Bob Kenny
Daily Driver
Hi All,
It's been a while.....haven't had much time to work on the car (or to keep up with the board too much), but I finally started my bumper mod. While I like the bumperless look and DEFINITELY prefer it to the '76 ladder bumpers, it always looked unfinished to me.
I love the 74 bumpers and in fact I have a complete set in my garage, but they are going back on my '74 when I get around to restoring that one. What I really wanted were bumpers reminiscent of the mid 60's to early 70's...a blade style (normally chrome). I searched eBay for 'chrome bumpers' hoping to find some universal type crap, I know, it was a long shot, but I did see bumpers from a 1968 Camaro that looked like they would work. Not wanting to spend 140 dollars on something that might not work, I took to Craigslist and found a '68 Camaro front bumper for $40. It was too long and the front angle was wrong, but the part that wraps around the side of the car was nearly perfect. After a little cutting and welding I had the bumper.
I found some 1 1/2" metal conduit that was the exact diameter of the original pistons and made up some brackets and tapped them to accept the bumpers.
After painting and mounting the bumper I wound up with this:
I then went back to Craigslist and found a 68 Camaro rear bumper and went to work.....again, too long but the wrap around was perfect. Cut, weld, make mounts, install, and this is where I'm at now...it still needs patching, bondo and paint, but I think it's gonna look great:
I feel this is how the car should have been presented in the first place (just my opinion). This was one of those rare moments when the finished product came out EXACTLY the way I pictured it. I'm really happy with it.
Thanks for listening and sorry for being so wordy.
Bob
It's been a while.....haven't had much time to work on the car (or to keep up with the board too much), but I finally started my bumper mod. While I like the bumperless look and DEFINITELY prefer it to the '76 ladder bumpers, it always looked unfinished to me.
I love the 74 bumpers and in fact I have a complete set in my garage, but they are going back on my '74 when I get around to restoring that one. What I really wanted were bumpers reminiscent of the mid 60's to early 70's...a blade style (normally chrome). I searched eBay for 'chrome bumpers' hoping to find some universal type crap, I know, it was a long shot, but I did see bumpers from a 1968 Camaro that looked like they would work. Not wanting to spend 140 dollars on something that might not work, I took to Craigslist and found a '68 Camaro front bumper for $40. It was too long and the front angle was wrong, but the part that wraps around the side of the car was nearly perfect. After a little cutting and welding I had the bumper.
I found some 1 1/2" metal conduit that was the exact diameter of the original pistons and made up some brackets and tapped them to accept the bumpers.
After painting and mounting the bumper I wound up with this:
I then went back to Craigslist and found a 68 Camaro rear bumper and went to work.....again, too long but the wrap around was perfect. Cut, weld, make mounts, install, and this is where I'm at now...it still needs patching, bondo and paint, but I think it's gonna look great:
I feel this is how the car should have been presented in the first place (just my opinion). This was one of those rare moments when the finished product came out EXACTLY the way I pictured it. I'm really happy with it.
Thanks for listening and sorry for being so wordy.
Bob
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