71 -72 Chrome Bumper on my 73

[Fabrice]

[... thinking it would be a simple swap...]

Well, it is!

Made a quick and dirty drawing for you if you would start from scratch with new metal, would let the parts be folded/cut for you at your local truck builder/ metal work place etc...

Ingredients you need: a few onces of patience, a piece of cardboard, a thin sheet of aluminum, and ideally the chrome bumper + bracket/plate

After you remove the 73 bumper+brackets, place the 72 bumper with some construction, so it would be as you wish on the car.

use the cardboard to make one or a series of small shapes, with all measurements...

Transfer all these shapes/measurements to a thin sheet of aluminum. Using 1mm thickness, you can then fold by hand

and test on the car. (slightly thicker, like 2mm would even allow you actually mount the bumper, but would be harder to fold).

you should end up with something like this, when flat. (totally not in ratio, but shows how fairly simple the shape is)

Your could use wood too for this. I personally prefer alu, so I don't have to screw anything for the 90 deg cases

and also because thickness is near of the final thickness, leaving no to little marging for errors when I make a blank test assembly.



(where fat black is where you need fold, at yellow dot, is what I would add that is not on the 712 brackets (so you could cover the empty space between grille and bumper with a simple single folded plate). in green, where additional welds once folded would be welcome to add strength to the piece (bridge to fold side to part body)

Once you have this shape, if you don't have the tools to do it, you can let it done at your local metal/truck builder shop.

Here a at my fav local shop, a press fold 90 deg, costs $3 per fold/press cut, the industrial metal plate in 3 or 4 mm for both sides 40 to 90 depending on steel quality. If your shape is well defined, you'd add a couple of hours work to the bill.



If you have tools, you can also go for shortening the bracket you can weld that to the 73 square tubes. Or just relocate the holes of the original 712, cut the metal that prevents to have a flat contact onto the car frame...

@rocket366 did probably one of these like I did. If I would redo today,as I do not have the original 73 tubes anymore, I'd go for new metal with the additional bracket for the missing plate.

In short, all depends if you have tools or not, and say: today, I do the swap.

and then when done, you will look at projects like @wide-body71's and think... wow respect

 

[Robsweden]

Hi

Im going to do this to, but do I need to change this pieces ? I dont know what they are called.



Regards Rob

 

[pposey]

Great Information! This is doable for me, This summer when I have the time off from work will be the time, and I think I will start looking for parts!

 

[pposey]

Hi

Im going to do this to, but do I need to change  this pieces ? I dont know what they are called.



Regards Rob

I believe those are called fender and hood extensions, in post #15 of this thread Fabrice talks about options with them. 

 

[Fabrice]

@rob,

no need. unless you'd want chrome ones. Chrome 73 fenders extensions are not avail so far as I know.

The hood one is shared across the 3 years.

I wanted chrome at the time and thought about 712 full swap but parts (fenders&extensions) +import costs were way too high.

There were no repro's, so all was big buxx NOS.

When I bought the car, hood and extensions were missing or damaged, needed drive to 3 different countries to

find the parts in junkyards. So after so much trouble, I've opted for the chroming of the 73 extensions and the re-chrome rusty bumper found in Belgium.

The ones you have are looking great, so I'd keep these.

https://www.cjponyparts.com/bumper-bracket-front-inner-driver-side-1971-1972/p/BB4IL/

I just saw repro brackets for 712 are cheap, even with transport to Europe. Cutting them to fit at the base

is more easy/cheaper than build new ones.

Remembering your smart KD construct, it's gonna take you 30 minutes to do this

Here another quick and dirty illustration of the plate I did not made and suggested in previous replies to add.

The 7172 have different grilles, they kinda slide into the bumper, closing a visual gap. The 73 grilles don't have this.



So adding to the brackets a way to bolt a L line plate just above the support

https://www.cjponyparts.com/dynacorn-grille-support-1971-1973/p/M3629K/

or "pop rivet" one (plastic or thin alu) under grille is something I'd do.

 

[Robsweden]

Great info Fabrice

This is a mod a will be doing this spring for sure, Nice that my KD Construction mad an impression. But 30 minutes its a bit optimistic even for med

 

[droptop73]

Fabrice, Did you use the original 73 fenders?

The 73 fenders and extensions are about 3/4" longer(lower) than the 71/72 fenders where they meet the top of the bumper.

I have purchased 71/72 fenders and extensions for my conversion. Hopefully this keeps the amount of fabrication down.

Thanks!

 

[Robsweden]

I probably need the 71-72 Valance plate ? with the turnsignal ?

SO Valance plate , turnsignals ,brackets and bumper correct ?

Regards Rob

 

[Fabrice]

@jeff, yes, I've kept the 73.

using 72, you still have to modify the bracket to meet the 73 holes on frame

but you should be practically good on height (the diff of extensions height 712 to 73),

and distance bumper to fender is practically dictated, as they are made to work together by design.

For 73, its more an "artistic" thing and its a good idea to have the valance held in place by tape to mimic its location

so the bumper adjusts to the fenders nicely. As said in previous reply, I still have to figure out something for this.

I have the bumper very near of the fender, and to avoid damage the paint, I have cut and glued a small thick black piece of leather.

It on my todo to make a part/spacer before it gets a fresh layer of paint (very soon). I've ordered vert 71 spacers thinking

to mod them a bit and be good , but they are nowhere near the expected and making a small custom patch is much better idea

than ruining these to end up with the shape I actually need. I'll post my findings when done.

@rob

[sO Valance plate , turnsignals ,brackets and bumper correct ?]

yes, plus thinking/making a plate above the support for the visual gap(my last reply) . Which if you want keep the grille

intact, requires additional support added to bumper bracket or weld it to the support or whatever bright idea you will come with

You may want to close the valance gap too, there is still plenty air enuff to cool the engine.

All up to you!

Once done, as you have a front spoiler, you end up with the same nice nose as seen on Paul's car ( @rocket366 )

 

[Robsweden]

@rob

[sO Valance plate , turnsignals ,brackets and bumper correct ?]

yes, plus thinking/making a plate above the support for the visual gap(my last reply) . Which if you want keep the grille

intact, requires additional support added to bumper bracket or weld it to the support or whatever bright idea you will come with

You may want to close the valance gap too, there is still plenty air enuff to cool the engine.

All up to you!

Once done, as you have a front spoiler, you end up with the same nice nose as seen on Paul's car ( @rocket366 )

Super great info, Another to the todo list

 

[Jeff73Mach1]

So . . . if I were to swap over to 71-2 fender extensions and simply cut the 3/4 inch of additional metal away on my 73 fenders, would I be able to use the filler panels from 71-2 on my 73 to give it a finished look?

 

[Fabrice]

I guess you could add that one to the todo too.

Welding the 712 shape into the 73 or mod the 73 fender somehow so the fillers fits.

That would prolly fix the prob I have to fabricate tiny custom ones and look nicer.

 

[Studdley]

I'm planning on doing this as well, but with a painted bumper

 

[Studdley]

[ 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.

loose that weight for wheelies

 

[MountainMach]

Hi all. Does anyone know if the 71-72 front valance can be directly swapped onto a '73, without having to change fenders or anything else? Thanks in advance!