

[NSXGB]

Ok, a JDM bumper or cf surround would do the trick but I was looking for a solution that I don't need to sell one of my kidneys to afford...I'm sure someone posted a budget solution before that I can't find now.


Nick, there is nothing that breaks on the surround to cause it to 'smile', the whole assembly warps causing the middle to sag. If I get a chance, I'll take some pics.

[Nick Graves]

I know; I've got two of them smiling at me. The Lude's is more of a 'drop' as well as a smile. But that's partially my fault for parking by ear.

By increasing the 'clamping' effect, I was hoping to help keep it straight.

But you'd probably need to put the NSX item in hot water for ages to allow it to return to its original shape.

Possibly then somehow reinforce it with JB Weld? But the cutouts for the plate lights cause the weakness & sagging on either car and are hard to bridge.

[Senninha]

Liegh (Kowalski) cured his permanently with a strip of Alli ... speak to him when back in the country ... its a mod I want to do over the winter ...

[greenberet]

My fix for the euro smile was cheap and I hope it’ll last forever.

The problem with the rear license garnish bracket is that it’s made of ABS plastic which deforms easily when warm and then keeps that deformed smiling shape when it cools. The thinnest parts of the bracket are the two cutouts along the top edge where the license plate lights screw into place. So those little heat lamps shine directly at the weakest spots of the bracket. Not a good design.

In any case, my fix was to:

1) remove the bracket from the rear license plate garnish, heat it, bend it back into shape, let it cool, put it back into the garnish, and see how it fits. Several adjustments were necessary until it fit perfectly in all three dimensions.

2) so that the bracket keeps the shape it should have, I epoxied three 7.7 x 0.8 mm carbon fiber strips into the top inside edge with JB Weld (I bought 1000 mm long strips and cut them to be as long as the entire bracket), effectively closing the cutouts for the lights in the process. So that the lights still fit, I installed washers as spacers between the bracket and the lights. Using spacers required longer mounting screws for the lights and I bought all that hardware in stainless steel so that it will never rust like the OEM hardware can.

All in all, the carbon fiber, the JB Weld, and the stainless steel screws and washers cost around EUR 25, if I remember correctly. With the carbon fiber in the bracket now, it should never sag again.

If I’d do it again, I’d look into other adhesives that are less brittle than JB Weld just to be on the safe side in case someone taps into my rear bumper in a parking lot.

Whatever you decide to do, good luck!

[greenberet]

... and one more picture

[NSXGB]

Thanks Greenberet.
Was your licence plate garnish not distorted? If it was, I take it your carbon strips are strong enough to pull it in line or did you heat and re shape that too brfore refitting?

[greenberet]

Was your licence plate garnish not distorted?

Yes, my license plate garnish was distorted as well.

I tried heating it and bending it straight but it’s made of a different plastic than the bracket and it wouldn’t stay straight. I don’t remember what kind of plastic it’s made of and maybe I just would have needed to heat it up more. I didn’t dare, though, because I didn’t want to risk damaging the paint.

Thankfully, the carbon fiber-reinforced bracket is easily strong enough to straighten out the garnish. Those carbon fiber strips (if that’s the correct term for rectangular carbon fiber rods) resist bending very well along their thicker side.

[NSXGB]

Thanks again gb.
Off to homebase to get some bits now....

[WhyOne?]

Off to homebase to get some bits now....

15% off everything today!

Are you about tomorrow afternoon Simon - I have your earth strap & can drop it round?

[NSXGB]

Hi Ian, top man, yup I'll be around tomorrow...

[Nick Graves]

Great job, Greenberet!

It nicely demonstrates what a crap piece of design the garnish attachment is.

[Hagasan]

Great job, Greenberet!

It nicely demonstrates what a crap piece of design the garnish attachment is.

Or maybe compared to the JDM and US how much of an afterthought the UK & EU market is?

[m666 edd]

Or maybe compared to the JDM and US how much of an afterthought the UK & EU market is?

Yeah, they were probably done with UK / EU design and then someone said, "Hold on don't they usually have wider number plates." "Oh but we've already made the bumpers. Lets just cut the hole bigger and stick a surround in."

[Nick Graves]

Considering it's £138 (and £78 for the 'Lude) you'd have thought they might have designed the support a bit better round the top.

IIRC, they did change the light design & set-up on the FL S2000s. mainly because those light screws corrode & make bulb replacement problematical.

The MK2 design collects road grit behind it though! Think all the budget went on the important bits.