I have seen numerous pics of the ugly black rubber pads on the front and rear bumpers of the '75 and newer vets changed out with color matching cover (I guess), but can't find a part number or name to go along with them to order something. Are they all custom or is there somewhere to buy them?

 

How's the rest of your car's bumper? Is it original ...replaced urethane, or fiberglass?

Either way, one approach is you could remove the bumper, cut them off, make a backing out of cardboard (wrap the cardboard in plastic sheet so it'll release), then cover with mesh and apply a thick layer of urethane bumper repair. Its a product bodyshops use to repair damaged front bumpers. I've used it..it works good. Like everything, good prep is the key. Once the repair plastic has cured, apply another coat to get the build you need. Then sand with a DA, and perform bodywork as required to gain a seamless repair. Doing it that way you can paint only the repair areas and not have to worry about miss-matching paint between the bumper and your car's fenders/hood area. You could take it to a bodyshop and they could probably do the job too. Take it to a shop which also works on classic cars/trucks. Not a strict insurance crash-work shop. It's possible a shop (or you) could do the repair on-car, meaning no bumper removal needed, reduced chances of scratches, chips or paint cracks. If you take off that urethane bumper, who knows...just flexing it could result in some paint cracks (your car could have 10 coats of paint/primer under that orange!). Not saying that will happen, but it 'could'. Doing it on-car, if possible would be the ideal way, if possible. IDK how much access here is back there on your car.

These cars were kind of hand-built on the assembly line ESPECIALLY the bumper-to-fender area. Usually when a guy is painting a car you do the bodywork to 'fit' the bumper. Therefore it's difficult to achieve a perfect fit on a new bumper out of the box. Sometimes it happens though. Using your existing bumper makes that easier.

If it's an original urethane bumper, then the question is, how 'good' it is. That old 70's/80's urethane gets brittle after all these years. In that case, yeah, you probably want to buy a new front piece. But then you get into the challenge of weather it'll fit to the rest of the car well or not.

These things are hard to explain with just a yes or no answer.

 

I suspect the "color matching cover" is actually a complete fiberglass bumper cover.

My 79 has them. The PO painted the entire car to match, including the ugly black bumper pads. It's a black car, though, so it all ties together. The rear has an aftermarket bumper without the bumpers at all.

ACI sells front and rear bumper covers.

https://acivette.com/

 

Thanks guys. I think its all original. The paint is chipping at the lower drivers side grille so thats already on the list to fix.

 

It probably make more sense then to buy a new one, the style you want. You can probably get a straighter look across the top too. Even a new urethane one (if they're avail anymore) would be straighter.

Find a good shop and let them deal with the fit/paint-matching issues as needed. Then sell the old one to someone fixing up a lower-buck vette. I personally bought the (Ecklers) urethane bumper cover (using modern plastics) and it's pretty good. I originally bought a 'flex-fit' and it didn't flex very much or fit very well. Actually neither fit very well out of the box. But I was re-painting the car and was able to achieve a great looking fit in the end.

That's probably your best approach.

 

that front bumper has been previously repaired/ painted..including the blackout. my thoughts..
- fix and repaint bumper and color match the bumpers, they will be less noticeable as reported. you will need to sand remove at least a layer of paint that is peeling..
- cut repair as recommended, or new bumper..
i personally do not mind them..

 

If you think of them as '*****', maybe it'll make driving it as-is, more fun!

...money saved! Personally they don't bother me. Nice looking car BTW.

 

Mine are still natural and they're what I prefer....

 

I didn't mean man-*****, LOL!!!

 

It would be real easy to cut them off with a hand wood saw. Then do a urethane repair and make them flat. Or you could cut a metal piece and paint it orange, or SS and put over (like two vertical rectangular 'bars'). Then you don't have to repaint the whole bumper, just the repair area. There's a few ways to deal with them. ....Or just leave be..they're not a big deal to most owners -- 99.9% of people probably never give a second look at them. Spend your time with other mods.

 

I like the chrome bar idea. I havent seen that yet.

 

Rubber bumper **** things, .......??
OK,
They are ugly???
OK.
Geezzz, been on my car for 47 years. Never gave them much thought. Not certain how much they protect. But I have marks on one of the rear ones.
I guess I never knew they were ugly.
Learn something new everyday!

 

These “rubber bumper **** things” have a name, they’re bumperettes!

Really? I can’t say kn0b?

There’s a couple different threads outlining the modifications needed to make a 1973-74 bumperetteless front bumper fit on a 1975-79 car. You can find one here.

Keep in mind it’s not a simple bolt on replacement. It involves modifying the structure underneath, which effectively removes the bumperettes crash absorbing ability, but to be honest it’s not like they were doing much in the first place.

The rear bumper is easier as far as swapping goes. Many vendors make a 1974 style one piece rear bumper without the bumperettes. They can be had with the recesses for the 1974-75 spaced out rear badges or flat for the later style one piece badge.

 

Thanks Piersonpie. Just what I was looking for. I guess I hit a nerve with some. Ill have to be more careful about expressing my feelings about how my car looks.