So I have been stating, when asked, that it is possible to use 88-89 bumpers on a 90-91 Civic Hatchback and vice versa. The main point is to use the correct bumper support for the bumper being used.

For the front the newer 90-91 bumper sticks out an extra inch or two compared to the older 88-89 bumper. Utilizing the incorrect front bumper support will result in a gap at the fender wells.

As for the rear the newer 90-91 bumper hangs lower by an inch or two and as such the brackets that attach at the low points of the bumper are longer when comparing them to the older 88-89 bumper support brackets.

Well I have had older 88-89 style bumpers front and rear on my 1991 Civic hatchback for a few years and although the rear went on without any issues the same couldn't be said about the front bumper. It always had a noticeable gap between the front bumper and filler piece. I always thought it was because my car was tweaked and needed to have the core support replaced. I recently found a pretty straight 88-89 bumper at the junkyards and decided to buy it along with the mounting brackets for the bumper support just in case there was a difference. Here is what I found:





As you can see the threaded holes and cutout are about a half inch or so higher on the 88-89 brackets. The cause of my gap was because I still had the 90-91 brackets which cause the bumper to sit a bit lower creating the gap. I replaced the brackets and installed my newly acquired junkyard bumper and now I no longer have that gap.





I'll see about going back and reinstalling the wrong brackets so I can snap pics for comparison purposes this weekend.

 

never knew this. good to know!!

 

Huge help; I'll be putting a 88-89 bumper on my '90 si, and this is pretty valuable information. Thanks a ton.

Do you know if CRX/Civic rear bumpers are interchangeable? I always figured you could slap a CRX rear bumper onto a civic bumper and call it good, but it wouldn't surprise me if there was some little niggling difference between the two.

 

Thats the same bumper as on my 91 wagon. So does this mean that my brackets are like the 88-89 brackets?

 

EF303 - No problem, figured I should snap pics just in case someone needed to verify what they have/need. As for the CRX rear, I've never taken any measurements but visually it looks like the rear of the car tapers inward so it might be more narrow near the tail lights. More important is the fact that the CRX bumpers (front and back) have the "filler pieces" integrated into them where as the Civic hatchback has them as seperate metal pieces. I'd say more than likely they won't work without some extensive modifications.

91 EF DX - This bumper? https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-crx-ef-civic-1988-1991-3/junkyard-wago-resto-3047288/ If so, look closely, it's not the same. I couldn't tell you which brackets you have or if they are altogether different on a wagon.

 

Ok now that i look closer there are small differences in them

 

Well people do mount SiR style bumpers to them and they line up pretty well so I don't imagine that the brackets would be drastically different if they are different at all. If you pull your bumper you should be able to see them. Both sets I have have a number stamped into them. The 88-89 style had H3L and H3R stamped into them but the 90-91 had a longer code. I'll post up that info later.

 

This is great info!

I have a EF9 front bumper on my 91 hatch. I had to use washers to space the bumper more forward so it lines up with the fender. I just got back from the junkyard, I only found one but compared them and the 88-89 are a little taller than the 90-91 so the 89 bracket pushes the bumper more forward. This may be the perfect solution, now I have to find a whole set.

 

BUMP, So am I able to use the the 89 rear bumper support bracket with a 91 civic rear bumper?