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I am doing a body off on my 69 with a full repaint, I am looking for advice to get good quality front Bumper and Bumper guards.
The Bumper I have has damage and the Bumper guards are missing.
Can you please recommend a good supplier at a fair price.
For a front bumper there is only one choice, the bumper made by Paragon. Paragon's bumper is expensive at $550, but it's made in Michigan using the original GM tooling, and fits way better than the cheaper import bumper. There usually isn't much markup in their bumpers, so shop around and see who has the best price, and the cheapest freight, because the bumper is oversize and has extra freight on it.
I don't care how straight or original your car's body is, or whose bumpers you use, but before painting the car, buy your front and rear bumpers and have them fitted to the body.
From my experience, the bumper guards are all pretty much the same, but make sure you get 68-69's, because the 70-72's are different.
This is typical of how the $350 imported bumper fits. If you get it adjusted correctly across the front, it will usually stick out on the right side.
Left side of the same car. This bumper was on a 71 that I did a pre-purchase inspection of.
Not for the faint-hearted:
you need to determine how much the bumper corners need to be re-arched to fit better.
clamp one end of thr bumper in a vice with 1" thick pine strips covering the steel vice jaws to prevent damaging the chrome bumper.
then use a hand-help propane torch to GENTLY heat the bend while holding the long portion of the bumper.
then apply light pressure against the long portion of the bumper keeping the bend heated
You will feel and see the long portion of the bumper slowly move about 3/4" to 1"
Allow the bumper to air-cool.
Then reinstall the bumper onto the car and check the new fit...repeat the process if needed.
The process should be easier and go faster on the OTHER
end of the bumper.
It took me three attempts to get a good fit on one end of the bumper andbtwo attempts on the other end.
The bu per corners originally had 1&1/4" of space from the body. I managed to tweak the corners u til the corner of thr bumper overlapped the molded-in fiberglass ridge on each side of the car while keeping the center of the bumper centered with the hood.
Replacement Bumper & Bumper Guards
