Rear bumper and its distance from the body

Hi,

some time ago, I got my new repro rear bumper (a taiwan part) because the original was rusted, bent and dinged. I was really surprised that the repro part had a nicer chrome than the original, but material was thinner. Otherwise it looks good, fit and sit were quite okay with the exception that it has too much distance from the body with the original brackets which I used. I guess it should be at least half an inch closer to the body.

Are the repro rear bumper brackets made to compensate for the larger gap with the repro bumpers? Will it bring the repro bumper closer to the body with repro brackets? Or is it better to modify some original brackets?

Here are some pics.

Repro brackets are the same as the originals in size

You would need to modity some to get it closer

Looks about like most that I have seen.

Thanks, Don. Is there an experienced figure, how much to shorten them?

Has somebody done this before and has a photo how it looks after modification?

I recently saw an episode of "Overhaulin" on TV where they were working on a 67/68 Mustang. Chip Foose modified the rear bumper to fit closer to the body sides and back. Of course time and money were no object, but he made it look easy! You may be able to find the episode on the Internet. I think it was a 2013 episode.

The bumpers on these cars line up like crap

I'm not done with mine yet, but here's what I've got so far, it's a lot of work, but well worth the result:

View attachment 17112

The first pics look close to my original spacing on 72 vert. The pics by Obsidian look great!! I have also seen shows where custom shops tighten up the bumpers to enhance the lines on different muscle cars. Always looks great. But i suspect the 3mph impact test would result in much more body and paint damage for the daily drivers here.