front bumper differences

[dodgydan]

hay guys, do the front bumpers on 68's sit lower than later cars? and if yes, is it the brackets that are different or were they mount?

[RMS]

I never noticed a difference but the mounts can get swapped to give a high bumper inline with markers or inches below marker.

[dodgydan]

IMG_6807.jpg (40.37 KiB) Viewed 2432 times

ok, the bumper we got from mcshagger we mounted and sits level and square on the front brackets buy the side mounts are to low for the holes in the fenders.(fenders are off a 72 with marker lights filled. our 68 fenders has the bumper mount hole lower in placement. i also notice the bumpers were they wrap around the sides on the blue wagon on banner at top of this page. point upwards. not level to car. this seems to be common on a lot of 510's ?

[butters68]

think your brackets might be upside down

[Three B's Racing]

think your brackets might be upside down

If upside down wouldn't the bumper be facing downward due to bumper bracket designed angle? I don't even believe if the brackets were on upside down you would be able to mount the bumper yes-no?

[yenpit]

As far as I know, 68-72 are the same bumpers & the same brackets. In 1973, they DID raise the bumper up for Federal regs. That bumper was slightly different & the brackets were what actually changed & raised up. I do not know if the side holes were also raised in the fender. I agree that the brackets might be upside down.....?? Also, are you sure the original bumper side mount holes aren't welded up & new holes drilled.............or maybe they are 1973 fenders.........??

I have a set of 1973 bumpers, will look at the side mounting BRACKETS, compared to the earlier 68-72.

TJ

[dodgydan]

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I am not ruling out the holes in my fenders aren't stock but i see no signs of previous holes filled. i tried flipping mounts and bumper pointed at a wierd angle. in the 2 pics I'm posting i see a gap between marker lights and top of bumper on blue car but no gap on orange car.

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[dodgydan]

anyhow. i have another set of front bumper mounts. i will modify to see if i can raise bumper a bit. and while i'm at it i can drill and install riv nuts to mount spooke spoiler

[yenpit]

I have a 1973 car & a 1969 car, with the original fenders & I have spare fenders. All of the fender side holes appear to be in the same spot, even on the 69 & 73. I have spare bumpers but they are stacked & buried. I was able to spot the 1973 bumper...........the side mount BRACKETS are different, which is very likely what they changed in 1973 when they raised the bumper with 1973 brackets..........they likely changed the side brackets to accommodate the height change. Unfortunately, I can't dig out the bumpers to hold up to a car, as they are buried at this time!

I would guess that all of the FutoFab repop parts are 68-72, not suited for a proper 73.

Hope that helps!

TJ

[MikeY]

The 73 bumper brackets were changed to accommodate the black over rider attachment. A hole in the top and a captive nut on the bottom to attach the over rider not the single hole in the front for the chrome.one. I wish I knew the proper height of a stock bumper, but nothing left untouched around here. It seems the last few futofab bumpers I've installed have the tilt up towards the rear. Both with Dave's brackets and stock. Been meaning.to make up some kind of wedge to put in-between the brackets and bumper. I've slotted the bracket holes but that just raises the bumper until it starts get to close to the signal.lights.

[iceman510]

I am bringing this one back to life, as tonight I was going through my bumpers and brackets to get things figured out. I have a 73 that I am working on installing the front bumper. From Mike's description above about the overrider holes, and TJ's comment on the fender bolt bracket, it looks to likely be an original rechromed bumper. But the bolt spacing on the inside bumper surface for the mounts is completely different from the 70 and 69 bumpers I also have. 73 was bought as a project, so I have never had the front bumper on. The 69 and 70 parts I believe to be original to their respective cars. I also have a set here I believe are from a 71. Trying to sort the proper brackets to proper bumpers.

Machined Speed has this interesting picture of the bracket difference. Bottom picture on this page: https://www.machinedspeed.com/product/5 ... ont-bumper

bracketdifferences (1).jpeg (125.28 KiB) Viewed 554 times

I have two sets like the top version in the picture and two like the lower version. I have one set like the top with the angled holes I'm pretty sure are from the 73,and I have another set I think came off a 71 (but my chain of custody on that part is not unassailable).

The brackets like the lower with the straight holes are from the 69 and 70 cars, and those I believe are both original to their vehicles. These brackets also seem to have a slight drop to them as they meet the bumper inside mount. This seems to fit with the information of the 73 being raised, but not sure why the 71 would have the same brackets. I think that bumper is definitely not from a 73 as it has the normal from front holes.

I will post some pictures tomorrow. I was getting cold and frustrated tonight trying to figure out how to make the 73 fit, so I didn't yet.

[iceman510]

ok, played around some more on Saturday and did some more comparison.

Early bracket: I have these from a 69 and a 70 MY (model year). They have level mounting holes in the bracket (the holes in the body are not on the same level). The brackets have a slight drop to the front face.

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Late bracket: They have uneven mountings holes for the body, and no drop to the front end. If I have the orientation correct, this would angle the bracket up and also independently raise the mounting face without the drop.

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Bumper mount area and end tab. This bumper came with the car. I suspect it is an original rechromed, but not sure. Can anyone verify from these pictures if this is how a '73 bumper looks? It has the captive nut on the bottom surface like Mike mentioned, as well as the end fender tabs are shaped differently than the '70 I have next to it like TJ mentioned.

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bumper fender tab.jpg (609.68 KiB) Viewed 502 times

Bracket fit comparison. With the brackets on, the location to the body on the chrome bumper is off by almost 2". I tried reversing the brackets but then the angle to the body is all wrong.

bracket comparison.jpg (709.39 KiB) Viewed 502 times

Anybody have a set of known '73 brackets? Are they a completely different shape and spacing? I have never seen any vendor offering unique brackets for the late mounting style that would accommodate the spacing difference.

Thanks all.

[MikeY]

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Here a a few pictures of a 73 bumper and brackets. I've been holding.on to this nos bumper for years hoping someone would restore a stock 73. Sadly I don't think.thats going to happen. I had a chartreuse (lime green) 73 back in the day. It looked great. And the bumperetts weren't all that off putting. I'd happily ndrive it again. It was bright.

[iceman510]

Mike, you've come to my rescue again. That essentially symmetric "Y" shape of the true 73 bracket makes sense given the location of the attaching studs on the bumper. Placing that mentally over the top bumper in the last picture I posted would place it basically in line where it needs to be. I also noted there was another hole in the body further aft which matches with the third hole in the extended bracket.

I most definitely did not receive a set of those brackets with the car since the rechromed bumper was not mounted on the vehicle.

Interested in selling the brackets? Or maybe making a tracing or getting some dimensions to get me started on making them?

[MikeY]

I can't sell them, sorry. It would leave that bumper almost useless. But a pattern is no problem. Pm me an address and I will post something in the next few days.