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my drivers side bumper has been like this since i bought the car 8yrs ago, vette has been repainted in a previous life before i got it.
the pass side is a perfect fit, both up n down and spaced out from the body.
but the drivers side is low, spaced the same off the body as the other side, just out in the up n down direction.
is this a simple fix, ie; loosen a bracket or 2, or is it more involved? where do i start?
From: Loud, Raw and Dangerous 1968 327 4S in Southern California
Here is the assembly drawing for my 1968 model which might be the same. You can loosen the four main bolts and also the two middle assembly piece bolts and see if you can physically adjust out the imbalance and then re-tighten.
You might NOT be able to correct this by simply loosening the bolts and tightening them up. Because IF the shop who painted the car got the contact surface where the bumper rests against off. No matter what you do...the end of the bumper will twist due to the flat surface on the body has been changed to an angled surface.
It can be corrected.... but may take some work in putting in a very thin angled wedge to keep the bumper in the correct orientation when it is tightened.
From: Loud, Raw and Dangerous 1968 327 4S in Southern California
Notice item 16 on the AIM drawing...it does call out a shim. Check if yours is there. Perhaps it can also be reoriented or removed to help with the offset.
Redvette2
Last edited by Redvette2; Feb 6, 2019 at 06:54 PM.
my drivers side bumper has been like this since i bought the car 8yrs ago, vette has been repainted in a previous life before i got it.
the pass side is a perfect fit, both up n down and spaced out from the body.
but the drivers side is low, spaced the same off the body as the other side, just out in the up n down direction.
is this a simple fix, ie; loosen a bracket or 2, or is it more involved? where do i start?
The shims shown In the illustration ( part #16) are there to show where they were to be put IF needed. Due to manufacturing inconsistencies...NOT all Corvettes needed them to be installed. The blue circled area on the illustration confirms it.
The welded in mount area circled in red can change during the manufacturing of the front bumper IF quality control was not on their game. So...if this mount area was welded in further out...then the shims....IF mandated to be used...would cause for the gap of the corner of the front bumper to the body to be pushed out more drastically.
So ....just because they were drawn into the illustration...does not mean that they are needed all the time.
If your concern is that the left side 'droops' down and the right side does not, chances are there is a twist in your bumper; the two sides are not aligned with each other when it is in the free-state (not assembled to the vehicle). An adjustment MIGHT be possible, but you would have to remove the bumper to diagnose what was going on. I don't know that ANY factory method of adjustment would cause that 'droop' to go away. None of the factory-new cars were 'perfect' as far as fits and alignments are concerned.
may take some work in putting in a very thin angled wedge to keep the bumper in the correct orientation when it is tightened.
I had to do a similar thing to my '69 front bumper. I used a couple of single edge razor blades under each of the two center bolts to slightly rotate the ends of the bumper upward. Here are the results:
Like I wrote and not dismissing the possible fact that the bumper can actually have a twist in it. But I have seen my fair share of the area of the fender where the outer attachment point of the bumper contacts.... has been sanded on and is not vertical....and has been sanded to an angle....more than likely at the bottom of this area....thus causing the bumper end to twist UP when it is tightened.
Not saying that is what is going on here....but I have seen it many many times. before.
The car has had MAJOR surgery done to the front end (new hood surround and fenders) and there was a little more to getting the bumper to fit it than just the shims. The end mounting pad on the driver's side had to be built out a little and both end mounting holes had to be slotted a skosh to get tings to line up.
adjust front bumper '72
