71 -72 Chrome Bumper on my 73

[rocket366]

Job wasnt that tough but pricy when you add it up

Bumper

Brackets

valance

lights

Hardware

Beer

Hood nose chrome

Fender Extensions chrome

Goodbye rubber nose

Makeover #Priceless

Paul

 

[rackerm]

Looks great! Well worth the time and money.

 

[judge]

Looks good, I would have expected big gaps between the grill and bumper.

 

[rocket366]

Judge I should mention its not a bolt-on and be done it requires bracket re-fab and welding.

Thanks

Paul

 

[mach71351c]

Nice job.

 

[cazsper]

Judge I should mention its not a bolt-on and be done it requires bracket re-fab and welding.

Thanks

I also have a '73. Would this have been "bolt on" if you swapped the fenders for '71/72's?

 

[rocket366]

I dont see 71-2 fenders making a difference

The 71-2 bracket mounting hole locations are different than the 73 and the

73 grill is different.

Paul

 

[cazsper]

I dont see 71-2 fenders making a difference

The 71-2 bracket mounting hole locations are different than the 73 and the

73 grill is different.

Paul

Oh ok. I thought the only difference was the fenders .. thanks..

Mike

 

[pposey]

Cab you post an image from the side view please? Been thinking about doing this for a long time

 

[luxstang]

I dont see 71-2 fenders making a difference

The 71-2 bracket mounting hole locations are different than the 73 and the

73 grill is different.

Paul

Oh ok. I thought the only difference was the fenders .. thanks..

Mike

The fenders would make a difference as the 73s are different from the 71/72s. You'd still have different mounting points for the bumper but the 73 fender's opening for the bumper is lower than on the 71/72. The fender extensions are different too.

 

[Fabrice]

Looks so much better than the massive front 73 bumper!

I did same years ago, no regrets. As said above, only the bracket requires a relocation of the holes

and in my case, cut the lower lip of the bracket so it could rest on the frame. At the time, 25 years ago or so,

I did not have a welding machine. Just to say you do not need perse to have one. Today, I would fabricate the bracket

so it also receives a new metal plate that would go thru the entire length of grille, to close the gap you see while looking near the car at a certain angle. I plan make my own aluminum grille, so that part will be welded on the grille vs redo these...

One detail I will also soon need to adress after new paint job, is making some plastic/foamish thingy to go on

the opening of the fenders, to protect from bumper. Ordered a 71 set a while back, thinking they would fit with some serious massage, but no.

For now, (as visible on pict), i'm using a simple piece of strong black leather.

Here's my conversion



Our car acting like parachutes on the aerodynamics, I've pushed a bit more by filling the huge emptiness of the valance.

For this I've fabricated a mould and used carbon kevlar fibers. Prolly the strongest useless thingy ever made with that stuff

Bit dusty but you get the idea...

 

[mpbsr]

Looks good, but I like my rubber nose.

 

[Fabrice]

[ I like my rubber nose.]

One thing is sure, you are much safer with it. The chrome bumper offers like zero protection.

If I would do the swap over, I'd keep the "guiding" square tubes of the 73 bracket, and mix the 712 bracket so it would absorb

a bit of an eventual impact energy. As is now, I don't want to think about the damage if I'd get a frontal hit...

On the plus side of this swap, aside the personal design preferences, you save quite a bit of weight on the nose.

 

[pposey]

Looks so much better than the massive front 73 bumper!

I did same years ago, no regrets. As said above, only the bracket requires a relocation of the holes

and in my case, cut the lower lip of the bracket so it could rest on the frame. At the time, 25 years ago or so,

I did not have a welding machine. Just to say you do not need perse to have one. Today, I would fabricate the bracket

so it also receives a new metal plate that would go thru the entire length of grille, to close the gap you see while looking near the car at a certain angle. I plan make my own aluminum grille, so that part will be welded on the grille vs redo these...

One detail I will also soon need to adress after new paint job, is making some plastic/foamish thingy to go on

the opening of the fenders, to protect from bumper. Ordered a 71 set a while back, thinking they would fit with some serious massage, but no.

For now, (as visible on pict), i'm using a simple piece of strong black leather.

Here's my conversion



Our car acting like parachutes on the aerodynamics, I've pushed a bit more by filling the huge emptiness of the valance.

For this I've fabricated a mould and used carbon kevlar fibers. Prolly the strongest useless thingy ever made with that stuff

Bit dusty but you get the idea...

That does look nice,, so you used a 72 valance and lights as well??  and 72 bumper brackets or did you modify 73 ones?

 

[Fabrice]

Just valance and modified brackets.

Because the 73 has slightly higher extensions, you need cut the "s" of the bracket, and align the holes

of the bracket to fit the 73 holes on the car.

As said above, if I would redo now (with a welding machine that i did not have back then),

i'd add a panel or an option to add one to bridge the visible space between bumper and grille

and mix the 73 square tubes/fittings with the 72, vs just mod/add the 72 and ditch the 73.

You also can swap the fenders/extensions, which removes 1/2 the work on the 72 bracket.

if you want chrome extensions, this could be the way to go, as I've never seen 73 chrome ones

while you find them easy for 7172 and not that expensive, fenders are easy to find too. All depends how much a chrome plating would cost you.

In my case, as i couldn't find chrome extensions for 73, I've let them be chrome plated together with hood extension, scoops and rusty bumper.

That was not that expensive a few decades ago and was much cheaper for me than importing them new or NOS (not the extensions).

but for a basic swap, yeah its just a matter of modifying the bracket.

 

[NOT A T5]

That looks good and all but a 73 shouldn't look like a 71-72, just my opinion!

 

[Fabrice]

@Not a T5

of course it's a personal choice!

To me the goal is to have my car the way I want it. I couldn't care less about originality.

Plus, I made an air brush illustration of my car when I bought it representing how it will be.

30+ years later, I still follow my youth dream

Thing is for the bumper, the designers made that body line that we all love with an elegant front bumper,

But laws changed for impacts forcing Ford to patch the noses for 73

While they didn't do a bad job, its still in my eyes less nice than the 71,72. especially on coupes.

I must say I have less probs with it on fastbacks.

I've kept the extra spacer and 73 extensions for the rear one.

 

[73pony]

@Not a T5

of course it's a personal choice!

To me the goal is to have my car the way I want it. I couldn't care less about originality.

Plus, I made an air brush illustration of my car when I bought it representing how it will be.

30+ years later, I still follow my youth dream

Thing is for the bumper, the designers made that body line that we all love with an elegant front bumper,

But laws changed for impacts forcing Ford to patch the noses for 73

While they didn't do a bad job, its still in my eyes less nice than the 71,72. especially on coupes.

I must say I have less probs with it on fastbacks.

I've kept the extra spacer and 73 extensions for the rear one.

+1. Car looks great Fabrice.

 

[pposey]

Just valance and modified brackets.

Because the 73 has slightly higher extensions, you need cut the "s" of the bracket, and align the holes

of the bracket to fit the 73 holes on the car.

As said above, if I would redo now (with a welding machine that i did not have back then),

i'd add a panel or an option to add one to bridge the visible space between bumper and grille

and mix the 73 square tubes/fittings with the 72, vs just mod/add the 72 and ditch the 73.

You also can swap the fenders/extensions, which removes 1/2 the work on the 72 bracket.

if you want chrome extensions, this could be the way to go, as I've never seen 73 chrome ones

while you find them easy for 7172 and not that expensive, fenders are easy to find too. All depends how much a chrome plating would cost you.

In my case, as i couldn't find chrome extensions for 73, I've let them be chrome plated together with hood extension, scoops and rusty bumper.

That was not that expensive a few decades ago and was much cheaper for me  than importing them new or NOS (not the extensions).

but for a basic swap, yeah its just a matter of modifying the bracket.

Thanks for the info, I feel the same about the bumper,,, I bought my 73 back in 85 thinking it wold be a simple swap to a chrome bumper like the 72,, found out I was wrong later on,,