'77 urethane bumper cover choice
Thread Starter
8th Gear
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
'77 urethane bumper cover choice
I want to give my 77 an original look, but it seriously needs new bumper covers. I've seen two front bumper covers, an original GM part for about 700 and a non-original for about 300. Any advice?
Race Director
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 11,334
Likes: 136
From: Out of Site...Out of Mind. Corvette: anything else is just transportation.
St. Jude Donor '09 thru '20
I went with fiberglass bumper covers.
OEM are O.K. but the paint goes on better and no change in
color between bumper and 'glass.
OEM are O.K. but the paint goes on better and no change in
color between bumper and 'glass.
Racer
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 369
Likes: 109
I have owned and painted a few of the rubber ones, and I would never go there again, especially on a light color. Very hard to match and aging will degrade it differently than the rest of the car. Flex additives must be used or the paint will crack when the rubber flexes and you have to get the mix just right on those.
Only downside of the hard fiberglass ones is that obviously if you get tapped by a clumsy parker there is no give so you just don't park that way.
Only downside of the hard fiberglass ones is that obviously if you get tapped by a clumsy parker there is no give so you just don't park that way.
Race Director
Joined: Apr 1999
Posts: 11,520
Likes: 13
From: CORVETTE 77 385 C.I. TEXAS
The factory one is best for street. My original ones are still fine. Some colors did not match when new. Fiberglass molded in looks great on show cars.
stingraymyway
Looks great.
stingraymyway
Looks great.
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 12,683
Likes: 3,137
From: Shamong, NJ
If you want urethane, bite the bullet and buy the OEM one. The quality of the cheaper one isn't that great. The cheaper one is tough to get to fit well and often are wavy, even when new.
Are you painting the whole car, or just replacing the bumpers? If your just hanging bumpers I would think real hard about buying the fiberglass ones. If the fiberglass one doesn't fit, you can sand or fill the bumper, if you have fit trouble with urethane ones, then your into doing bodywork on the car. Another advantage to the fiberglass ones is that they don't get wavy. The urethane always loses it's shape with age, just the nature of the material and the lack of support under the bumpers.
The fiberglas ones are available in a "flexible" fiberglass. Though the flexible ones don't have the give that the urethane does, they do give some and they create the illusion of being urethane. If you go with fiberglass, I'd recommend bumpers from either ACI (American Custom Industries) or Toledo Pro, the makers of the Tru-Flex brand bumper. From my experience, these two companies make the best fitting bumpers on the market. ACI offers both rigid and flexible glass bumpers, while Tru-Flex are only available in flexible fiberglass. Generally they cost about $350 to $375 for fronts and $25 to $50 more for rears.
Are you painting the whole car, or just replacing the bumpers? If your just hanging bumpers I would think real hard about buying the fiberglass ones. If the fiberglass one doesn't fit, you can sand or fill the bumper, if you have fit trouble with urethane ones, then your into doing bodywork on the car. Another advantage to the fiberglass ones is that they don't get wavy. The urethane always loses it's shape with age, just the nature of the material and the lack of support under the bumpers.
The fiberglas ones are available in a "flexible" fiberglass. Though the flexible ones don't have the give that the urethane does, they do give some and they create the illusion of being urethane. If you go with fiberglass, I'd recommend bumpers from either ACI (American Custom Industries) or Toledo Pro, the makers of the Tru-Flex brand bumper. From my experience, these two companies make the best fitting bumpers on the market. ACI offers both rigid and flexible glass bumpers, while Tru-Flex are only available in flexible fiberglass. Generally they cost about $350 to $375 for fronts and $25 to $50 more for rears.
Safety Car
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 4,359
Likes: 57
From: Mundelein Illinois
I wanted to go factory but a friend talked me into fiberglass. Glad I did it. No waves and it was no big deal to get the fiberglass bumper to fit. I have also removed it and put it back on with no problems. I would go fiberglass, I was careful with the plastic bumper because I didn't want any scratches. No difference with fiberglass, once the paint is damaged it's getting fixed no matter what bumper is on the car. Sorry about the pic lens was dirty
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 201
Likes: 0
From: Leroy Township Ohio
Use the true-flex fiberglass ones. Every vette is different but mine fit well. Definitely required some work to the old supports under the urethane cover. Definitely use all old supports. You will be glad you did.
Reddog76
Reddog76
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Former Vendor
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 905
Likes: 5
From: Sylvania OH
I would recommend using straight fiberglass. The nature of fiberglass is that it cures and becomes rigid. The tru-flex, or flex-fit, bumpers are not completely cured, and so they can become more flexible when left baking in the sun all day at a show. This flexibilty can cause waves, just like the original urethane bumpers. I say get away from urethane and its properties altogether and go with a straight fiberglass bumper that will maintain its shape and quality without any possibilties for distortion over time.
Granted, fiberglass bumpers take some fitting, and in most cases, some filling to match the exact width of the car. But, that's an unavoidable dilemma considering these cars are glued together and vary so much. That is why the factory used this stretchable urethane that they could make fit every car, even though the stretching and twisting only caused distortion and cracking over time.
Fiberglass will be well worth the work!
Granted, fiberglass bumpers take some fitting, and in most cases, some filling to match the exact width of the car. But, that's an unavoidable dilemma considering these cars are glued together and vary so much. That is why the factory used this stretchable urethane that they could make fit every car, even though the stretching and twisting only caused distortion and cracking over time.
Fiberglass will be well worth the work!
Thread Starter
8th Gear
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
Thank you to everyone for your input. I went ahead and ordered the non-OEM bumper and I'm afraid it was a mistake. Live and learn. It looks OK except for the edges which look like they were never trimmed when they came out of the mold. Except for the rough edges, it looks like it will fit just fine. I may just send it back instead of trying to trim it up myself.
