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Hello,
This is my first time posting here. Likely won't be my last. My father just recently passed away from cancer at the age of 74. He left me his 1972 Corvette. It was his for over 30 years and he took great care of it. It was his daily driver. About four months before he died he hit a concrete pole in a parking lot at low speed. The impact was on passenger side bumper. The impact bent the bumper and the piece of metal behind it which the fiberglass is (was) riveted to with flat rivets. My plan is to order a new bumper, but I have not been able to name the metal piece behind it to see if it is something I could also order. It is possible I may be able to straighten it. I am attaching pictures. Thanks in advance.
Ivan
****Update**** I found the part and have ordered an new bumper and a "Front Bumper Nose Panel Reinforcement" from Zip. They were super helpful and waived shipping on the second piece after I called them to see if I could add the order to my bumper order that I had placed earlier.
That is the 'splash panel' from in front of the headlights. It protected the headlights when down from rock chips and such.
It was also a bit more aerodynamic.
That part looks like it could be reconditioned and re-installed. Looks like he was working on the headlight /grilles/ bumper area.
Super Nice catch.....KEEP IT FOREVER!
Don't tell me grandpa is my age! Meep!
ps. Back in the day, say the 70's, Police radar was just getting rolling....the C-3 Corvette was declared "the most radar resistant car", because partially of that panel reflecting the radar down to the pavement and the radiator reflecting UP....little known FACT.
Unkahal
Thanks for replying. I took all of this apart last night. I popped the rivets out and dissembled that front section. Are you referring to the flexible pieces that hang in front of the headlamps when down or the metal bar they are attached to (which is what I would like to find)? I did a search for splash panel and couldn't find that metal brace. I have close with "header bar" and "nose bar".
Great looking car Ivan. Congrats and welcome aboard.
Greg
Thanks Greg,
My dad loved this car. I have a stack of receipts of all the things he did to it over the years. In 2015 he put in a new crate motor and a 700R4 transmission which had some additional mods done by a local shop down in Alabama. It runs like a dream, but needs some minor things here and there. I will definitely post some better pictures once all of it is complete.
sand it, rattle can it, and apply a generous dose of protectant to the flaps, part looks very serviceable and should last. sry for the loss, gratz on keeping his dream alive.
Thanks for the guidance. I have it all together. I ended up using plain pop rivets for the nose reinforcement connected to the fiberglass instead of the flat rivets that were there. I figure that since they were behind the bumper it wouldn't matter. Still a little rough in some places. The passenger side headlight assembly is not working as should and may have been damaged. Will work on that next..Here are some pictures:
What a beautiful car you have there. Great to keep it on the road and don't ever sell it . Post some pics of the troublesome headlights and any other things that you think arent right and im sure the guys here will help you out. Very sorry for your loss.
The flat washers were there to spread the loading over more area, because the flaps are flimsy plastic material. You don't want 90 mph wind blowing them off that support.
Depending on how original you want to keep the car, you may want to consider an electric motor conversion for the headlights. I think that DSE (Detroit Speed & Engineering) makes a kit for the C-3s.
There are also DIY electric headlight conversions using boneyard probe or MX 5 motors. Depends on what kind of DIY skills you have. Although the first part of headlight repair is WD 40 and trimming a tiny bit off vacuum line ends.
Depending on how original you want to keep the car, you may want to consider an electric motor conversion for the headlights. I think that DSE (Detroit Speed & Engineering) makes a kit for the C-3s.
I am seriously considering this mod. The video looks doable. I am going to keep working on my current vacuum setup for a bit. My suction gun arrived yesterday, so I can start trouble shooting.
Designer Imagines A Corvette That Looks More Like a Corvette Than the Corvette
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Help identifying a part
