Trade my 73 Painted Bumper for Chrome Bumper

[dpoepperling]

I would like to trade my poly 73 front bumper for a chrome 73 bumper in good condition. Mine is in good condition. I can send pics.

 

[Tnfastbk]

I thought all 73's had the impact bumper:huh: Chrome was not an option

 

[Jeff73Mach1]

He is right. I have a 73 and I love the look of the chrome 71-72 bumpers, but to make one fit requires getting 71-72 brackets, cutting a properly placed and sized "wedge" out of the brackets and welding them back up. Then you need a lower valance plus the lower turn signals to fill in the big space you have opened up. There is a thread on here where someone altered the brackets to do this, but . . . it is not going to give you the exact look of a 71-72 as the bumper is going to be mounted in a slightly different position (lower) because of the differences in 71-2 fenders and 73 fenders.

I tried and did not like the results. I have a new valance, hard to find factory turn signals in beautiful condition with new lenses and gaskets and a new chrome bumper. You would need all of this plus some 71-72 bumper brackets to frankenstein into working.

That being said . . . if you still want to do it, All the left overs from my aborted attempt are here and available and in new shape. PM me to discuss. If your bumper is extremely nice I would be interested in a swap, but I'd have to have some cash to make it palatable.

My advice is to learn to love your bumper

 

[dpoepperling]

Yeah, I don't dislike it that much. I suppose they don't make an aftermarket chrome for 73?

 

[Jeff73Mach1]

Nope, never found anything of that nature and I looked at all options.

One advantage of the old 71-72 set up was a weight savings of about 80 pounds, but to really do it right you should also use 71-72 fenders . . . though a metal working guru could cut the recesses out and move them upwards to make 73 fenders into 71-72 fenders.

 

[427heaven]

Nope, never found anything of that nature and I looked at all options.

One advantage of the old 71-72 set up was a weight savings of about 80 pounds, but to really do it right you should also use 71-72 fenders . . . though a metal working guru could cut the recesses out and move them upwards to make 73 fenders into 71-72 fenders.

Are the 73 bumpers that much different then the 71 bumpers, I have swapped back and forth with the chrome to urathane on 71 cars and both look good in my opinion.:huh:

 

[Jim and Jutta]

Nope, never found anything of that nature and I looked at all options.

One advantage of the old 71-72 set up was a weight savings of about 80 pounds, but to really do it right you should also use 71-72 fenders . . . though a metal working guru could cut the recesses out and move them upwards to make 73 fenders into 71-72 fenders.

Are the 73 bumpers that much different then the 71 bumpers, I have swapped back and forth with the chrome to urathane on 71 cars and both look good in my opinion.:huh:

The 71 came with both urathane and chrome bumpers but a 73 urathane won't fit properly on a 71. The front fenders are different.

Jim

 

[cobra3073]

Nope, never found anything of that nature and I looked at all options.

One advantage of the old 71-72 set up was a weight savings of about 80 pounds, but to really do it right you should also use 71-72 fenders . . . though a metal working guru could cut the recesses out and move them upwards to make 73 fenders into 71-72 fenders.

Are the 73 bumpers that much different then the 71 bumpers, I have swapped back and forth with the chrome to urathane on 71 cars and both look good in my opinion.:huh:

[/quote

Actually the '73 urethane bumpers are different from the earlier urethane bumpers in that they have a Federally mandated requirement to meet a 5-mile-per-hour frontal impact standard.

To meet this standard, the molded urethane has steel reinforcement and an impact beam. The bumper and beam reinforcement are mounted to the car by a pair of energy-absorbing devices which consist of a steel "I" beam section inside a steel outer case. A rectangular rubber block on either side connect the "I" beam to the case.

The '73 urethane bumpers are shaped much like the color-keyed front bumpers found on the '71 Mach 1s and the exterior "Decor Group" bumpers on the '72 Mustangs but the '73 bumper protrudes further forward.

BT

 

[marks73]

Excellant post! i think the 73 gained like 1-3/4" by the bumper upgrade.

 

[Jeff73Mach1]

it is not an upgrade It is a battering ram that belongs on a demo derby car. I can learn to accept the looks, but the weight is another matter.