1st I just wanted to say THANKS to the forum... I appreciate the advise and answers received from the group!

Now on to the question of the day... Front and rear bumpers on my 78 are cracked and need relpacement/repair... What are they made of? They seem to be very flexible when you push on them except for a few spots that look like they have been filled with some type of filler that is hard as a rock. I am assuming that the best route is replacement. What is "Truflex" and is it worth buying? Looks like a front/rear set would cost about $570.00 + shipping...

Any thoughts???

Thanks

 

I bought a tru-flex rear bumper about four years ago and I am very happy with them. I just received my front cover and will have it installed this winter. They are easy to fit and seem to be pretty good quality.

 

The original bumpers are made of urethane which was very flexible for mounting at the factory and providing minimal damage under light impacts. You can still buy reproduction urethane covers. Of the 2 types of fiberglass covers available, flex fiberglass is made with less hardener, so it stays somewhat flexible for a long time. Regular fiberglass is rigid like the Vette body panels.

Urethane covers will fit out of the box, but will have the same characteristics of the original cover over time (warping, sagging, eventually cracking).

As far as fitting fiberglass covers, the rear bumper covers usually fit without much fuss so there isn't any advantage to flex fiberglass over regular fiberglass in the rear.

But for the front bumper on '75-'79 the flex type will fit with less work than a fiberglass cover if you are not picky about the gaps. In my opinion the fitment of these bumpers should have a tight visible seam with no gaps. Due to all the curves accross the front and down the sides, fiberglass covers (both types) will not match the body contours out of the box. Both types will require sanding and filling the back side to match the body. Filling the backside is also necessary (in my opinion) because the bumper mounting surface and body mounting surface are never parallel. When you tighten the mounting studs on a flex cover that hasn't been fitted properly the top surface may or will distort as the bumper flange is drawn into the body.

In that respect I don't see an advantage of flex on C3's and prefer mounting the regular fiberglass covers for a nice fit and appearance.

 

I just bought fiberglass front and rears for my 76 from a guy off Ebay. They are ACI out of Ohio. I haven't tried fitting them yet, but they are high quality and I can't wait to get started.

I pad $225 for the front and $250 for the rear plus $34 each for shipping.

He still has more listed. His username is jscorvettes.

 

go fiberglass


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