71-72 bumpers on a 73

[Ripper679]

Hello. I know this has been covered here.... but it seems some of the links and pics don't work anymore so I just wanted to reconfirm what I found with some questions.

I'm putting 71-72 bumpers on my 73 coupe to shave some weight as this car will be on the track at times. I'll be keeping my original parts (probably).

For the front I need a new bumper and brackets. Do I also need a new front valance as well or can I use my original (do aftermarket valances even fit good?)? It looks like some holes left below the bumper if I use my original 73 Valance. I believe I also need to modify a mounting hole in the bumper bracket too? Anything else I need?
Does anyone have any pics of the "gappy" areas left when doing this conversion?

For the rear.... I need a new bumper anyway... so I might as well grab the 71-72 mounting brackets to move it closer to the body. I know I need to fill 2 holes on the sides of the car.... anything else I need?
Don't NOS or original bumpers do a good job at lining up with the body lines of the car or are aftermarket rear bumpers good to go?

Thanks all.
Appreciate the help.

 

[351c1971]

Attached are pictures of a modified 71/72 Bumper Bracket on a 73 Frame Rail. All that was required was a bit of drill/dremel work and a small fabricated plate for the rear bolt. The front was a thru bolt and nut. There were no modifications to the Frame Rail.

In the rear of the car the 2 holes are behind the bumper. I just filled the holes body strip calk and used touch up paint. I hope this helps.

 

[Ripper679]

Cool thanks. Do I need a 71-72 front valance too?

 

[351c1971]

My application has the 71-72 Front Valence and Fenders. The 71 urethane front bumper fits with no gaps. I believe the 73 valence and fenders are different. My car had a damaged hood, fenders, valence and bumper when I purchased it, so all of these were replaced with 71-72 parts. As such, I had no opportunity to "mix & match" 71 & 73 parts.

See the attached picture for the urethane bumper gaps.

 

[Lazarus]

You can make a 71-72 front bumper work with the 73 fenders, but (no offense to those who have done it) to me it never looks quite right. I am not a prude about modifications at all, but the indention on the 73 fender for the bumper is an inch or two lower, and as such the fender extensions keep going down and widen at bottom. This makes the bumper end/folds not quite the right width for the extension bottoms, and it also makes for a taller looking grille opening, as the bumper sits lower. It also requires modifying the bumper bracket/mounts that extend from the frame so they end lower but level (so the bumper doesn’t point down). I have seen this all done with a great deal of care such that it looks REALLY close, but still just not quite right enough for me personally.

About the best I have seen is one guy that did it by actually cutting a piece out of both sides of the bumper to make the edges not rise as high. He sorta “chopped” each end and I believe he then welded the trimmed top back on each side and painted the bumper body color. That admittedly looked pretty dang close but was a lot of work.

If I was going to do it I’d swap fenders, or do the bumper mod to try to keep the height from bumper to hood close to the same... but do what you think looks good brother.

 

[Ripper679]

Sweet. Any idea how big the gap is under the grill?

 

[351c1971]

Unfortunately the "good old days are long gone" in the late 70s, I was able to buy a good used 71 front clip for $250. Today the repo parts are over $2,500.

 

[CLT73C]

Here is a '71 bumper installed on a '73 with the rest of the parts (other than the bracket) being '73. There are gaps, but I am fine with it as-is.

They put on the wrong stripe kit, but I will deal with that later if I choose to.

 

[351c1971]

The gap detail is hard to see in the pictures. The gaps seem to be just as bad as the stock 1973 back bumper. Perhaps some sort of black plastic/rubber end fillers could be fabricated.

 

[Ripper679]

Yep.... thanks all for the help. Looks like I need a support brace too for the front bumper as well?

 

[YellowHorse]

Here is a '71 bumper installed on a '73 with the rest of the parts (other than the bracket) being '73. There are gaps, but I am fine with it as-is.

They put on the wrong stripe kit, but I will deal with that later if I choose to.

That gap at the top of the bumper looks totally fine as the buttom opening is much longer (under the bumper ).

Gives the car a completely different look - aggresive and more European like, also bumper is not a continuation of hood and headlight trim like 71 and 72 (which goes back to 1970 gt500 oval /halo chrome trim).
Bumper now goes with the grill chrome trimings (has defined face) instead of pulling on halo around grill look, like earlier cars.

 

[351c1971]

That gap at the top of the bumper looks totally fine as the buttom opening is much longer (under the bumper ).

Gives the car a completely different look - aggresive and more European like, also bumper is not a continuation of hood and headlight trim like 71 and 72 (which goes back to 1970 gt500 oval /halo chrome trim).
Bumper now goes with the grill chrome trimings (has defined face) instead of pulling on halo around grill look, like earlier cars.

It looks good to me. The turn signals above the bumper are definitely more visible than the 71-73's below the bumper.

 

[351c1971]

The 71-73 stripe kit might be an issue on the 73 fender with the location of the side marker light being different. I am not sure about this, just a "heads up".

 

[Ripper679]

Man, I love this forum.
Thanks all.

 

[AOCUSNRET]

Attached are pictures of a modified 71/72 Bumper Bracket on a 73 Frame Rail. All that was required was a bit of drill/dremel work and a small fabricated plate for the rear bolt. The front was a thru bolt and nut. There were no modifications to the Frame Rail.

In the rear of the car the 2 holes are behind the bumper. I just filled the holes body strip calk and used touch up paint. I hope this helps.

I have the big bumper on my 73 but want to swap to the chrome to save some weight and plus I like the look of chrome. Could you explain how you did the mod. I really can't tell from the pictures. What do mean by a plate for the rear bolt. Is that to just strengthen the hole or something else? I gather that you wouldn't use the original mounting points? Thanks.

 

[351c1971]

You are correct. The small plate is really a square washer to cover the elongated hole in the 71-72 bumper bracket. I used the original mounting points with all modifications to the 71-72 bumper bracket.

 

[Ripper679]

Did you still need the bumper reinforcement plate for the chrome bumper?

 

[rackerm]

Hello. I know this has been covered here.... but it seems some of the links and pics don't work anymore so I just wanted to reconfirm what I found with some questions.

I'm putting 71-72 bumpers on my 73 coupe to shave some weight as this car will be on the track at times. I'll be keeping my original parts (probably).

For the front I need a new bumper and brackets. Do I also need a new front valance as well or can I use my original (do aftermarket valances even fit good?)? It looks like some holes left below the bumper if I use my original 73 Valance. I believe I also need to modify a mounting hole in the bumper bracket too? Anything else I need?
Does anyone have any pics of the "gappy" areas left when doing this conversion?

For the rear.... I need a new bumper anyway... so I might as well grab the 71-72 mounting brackets to move it closer to the body. I know I need to fill 2 holes on the sides of the car.... anything else I need?
Don't NOS or original bumpers do a good job at lining up with the body lines of the car or are aftermarket rear bumpers good to go?

Thanks all.
Appreciate the help.

On the rear bumper, there are also holes horizontally in the tail panel below the tail panel trim where a stone deflector and filler strip painted body color will have to be removed and the mounting hole filled. It filled the gap between the rear bumper and the tail panel.

While in the process of restoring my 73 vert, I decide to compare the stock rear bumper setup to a 71-72 setup. I had a set of 72 quarter-panel end caps, 72 bumper mounts and a chrome bumper without the bumper strips and guards. Here is a picture contrasting the two...

 

[351c1971]

My bumper is polyurethane and I used the reinforcement plate that came with the bumper.

 

[AOCUSNRET]

You are correct. The small plate is really a square washer to cover the elongated hole in the 71-72 bumper bracket. I used the original mounting points with all modifications to the 71-72 bumper bracket.

Thanks.