What is involved to replace the urethane bumper on a '73 to a chrome bumper from an earlier year?

Thanks.

 

a legit question I have thought about a lot myself.

68-72 - short hood and wiper door system run by vacuum. lotsa mechanism for the door to lift up. may not have the linkage fastening plates in 73-up bodies?

68-72 - the headlights are pretty similar, but the frame to bumper bracketry for steel bumper is completely different. lots of steel brackets and supports for steel.

might need new rad support, too?

if you have a complete door to door nose from a corvette image type place and all the hardware, it might be practical, but my main concern is that when all is said and done, nobody will ever appreciate how much work you had to do to pull this off!

the 73's are nice because of the combination of chrome rear bumper and urethane front. I find that kind of neat myself.

-jim

 

I'm no expert but I'd imagine the bumper brackets and the fiberglass nose of a chrome bumpered Vette. It might take a little frame horn modification too to get the brackets to bolt up.

You rarely hear of someone doing this so it can't be too easy.

 

Hi Ozzy,
This change takes a LOT of MONEY and WORK.
AND it DECREASES the value of the car.
You could probably sell your 73 (it's some people's favorite) and buy a 72 for what $$$ you would have in the modified car.
Regards,
Alan

 

with Alan

 

I'm with Alan on this issue.

The 73 is very unique. Leave it alone.

If you want chrome front and back, buy an earlier car.

 

Always opening up a can of worms with this topic! Lots of people on this forum make "improvements" to their cars that ultimately hurt the value of them because originality suffers. If you want to do it, I say go for it.

I have a 72 that had a 73 front clip on it from a previous owner. I replaced it with a new front clip and all the trimmings to return it to near original. I say "near" original because I still used the 73 hood, thus eliminating the wiper door. Here is a quick (and incomplete) list of the parts I had to find : frame horn extensions, bolt in crossmember, bumper braces, outer extension braces, anti twist braces, center bumper brace, license plate bracket, bumper, bumper guards, front grilles, side marker lights, front turn signal lenses, egg-crate side grilles, and a bunch of nuts, bolts, washers, and misc. brackets to put it all together. Then you gotta buy the fiberglass. I went with a one-piece unit and modified it at the rear to blend nicely with the 73 hood.

If you want to get an original hood and wiper mechanism, plan on spending lots more. I spent a touch over $2000 for all the parts. I bought very little new, most was salvage from eBay. As a matter of fact, the only parts I bought new were the bumper guards.

It is frustrating dealing with eBay auctions, but my patience was rewarded. I love my car now. Granted, I was returning it to stock (or near stock), but it is a long, long way from being a numbers matching "investment grade" vehicle. The reality of the collector car business is that very few people make any real money from "investing" in their classic cars. I say build it how you like it and drive the sh** out of it!

Temvette72

P.S. You can help defray the cost of the mods by selling the parts you no longer need from the 73 clip. For example, a got a surprising amount of cash for the grilles from the 73 nose on eBay. That helps take the sting out of a chrome bumper Stingray!

 

My 69 had a 73 front end (mounted by one of the former owners for unknown reasons) which I restored to a 69 front end.
You should have a donor car otherwise you will spend a fortune.

Incomplete shopping list

• Wiper door and all related parts already mentioned by other posters (not necessary but to get a real chrome bumper ....)
• new front clip
• new cross member (instead of the 73 vacuum tank cross member), radiator support remains the same
• new vacuum tank (see above)
• all chrome parts (bumper, grill surroundings, bumper guards)
• all front brackets including license plate holder (they look pretty much the same as 73 but they are all different)
• new grill and parking lamps
• new side markers (to fit the new front clip)
• fender louvers (to fit new front clip)
• not sure about the wiring harness, guess it will keep the same (I installed a new one)

BTW: I would also keep the original 73 - it is a unique car!

 

This type of swap is not bolt up. Purchase the '72 and '73 AIMs and compare the two installations.

 

If your like me,,, I get even more motivated by the *don't do it *. Its your car,, do what you like but do it professionally,, excellent work pays off with compliments,, the money is secondary.