I purchased a set of retainers (see photo) to do the install of the stock bumper cover and was wondering if any of you could offer some tips to make it go as smoothly as possible? A thought crossed my mind about using a small amount of adhesive / silicone or similar to hold them in place in the cover while installing it. Good idea? Bad idea?

Thanks in advance for any advice,
Adam

 

I am about to do the same project and came across 2 solutions. One is to epoxy them in place the other was to use a small pop rivet. The idea with the rivets was to give a consistent gap all along the bumper. Go over to the body section of the forum and search for Dub. He has a great write up on how to do this. Including on how to match the holes in the bumper with the holes in the car. Keep us up to date with the progress.

 

...when I did my '75's front bumper probably 18-20yrs ago, I didn't even use the clips in the above pic. Just went to the hardware store and bought 1/4" x 1" hexhead bolts with washers & nuts with washers and used them. I didn't have any problems at all that I remember EXCEPT the ones in the extreme upper right & left corners were a major PIA that I remember. Just DO NOT over tighten. Just a little more than lightly snug tight is enough to avoid damaging the bumper cover.

 

i used those. they were a pain in the butt. I ended up welding the studs to the rectangles. While fitting i few of the pressed in studs came loose, and it sucked trying to get them off so i welded em.
I also trimmed back the studs on a few of them(i think around the headlight area, as they were too close to the healight door.

I had the bumper on and off like 20 times during body work.
Early on, i tried using a some adhesive to hold the brackets in place. But the bolts angles have to be extremely accurate or else it is very difficult to fit them thru the tiny body holes.
I ended up enlarging the holes in the body and using washers on the nut side, but still tough to fit all the bolts in properly. I wanted it to go on easy as to reduce the risk of scratches with new paint. also the tough one on the sides:
i drilled a acess hole underneath the qtr flasher. i saw a thread where someone did that. like a 1 inch hole to fit a ratcheting wrench. You wont see the hole after you install the lense.

So, I popped off all the retainers. and fitted them without adhesive, And used retainer washers similar to these>pushnuts. I dont remmber the size.
this helped hold the retainers on loosely so i could easily align each bolt to the body hole one by one. And help hold it on while i tighten them. you cant see them once installed.
While tightening the nuts be careful the rectangle retainers dont spin too much as it can push up the edge of the bumper and create bumps. also dont overtighten as itll warp the seam.

on the rear bumper i just went to the hardware store and bought bolts and washers, since i was able to access both sides i didnt need the rectagle piece to keep one side from spinning.

I think looking back the toughest part was getting them aligned properly to fit the tiny body holes, since the bolts were so long.

 

Thanks NONN - You hit on several things I was concerned about, so this was a huge help for me. Great advice and tips!

Adam

 

Also, i tihnk i forgot to mention i had installed a more rigid fiberlglass bumper.
I noticed you are doing the original? should be easier to flex the bumper and get the bolts to line up.
__
heres where i put my holes. about 45 second mark. if you decide this route.

 

I put a fiberglass cover on my 75 about 8 years ago, i bought the Eckler retainers but they where two short so ended up welding longer threaded rod on them.
I also took the cover on & off about 30 times while mating the body to fit the cover.
I used c-clamps and spring loaded clamps for quick on/off while doing bodywork.

 

I have used the retainers you show,,, they worked just fine for me,,, yes, a very small amount of calking, (any kind) will hold them in place for installation, and flexible enough to allow adjustments,, its really not hard, , just takes patience,, it takes longer than 10 minutes,,,

 

Following. There’s some good tips here and it’s a project I’ll be tackling soon.