[Fasazu2]

Has anyone performed this or have any advise on how to do it? I have found the thread for the rear bumper tuck. Thanks

 

[Custom Jim]

I removed the filler panels on my 73 years ago and to make it look good you need to do a fair amount of work.

I've seen plenty of the rear bumpers just moved forward and while this looks better to some the bumper itself to me also needs to be narrowed so that the ends that wrap forward on the sides of the quarters also fit tighter. If you have a 1/4" gap between the taillight panel and the front edge of the bumper it would look nice to have the same 1/4" gap between the sides of the quarter panel and the side edge of the bumper. By moving the rear bumper forward you can get a 1/4" gap but without narrowing the bumper the gap on the side of the quarters is way too large.

On the front bumper on my 73 I did a lot of sectioning to get rid of the filler panel and this bumper took a lot more work than the rear did.

If you opt to section your bumpers to get them to fit tighter against the body, plan your cuts to where you can get the middle section to bolt onto the car and then work your way outward towards the ends.

On my 73 I painted my bumpers after sectioning them but if you do a good job fitting and welding them you can get them rechromed to look more original.

Jim

 

[booker]

Bumper tuck

Is it possible to bolt on a pair of 70-72 bumpers? What would it take to do this? I have a 73 SS that I am starting to fix up and I want the tucked in bumpers like the 70-73. Has anyone done this?
Thanks

 

[onequiknova]

First I will say that I agree with custom Jim that sectioning the bumper along with tucking them is the best way to go. Unfortunatlly that goes beyond my skills. The way I did mine is not the best way, but it was easy and required little work.

I did this about 9 years ago so some of what I did is a little fuzzy, but basically what I did was collapse the bumper shocks by drilling a hole in them to release the pressure, then remounted the bumper shocks back on the frame about two inches toward the rear of the car. This will require you to drill a couple new holes in the frame for the new location of the bumper shocks.

The stock bumper filler is discarded, and the chrome trim under the grille becomes the new bumper filler. I would have trimed the rubber corner fillers that mount under the fender extensions to fit, but mine were wasted.

A better way to go would be to fabricate some new, lighter bumper brackets, but I do not possess those skills. I did however cut away most of the inner shell of the bumper to save weight.

I can also attest to the durability of the new set up. With out going into to much detail, the front of my 05 Silverado got acquainted with the front of the 74 in the driveway over the winter with these results...

I destroyed the grille, but the bumper didn't move.

John.

 

[onequiknova]

A little subtle cutting, welding and grinding on the bumper would make a much cleaner looking front end. I slaped this together in MS paint. I shortened the side of the bumper and filled in under the fender extension. (compare to the pic in my first post)Similar work to the rear bumper would help as well.

 

[DREDNOT]

onequicknova, this might sound stupid, but how much pressure is in the bumper shocks? I was thinking of cutting the shocks off and keeping the two mounting plates on either end and cutting some round tubing a couple of inches shorter than the shocks and welding them to the two stock mounting plates. That way I could use the original mounting holes. But I didn't know how much pressure was in the shocks. Would this be easier than finding a 1973 bumper?

 

[onequiknova]

onequicknova, this might sound stupid, but how much pressure is in the bumper shocks? I was thinking of cutting the shocks off and keeping the two mounting plates on either end and cutting some round tubing a couple of inches shorter than the shocks and welding them to the two stock mounting plates. That way I could use the original mounting holes. But I didn't know how much pressure was in the shocks. Would this be easier than finding a 1973 bumper?

I don't know how much pressure is suposed to be in them, but when I drilled the holes in mine I felt or saw nothing come out. Your idea for the brackets is pretty much what I would have done if I could weld back then. YOu will save a bunch of weight off the front end that way too.
If you decide to go with a 73 bumper you will still need to figure out a way to tuck the bumper. 73's may not stick out quite as far as the 74's, but in my opinion they still stick out too far. You might as well just work with your 74 bumper.

John.

 

[DREDNOT]

I don't know how much pressure is suposed to be in them, but when I drilled the holes in mine I felt or saw nothing come out. Your idea for the brackets is pretty much what I would have done if I could weld back then. YOu will save a bunch of weight off the front end that way too.
If you decide to go with a 73 bumper you will still need to figure out a way to tuck the bumper. 73's may not stick out quite as far as the 74's, but in my opinion they still stick out too far. You might as well just work with your 74 bumper.

John.

Thanks, I didn't want to cut on it and it explode in my face. I read another guy's post about cutting out alot of the reinforcement inside the bumper on the 74. I hadn't thought of that for saving weight. How did you cut out any of the reinforcement?

 

[74 hatchback]

74' tuck to the grill

You will have to make brackets to get it to the grill and remove all fillers including lower grill/bezel trim. Ill post a pic of the bracket when i can.

 

[onequiknova]

Thanks, I didn't want to cut on it and it explode in my face. I read another guy's post about cutting out alot of the reinforcement inside the bumper on the 74. I hadn't thought of that for saving weight. How did you cut out any of the reinforcement?

A picture is worth a thousand words, so here you go. You are looking at the passenger side front. The only part of the reinforcement I left was where the bumper mounts to the bumper shocks. I also did the same for the rear bumper.

 

[DREDNOT]

Thanks for the pics, they help me alot. I just need the time now, seeing how this isn't expensive.

Onequicknova, your car looks awesome, I need to do a search and find more pics of your car.

74hatch, your car looks awesome also, I like the hood. Is it custom? I hope I am not hijacking this thread from th OP.

 

[1973novaman]

love your car hope my car looks as good 1973novaman im building 73 hatchback car

A little subtle cutting, welding and grinding on the bumper would make a much cleaner looking front end. I slaped this together in MS paint. I shortened the side of the bumper and filled in under the fender extension. (compare to the pic in my first post)Similar work to the rear bumper would help as well.

im going to use 68 -72 bumper brackets