Well guys here is the rear bumper fit while clamped in place with vise-grips. If I could get clamps in the corners it would be a little less but not much. I am totally bummed about how this Tru-Flex bumper is fitting on my '74. For scale purposes that gap is about 1/4"...it looks worse in the pic than in person. Not sure what to do now but any advice would be appreciated. I need this done before June 1st for a show

 

I put a truflex on my 75 and even though the original urethane was what I removed the fit was not good. Not as bad as yours but still took work and even then it's not perfect.

That's why the urethane covered all the non-linear areas. And of course a 74 had a 2-piece cover for even more ease of fitting.

In your first pic it looks like the body line is messed up. That will take body work and that may be your best bet now.

Good luck on a June first completion date.

 

make sure its not binding on inner bumper and light structures. Mine fit waayy better than that.

 

I noticed that right away too.

 

From what I've seen, the Tru-Flex bumpers fit pretty good. The local Corvette shops I deal with, will only use the Tru-Flex, because it is one of the better fitting bumpers.

From the pictures you posted, I'd say your car was hit and repaired, at some point in the past. The body line of the right rear quarter is way out of wack, and the left rear quarter shows what appears to be either a crack or evidence of former repairs.

It appears to me that your issue is a result of the previous repairs, that weren't done correctly, and not the fault of the bumper. A urethane bumper might have been able to conform to the irregular lines of the body, but a fiberglass one won't.

 

Truflex bumpers are supposed to offer the "flexibility" to make up some definite and known differences in one car to the next. Part of the sacrifice to make that work is a flexible resin...and a very thin amount of fiberglass, which ultimately gives these bumpers a similar problem, although less significant, to urethane bumpers....and this is warping and waviness that does not have the same appearance as the rest of the car. And that is unacceptable to me.

So, since it is obvious that on most cars, bodywork is required, no matter what you use, I would never use Trueflex again. It does not solve the fit problem and still has downside of too much flexibility i.e. waviness. Truflex bumpers are good for very small differences in your cars physical dimensions, but only work on some cars without bodywork....or if you just don't care about poor fit.

I would go with NON-flex standard fiberglass bumpers and face the reality that bodywork is almost always required. You might even be smart to add another layer of glass on the inside. But when you are done, the bumpers have the same structural integrity as most of rest of the fiberglass car, i.e. you can have a wave free bumper that will have the same solid look as the rest of the car. I wish I would have done that. My painter talked me into Trueflex and I regret it.

 

I can't tell from the pictures but there's no apparent reason the top part of the bumper can't be moved closer to the body.

 

I finally replaced the Truflex after a couple of years because of waves. I bought a new bumper cover from ECKLER'S, a Flex-Glas 1975 Rear Bumper which still required some sanding and minor edge work to get it line up correctly. But at least it looks better.

 

left looks like it will pull down. right side the top edge and corner look true. the high spot halfway down right quarter. maybe sand it down 1/8th to a 1/4 inch.

 

Everyone is too focused on the uneven edge. Its possibly just shrunk panel seam.

Again, check to be sure its not hitting something underneath. The fiberglass is thicker than the plastic bumpers. many people remove/grind/cut taillight shrouds, bumper strips etc. because that slight extrra thickness is enough to create that gap.

 

Got back from the best body shop in town and was quoted 15 hours ($600) labor to make it perfect and still keep the original paint job forward of the bumper. Painting the bumper is extra of course. They will need it for 4-5 days. Looks like I'm going for it. At this point I have no choice in the matter. This will be the last Vette I do a bumper job on.

 

When I first tried to mount my tru-flex bumper I had multiple clearance issues because of the extra thickness of the bumper itself. First, I had to reposition the inner crash bar upwards quite a bit. Once I was close on that measurement, I had to grind down the rubber pads on the outside of the crash bar that fit inside the bumperette detail on the new tru-flex cover.
I also put a bit of baby powder on the rubber pads before trial fits let me see where the bumper cover was touching the pads.
Be patient as you will be putting it on and taking it off a couple of times at least. Here is how mine fit after repositioning the crash bar and trimming the pads.
Hope this helps.

 

As stated..it has EVERYTHING to do with how your impact bar is positioned and how far it is out.

You CAN do this if you WANT to.

DUB

 

The bumper is barely touching if at all. The impact bar is not the issue. I think its called 1970's car manufacturing! Plus we may not know all that has been done to this car in over 40 years. I don't have the talent in fiberglass rework to do the job justice and in the necessary time frame. To the body shop she goes!!!

 

Look at the 2 pics. Bottom pic, left side is straight. Top pic, right side halfway down the body. You can See a flaw in the body work and the body sticks out at that point. That is also highest point bumper contacts the body. From there up, first the body line curves forward, then runs straight up to the top corner. I would like to see a pic straight across the top of body at the bumper seam. But I think you either need to sand the high spot back to flat or build up the low spot above it. Now, it could be lowered to level without showing. Tape body and 1 quick shot of paint inside where body and bumper connect. But I think if this is not addressed, bumper will never fit correctly.

 

It guess it is best to do as you planned on doing ..and that is taking it to the shop you found.

Like others here..just trying to help you out. And I am sure that some bodywork would be needed.

The right quarter panel will need some work ( depending on the person)...after the gap ash ben closed in.

But the gap in the second photo is as like I wrote...more than likely the impact bar and the bumper cover is 'teeter-tottering' on it.

DUB

 

Per the request of others here are some more photos. The white hash lines on the bumper indicate where I had to notch out the mounting lip to make clearance for the rivets on the main body.

 

These photos are much better. The earlier photos caused for my responses to be in the wrong direction. But I can only respond to what we see.

QUESTION:
Are you able to live with the body shop doing bodywork the quarter panels to get the flange flat again?? Becasue on the right side for sure...they need to bring the flange out.

Your only other options are this.
1.) They fill in the gap. So when the bumper is on..you will still be able to see that the line between the bumper and the body is not straight and has a wave to it.

OR....

They cut the bumper near the flange and draw it to the body and then laminate in fiberglass to fill in the gap.

Check this out if you have not yet done so.

The first photo in POST #9 may interest you.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-corvette.html

DUB

 

DUB,

I double checked the clearance behind the impact bar and sandpaper passes everywhere. That being said, what are your thoughts about drilling out the three rivets per light enclosure thereby giving me the ability to remove it and allow me to put vise grips in the corners? I say this because when I don't vise grip the sides to the quarter panel it pulls in nicely with hand pressure. Then I can work my way down and continue to vise grip. This would allow me to drill the holes more precisely before giving the car to the body shop. They requested I drill the holes first before bringing the car to them. For grins I even thought about removing the impact bar. Its only held on with two bolts. Thoughts?

PS. I took the impact bar off and the light enclosures. So much more room to fit vise grips and the corner. I'll report back with pics when we dry fit the bumper.

 

Thats what I had to do too, to get mine to fit. Took a lot of adjusting and a little body work but I got mine on. Sure wasn't a bolt on and paint it job. Easier to get on and off than the front cover was when fitting it.