'75 front bumper tuck

[bigredddaddy]

This is my '74 that I bought wrecked in the front pass corner, I had a '75 that was in bad shape so I swapped the front ends. When I took the bumper off I saw the shocks and the idea came to me "What if I drop those and fab'ed up some brackets?" Well this is the bumper on the car with the custom brackets,it's just a couple of pieces of flat stock with holes punched in I made at work! It looks WAY better than I exspected! The purist may not care for it but that's cool 'cause it's far from stock anyway. Give me your opinions on how it looks to you! Sorry I could only get one pic on here.

[psquare75]

I've seen this done on fordmuscle.com to a 73 Ford Torino (same general style nose, big bumper, etc).. They pulled it in and sectioned the bumper so the ends were up close to the fenders, I have to say it looked really good.

I'd put the rubber filler pieces back and trim them so they fit under the bumper.

I likey :-)

[ragz442]

Looks good. Like Paul said, I'd try and fit the fillers in there. I'm going to do something similar with a fiberglass front bumper.

[brad442]

Sweet!!!!!! Will the filler panels still fit?

[bigredddaddy]

This is the first mock up, I have to aline and ajust fenders and the header yet and have the inner bumper powder coated. But from what I see, I only need the center and side fillers, the parts on the grills where the fillers atach sit right behind the bumper. That bumper in the pic has 4 cancer holes and I'm still looking for another one.

[psquare75]

I've got a 74 that needs a rechrome I'll sell you dirt cheap :)

[bigredddaddy]

I've got a 74 that needs a rechrome I'll sell you dirt cheap :)

Sorry for the mix up, the car is a '74 but the front end is off of a '75 and I'm on the hunt for a '75 bumper, but thanks anyway!!

[psquare75]

I've got one of those that needs a rechrome too :-)

[ragz442]

Actually, with the bumper tucked in like that, it would look good body color IMO.

[73hurst]

Considering these bumpers were only suppossed to survive a 5 mph hit without damage, what are the odds it wouldn't be hit at over 5 mph? My point is, considering the weight, and that most altercations would end up trashing the bumper anyway, wouldn't it be worth the effort to strip out the guts, and mount it on some custom bracketry? At the very least, you'd end up with something like the bumpers used on the '72 and earlier stuff. Bigred has the right idea.

[texxas8902]

Yeah I have thought about trying to use the aluminum brace that came on some of the 78-81 Cutlass' bumpers and adapting it in place of the big hunk of steel behind my bumpers on the 76. I heard that 78-81 Cutlass' could have an aluminium radiator core support too. I've been looking but have never seen one, but I know where a there's a car with the aluminum bumper supports.

[keith455]

Chip Foose does this on a lot of the cars he does.. I think it looks good.

[psquare75]

Take a look at this article, they did just that

http://www.fordmuscle.com/archives/2004/05/BumperMod/index.shtml

If it was me, get an aluminum bumper from an early 80s X body or Ford Escort, cut the ends, and use that as the core support. :)

[texxas8902]

Take a look at this article, they did just that

http://www.fordmuscle.com/archives/2004/05/BumperMod/index.shtml

If it was me, get an aluminum bumper from an early 80s X body or Ford Escort, cut the ends, and use that as the core support. :)

Huh? You're going to use a bumper as your radiator core support?:confused:

[psquare75]

Noo.. use a small aluminum bumper to replace the original large/heavy/steel inner support.

[texxas8902]

Okay same theory as me trying to use the 78-81 Cutlass bumper aluminum support.

[psquare75]

Yah... but where I am anyway, Escorts fall off trees.. the 78-81 aluminum core support is a rare bird.

*squak*

[bigredddaddy]

I've got one of those that needs a rechrome too :-)

Cool! I've got shut down at work coming up and I'll be gone camping for a week and a half, but after I get back to work I'll definetly hit you up for that bumper. That Torino article was a lot of work, looked great though. As far as an aluminum inner, how about starting with a 2x6 piece of channel or boxed tube? I've considered this myself.

[73hurst]

I'll have to take a close look at the bumper on my '73, but I believe it consists of 3+ layers, with the outer layer being the standard chrome piece. I'm wondering if one couldn't just use the outer 1/8" thick, give or take a little, layer, and simply weld or bolt that to a set of brackets, and then mount those to the existing mounts? The filler panels would hide the changes from above. You could keep the bumper in the same position, or tuck it in. If you chose to tuck it in, then some careful trimming of the filler panels would still allow them to be used.

[gmkarguy]

Whew! Major tired head here after reading all of the posts on this--bracketing, Escorts, reinforcements, core supports, support bras (well not the last one). Anyway, guess I'll just be sticking with my big ole 5mph safety crashers.:)

[texxas8902]

Okay all this bumper talk had me taking measurements last night on my buddy's 79 Cutlass. I'll be hitting the wrecking yard today to get those aluminum brackets. I am hoping that at most I will have to drill some mounting holes in the brackets and possibly use some spacers. I won't know for sure what I am going to do until I have it all laying in the driveway trying to put it all back together. I think it will work, I hope it will work. I'll see. I think using both aluminum brackets I should take at least 100 pounds of weight of the extreme far ends of the car. On my car I'm not looking to really change the look, just the weight. I do think the 73's bumpers are the best looking of the 73-77 cars because they fit to the body the best.
Of course it is pouring rain here, but I'm still going with my rain poncho because the car with the bumper supports is on top of another car so at least I won't be laying in the mud and I can't get anyone to work on or inspect the house I'm building because it's too wet. Rained here like 14 of the last 16 days. It usually rains maybe two or three times in this part of Texas in June. Can't work might as well go to the wrecking yard because it started raining again about 5 minutes ago.

[psquare75]

Nothing like being in a junkyard in a lightning storm like I was tonight.. oops.

We could just get the fiberglass bumpers and paint them with that new chrome paint that Alsacorp came out with.

[texxas8902]

Got them for $15 bucks and there is another set in a yard down the road. They may work but I think it is really going to take some work to make the fillers all fit right. I think I'll be installing the dash I have before I tackle the bumper set up but at least I got the parts.
Where do you get the chrome paint? I have a fiberglass bumper for my 67 Cutlass.

[wfd2]

I changed the front bumper on my 75 to a 73. removed the inner supports, welded brackets made out of three inch channel, then bolted them to the orginal 73 bracket and energy absobers. welded up the holes and painted. did the same to the rear exept I used 3 x 4 tubing and bolted them to the frame. tried to include pics, files to big

bill




This is my '74 that I bought wrecked in the front pass corner, I had a '75 that was in bad shape so I swapped the front ends. When I took the bumper off I saw the shocks and the idea came to me "What if I drop those and fab'ed up some brackets?" Well this is the bumper on the car with the custom brackets,it's just a couple of pieces of flat stock with holes punched in I made at work! It looks WAY better than I exspected! The purist may not care for it but that's cool 'cause it's far from stock anyway. Give me your opinions on how it looks to you! Sorry I could only get one pic on here.