I had purchased this vette year+ ago.
still working on it.
had problem with bumper:
The bumper which came with it- black one in the post, had been worped for some reason, i tried to replace it. I had purchased used one from craigslist, and probably was lied to ( the grey one).
it appears to be less wide (1-2 inch) and not match.... what a bummer.
i measured rear of the car 58"

can anybody suggest or throw a link where i can get correct one for this model:
1974 corvette t-top ( flat back)


other question: does anybody knows how to mount speakers in front?
i had tried to fit them under the front panel, and seems like there is no mounting on that panel, but judging by holes, there where speakers before


http://daytona.craigslist.org/pts/3723678576.html

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/memb...rus-33231.html

 

Neither cover is correct. The one that came on your car is for an 80-82. It is common to see these bumpers on an earlier car. The second one you bought is for a 75-79. More similar to what your 74 came with but not quite. 74 had a unique bumper that only lasted a year.

Now, any of these bumpers should interchange as far as fitting the rear of the car, with bumper support and tailight brackets as possible exceptions. If the bumpers you have are fiberglass, you should expect some body work to make them fit.

As far as a correct replacement, eBay, Ecklers, Zip Corvettes, Mid-America Corvettes, Wilcox, etc should all be able to sell you a correct bumper.

But if you're looking at body work anyway, and don't mind the bumper not being correct, why not work with you have?

 

the grey bumper is not wide enough. and black one is warped

 

Are they urethane (flexible) or fiberglass (rigid)? Replacements are offered both ways. These cars came stock with urethane which flex a little and are easier to fit. Replacement urethanes are more expensive. Fiberglass does not flex and usually require modifications to make them fit your car. C3's are not known for their build quality and every car is a little different.

What I'm getting at is if you buy a brand new fiberglass bumper it may not fit any better than your grey bumper.

Google C3 Corvette bumper fitting, and see what others have done. Some have gone as far as cutting the bumpers in half, mounting them to the car so the sides match the side of the car, and fiberglassing the gap in the center.

 

All 74-82 rear bumpers, are interchangeable. The bumpers are all the same width, and the rear of the body's are too.

The black bumper warped, because that's what urethane bumpers do, both fronts and rears. It just happens. They're soft and flexible, and will get wavy and warp. There's nothing I know of, that can be done to prevent it.

The gray bumper is a late 76 to 79 bumper. 74's originally had a 2 piece urethane bumper. They were seamed down the middle. The 74 bumper also had slight indents in it, that individual letters that spelled out CORVETTE, were set into. The taillights in the 74 rear bumper, are unique to 74, and are not interchangeable with the identical appearing 75-79 lamps.

You can not buy a urethane reproduction, of the 74 bumper. If you want a correct "appearing" rear bumper, your only option is a fiberglass one.

Fiberglass bumpers are available in 2 versions, a rigid fiberglass one and a flexible one. The rigid one, is fiberglass, just like the rest of the car. The flexible one, has a slight flexibility to it, to give the illusion of being urethane. Though the flexible ones, do have some give to them, they will cracked, when bumped.

The chances of finding an original 74 rear bumper, are pretty slim. The urethane that GM used from 73-75, tended to dry out, become brittle, and eventually crack. Very few original 73-75 urethane parts, are still around today. Even if you did find one, I wouldn't be to keen on using it. The odds of it lasting, aren't real good.

The bumper you bought should fit. It may just need to be "forced" a little. You might want to leave it out in the sun, on a warm day, so that it is a little more pliable. This may be all you need, to get it to be flexible enough, to stretch into place. It's also possible that the car was damaged in the past, and the rear body isn't quite right.

If the urethane bumper didn't fit, the odds are that a new fiberglass one, might not either. At least with a fiberglass one, you can do a little filling and grinding on it, something you can't do with urethane.

 

Free unsolicited advice: purchase the assembly instruction manual (AIM) for your 74. The AIM shows the factory installation of the rear bumper cover and everything behind it. It also shows how the speakers mount up front.

FWIW: the bumper cover and tail light set up on the 74s is one year only. If you purchase a bumper cover for any year other than 74, you will need to determine what type of tail light set up the replacement bumper cover requires.

 

You must be missing the brackets.

 

thank you guys, i will experiment a little with bumpers.
thank you gbvette62 for detail advise about bumpers, i will try what i have today, and probably will order same bumper i had on it when i got it.

and thank you Paul, for speakers picture. yes i missing brackets. i will try machine something today, i not- i will find brackets online tomorrow

 

When I replaced both numbers on my 74 had to do work to them to get them to fit. On the back had to add filler on the quarters to even the number. On the front had to and filler to the Bumper to even it to the fender. I went with the tru-flex bumpers . Got them from wil-***. Happy with them.

 

I just had both my bumpers replaced by a shop it's hard to fit them mine still don't look good all the way around filler or done body work is prob needed when I get my car painted they will fill them bumpers in

 

Woke up one morning, about 10 years ago , went out in the garage , and the rear bumper or 90 % of it was laying on the garage floor. It had rotted clean off

Got one of the tru flex I think it was from ZIP Products and was back in business. Been a decent product, wish could still buy oEM material , but thats the way it is. The 74 shape besides the split everybody knows about was subtle different than a 75 one piece. Have to see em side by side.

My front cover just let go one day , and 75 % cracked off all at once and went flying over my head as I was riding though the country side of VA one afternoon. I found a sealed NOS GM in box from a seller on ebay about 8 years ago and it fit and looks perfect . Maybe it will out live me.

 

i had played around with ruber grey bumper i purchased through craigslist, and decided to buy same type i had before on the vette.
i hope everything will go smoother from that point