Did they make a 73 chrome front bumper???
08-03-2018, 03:28 PM
#21
Team Owner
Did they make a 73 chrome front bumper???? Maybe a VERY early 73 which was a transitional year?
https://mobile.craigslist.org/cto/d/...635771477.html
Hmmmm,...… maybe a one off model?
You could make a book of all the "things" people have done to their Corvette, eh?
https://mobile.craigslist.org/cto/d/...635771477.html
Hmmmm,...… maybe a one off model?
You could make a book of all the "things" people have done to their Corvette, eh?Nope
Last edited by Corey_68; 09-10-2018 at 05:13 PM.
08-03-2018, 04:06 PM
#22
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Hey Warren. Derek. You texted me some details about this conversion. Do you have any pics of the glass bumper mod? One thought for fender area bumper lip. Fab the 2 short pieces and attach to fenders with a couple screws or even clear silicone or double stick trim tape so the fenders are minimally or not at all modified. And glad to see you on board.
08-03-2018, 04:16 PM
#23
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Derek, I think I sent you the only photos I had of the fiberglass bumper mod. I didn't take pics of the 73 glass bumper before mounting on the car. I bought the bumper off Ebay from a fiberglass fabricator in Calif., though there were several sellers on there. I think it was around $325 after shipping. I bought the chrome bumper off Ebay too. I think it was $399? I removed the rubber '73 bumper and mounted the chrome bumper first. I then sectioned the 73 glass bumper (using my angle grinder) so that I had two pieces - the front half, which surrounds the grilles, and the back half, which mounts to the car. I then began trimming the top portion of the back half so that I could mount it beneath the new chrome bumper using stock mounting holes on the car (and factory positioned holes already drilled in the fiberglass). I then bolted the back half of the 73 glass bumper onto the car beneath the new chrome bumper. I removed excess fiberglass from the back half so that it fit well aft of the front bumper face. You need to take enough off so that it looks right, but leave enough so that your headlight mechanisms clear the grille-mounted parking lights. I then trimmed excess off the top of the front half of the 73 glass bumper (the part that surrounds the grilles) and slid that front half into the mounted back half. I fabbed 2 metal braces that I mounted to the factory air frame behind and below the factory bumper and had them curved up directly behind the two glass supports on either side of the license plate holder (I bolted the tops of these 2 braces to the chrome tabs that were affixed to the lower end of the new 72 chrome bumper (I had to bend the chrome tabs down using a large crescent wrench). I eventually bolted the front half of the 73 glass grille (now inserted into the back half) to these new brackets using the two stainless bolts you see in the finished pic someone posted above. I used zip ties (through those bolt holes and on the back side of the inserted half) to hold everything in place until the 3 coats of fiberglass I applied set up nice and strong. I then installed the grilles. Note: I'd never worked with fiberglass before and was glad I covered my garage floor well with cardboard - messy job. I wish I'd taken more pics. I'm posting a pic I sent you of the pieces before I glassed them together - the grilles are just sitting in there temporarily at this point for mock up.
08-03-2018, 04:21 PM
#24
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Sorry for the duplicate photo. I'm borderline computer illiterate - tried to edit "their" to read "there," but clearly didn't achieve the intended result. Here's a photo of the two pieces after the first coat of fiberglass. Hope this is responsive to those who requested photos.
08-03-2018, 06:00 PM
#25
Le Mans Master
I read someone that the aftermarket bumper tend to stick out on the sides. That is the only thing I notice, otherwise I think it looks great.
Getting it correctly titles in your state would relive a lot of questions about being a scam. When I 1st saw the picture with Blue CA plates I though cool, then I noticed it's for sale elsewhere.
Keep the blue plates, you can sell them in California and may be used under Year of Manufacture YOM License Plate program.
Getting it correctly titles in your state would relive a lot of questions about being a scam. When I 1st saw the picture with Blue CA plates I though cool, then I noticed it's for sale elsewhere.
Keep the blue plates, you can sell them in California and may be used under Year of Manufacture YOM License Plate program.
08-03-2018, 08:34 PM
#26
Race Director
So it sounds like you started at the bottom and cut a V in both sides of the bumper. Gradually widening the V til the front top leaned back enough to fit under the chrome bumper. I pulled a mold snd fabbed the 68-72 bumper lip of sn aftermarket nose i scared up. Intend to try a similar approach with my 75, before i punt and change the nose...
09-10-2018, 08:14 AM
#27
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So it sounds like you started at the bottom and cut a V in both sides of the bumper. Gradually widening the V til the front top leaned back enough to fit under the chrome bumper. I pulled a mold snd fabbed the 68-72 bumper lip of sn aftermarket nose i scared up. Intend to try a similar approach with my 75, before i punt and change the nose...
09-10-2018, 08:16 AM
#28
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I've actually gone with a set of 1972 grilles now, so if anyone wants to buy the fabbed '73 valance I made to hold '73 grilles beneath a metal bumper, I'll sell this for what I have in it - $250 plus whatever it costs me to ship it to you. This valance could use a skim coat of filler before being reprimed and painted to match yours, but it is structurally sound and will bolt right up to your '73. I started with a new fiberglass '73 bumper. Thanks.
09-10-2018, 07:47 PM
#29
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St. Jude Donor '12-'13, '15- '16-'17-'18-'19, '21
Wow, you guys are a tough crowd. The reason it has Calif plates is because they were on it when I got it and I haven’t registered it yet. I’ll generate further suspicion by admitting it has a Mississippi title (with a VIN that matches the one on the car). I’m not sure how one or more of the desk chair critics above got the idea I was trying to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes. Never implied this was a "special “1 of 1” rarest Corvette." The reason the bumper has the atrocious wings is because I elected not to modify the ’73 fenders to include the bulges that fill those gaps on a 72 – I can just hear the roar of the critics had I done that. Would have been far cheaper for me to just glass in the old 73 bumper and modify the original brackets (making it more difficult to restore to original config), but even I’m not that much of an idiot (close though). By the way, the work is not "shotty," though I do apologize for the shoddy work – first time I worked with fiberglass. Have you guys ever considered that some folks just like tinkering in the garage with projects like this because it is fun and relieves stress? I’m guessing that far less than half of the critics on these pages have the credentials in their garages to justify the pompous opinions so frequently rendered. Even if you have the credentials, why tear down someone else’s ride? What is the true purpose of this forum, seriously? I got into old cars when I was ten largely because of the way a group of guys with similar interests in old 1930's hot rods helped my dad any way they could to build his car - and he responded in kind.
Maybe you could go back and read slowly in order the comments here before getting all hurt and stuff.
You were neither the original poster nor were you listed as a Corvette Forum member when the craigslist ad was put up.
MANY of us who deal in cars know that Craigslist is the number one base for scammers.
I have had several try to send me bad bank checks while they are "in the military" and cannot come by to look at my stuff. But a buddy will come pick it up and I pay him for the "freight". The scammer puts an extra $500 in the check.
So when someone posts a 73 chrome bumper vette......the red flags go up.
Someone like you who has owned so many vettes should know that you were going to get blasted for that.
And MANY of those people who posted comments have many more years under their belt.
So tread lightly before you start throwing innuendos.
We all love our vettes no matter what year ad what stage of work they are at.
And this forum is a great family (stay away from PRC though...
).Welcome to the forum.
Need help, just ask
Peace
Bman (Dennis)
05-10-2019, 02:42 PM
#31
Melting Slicks
Needs to see the orthodontist....terrible underbite! lol
Now I'm going to wash my eyes out with bleach....
Now I'm going to wash my eyes out with bleach....
05-25-2019, 12:57 PM
#32
Team Owner
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I like it, and I also like the ingenuity of the process.
Personally, I think it looked more "73ish" the old way, but it is definitely owners choice.
Assuming Chevrolet had stayed with a chrome front bumper for 1973, whet do "we" think it would have looked like?
Personally, I think it looked more "73ish" the old way, but it is definitely owners choice.
Assuming Chevrolet had stayed with a chrome front bumper for 1973, whet do "we" think it would have looked like?
05-25-2019, 01:01 PM
#33
Race Director
Had they stayed with the chrome bumper, it would be a 72. Federally mandated 5mph bumpers. Never worked from the start. Just made pretty cars illegal.
05-25-2019, 01:12 PM
#34
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And I am going to go out on a limb and say that I think the front nose area would have also gotten a redesign, I just do not know what it would have looked like. It would be interesting to see some of the design work from the early 1970s that Chevrolet was "thinking about" as they were developing the 1973 Corvette.
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jr73 (05-25-2019)
