Hey, I'm a long-time member on this site and have had a '98 Civic for years.

Today I just got my first Prelude, a Barbados Yellow 1988 4WS. I'm already in love. :D

Problem is, she hasn't always had good luck.

So I need to know how to remove the front and rear bumpers.

I'd really appreciate any help. I'm not used to the older designs and didn't have any luck searching.

EDIT:

Front Bumper Removal

 

(Front Bumper) remove the front amber turn signals there should be 2 12mm bolts on each side ur going to need a long extention then open the hood there shold be another 12mm bolt by the headlights undo those and then the bumper should slid out.....idk about the back bumper never took mine out i had a 86 2.0 si prelude sorry that i couldnt help u with the back bumper

 

So far I've removed the following:

Front Bumper
- 5 (five) large black screws on the top of the bumper between the headlights (Phillips tip impact driver)
- 2 (two) 10mm bolts on the underside of the front of the bumper
- 2 (two) 12mm bolts holding the top of the fog lights on (one on each side)
- 2 (two) 10mm bolts behind the foglights (one on each side)

I see under the front point of each fender, on top of the bumper there is one of those large black screws that were all across the top. I don't know how to get to those.

There was one Phillips screw in the outside edge of each amber marker on the front too, but when I remove those it looks like the amber marker is some how attached to the amber turn signal assembly.

This is the type of front end I have btw. The '88-'89 front.


(Not my pic - illustrative purposes only.)

 

The bumper is entirely lose, EXCEPT for those two big flat black screws on the top of the outside corners of the bumper. The front point of the fender hangs over these screws, covering them up.

Does anyone know a trick to removing them without damaging anything?

 

This is where the screws holding it on are. The Helms manual doesn't even mention them.



I started trying to get the rear bumper off too, but didn't see the nuts the Helms manual says are there. My back is starting to hurt so I admit I didn't look too long.

I think this bumper is more like a '90-'93 Accord or '88-'91 Integra, but I don't know how to remove those bumpers either. I know how to remove '96-'00 Civic bumpers. They're super easy.

 

These are the directions according to the Helms manual. These directions did NOT work for me.

FRONT BUMPER

1. Remove the side marker lights and front turn signal lights.

2. Remove the fog lights or lids.

3. Remove the 2 bumper lower mount bolts and the 4 bumper mount bolts.

4. Disconnect the headlight washer hose.

5. Remove the bumper by sliding it forward.

If necessary:
6. Remove the bumper brackets by removing the bracket mount bolts.

7. Remove the screws, then remove the mud guards.

REAR BUMPER

1. Disconnect the two license light wire connectors.

2. Remove the 3 bumper mount screws on each side at the corner edge of the bumper.

3. Remove the 2 bumper lower mount nuts from under the trunk floor.

4. Remove the 2 bumper upper mount nuts from the trunk area.

5. Remove the bumper by sliding it to the rear.

NOTE: Do not damage the threads of the bumper bolts.

If necessary:
6. Remove the screws and nuts, then remove the rear under spoiler.

 

Okay, so i got the entire front bumper off. Since I had trouble and since I couldn't find directions online, I might as well type if up here in case anyone needs help later.

When I get the rear off I'll check over those directions too.

Front Bumper Removal

Tools:
- Phillips screwdriver
- Impact driver
- 10mm socket
- 12mm socket
- Ratchet
- 4 inch or 6 inch extension (probably not needed, but it made life easier)

1. Remove the Phillips screw holding in the front side marker light. Unplug the lights (I found it's easier to remove the light bulbs from the assembly than to manage to unplug the side marker harness from the front end harness). There is a plastic nipple style clip holding the side marker to the front turn signal, but it should pop free so you can remove the marker.

2. Remove the Phillips screw holding in the front turn signal. Unplug the lights (see above explanation). There is a hook style clip on the inside of the assembly. Slide the assembly out to remove it from the car.

3. Remove the 12mm bolts holding in the foglight bracket. There was only one bolt per side. There is also a tiny pin holding it in, but with a bit of shifting around you should be able to gently remove it without damage to the car or the light. Remove the foglight assembly (this required the plug to be unplugged). *Some cars might have lids in place of the foglights.

4. Remove the 10mm bumper mounting bolt that is behind where the foglight assembly sits in the bumper.

5. Remove the 10mm bumper mounting bolts on the underside of the bumper. These are accessible from the front of the car.

6. Remove the big black Philllips screws along the top of the bumper / core support area. These tend to be tough to remove, at least if they haven't been touched in some time. I used an impact driver.

7. Remove the 10mm (IIRC) bolts along the top of the bumper that sit on the black plastic under the headlights. There are two bolts per side. You might need to remove the black headlight shroud in order to get to these bolts. (This is how I got around not being able to reach the big black Phillips screw that sits at the top of the bumper but is covered by the fender).

8. Slide the bumper forward to remove it.

Installation is the reverse.

 

I understand that you already got these off but a good tip (for next time?) would be to clamp them with Vise Grips. Initially I tried using an impact screw driver but that stripped the heads on my bumper screws. Cheap screws = malleable metal = easily stripped. Then I just clamped Vise Grips to the head and 1/10th of a turn at a time I loosened them. Of course it distorted the head but those can be replaced for little cost.

 

The problem I had was that the front pointed corner of the fenders is right on top of two of those screws. So even if they were easy hardware to remove, there's no way you can get a tool in there.