Someone hit my 74 Vette and it will need a new front bumper. Should I go with the original Urethane or Flex Fit Fiberglass from Ecklers? The other innsurance company is paying.
Help!

 

glass

 

I replaced a bumper on a 78 about a year ago and we used the original from GM and at that time there were 6 still available in the mid west region. We tried a fiberglass and it was going to require a lot of trimming and work to get it to fit so we sent it back. My personal car is a chrome bumper car so my experience is limited to this one time but you can get an original bumper from GM if you want and it will fit the first time.

 

It depends....as already stated it will take more man-hours to fit a fiberglass bumper versus urethane. The fiberglass won't warp but the urethane will take small impacts w/o damage.

The tru-flex is supposed to be the best of both worlds but I have never used it. I have fiberlgass on my car and it didn't fit right out of the box , I had to make it fit.

 

82 is correct!

The flexible fiberglass covers are the way to go, but they can be bear to install.

The biggest problem with the cars is consistency.

We have a 78 in our shop right now, a no hit car with low miles on it. This car has never been modified in any way, shape or form. The front bumper on this car is 3/8” from meeting the edge of the side fender on the passenger side and about ¼” from the driver side. Some will say the bumper shrank on the car… This car has been indoor stored in a climate controlled garage since new. The kicker is that you can see the factory paint on the exposed edges of the front fenders which also indicates no shrinkage.

On my 79 when it was new, the driver side fit was about ¼” from the side and the passenger side fit pretty good.

On the same note, we have installed Urethane NOS bumpers on cars that seemed to have a good fit before damaged and then struggled to install the covers.

There is some info on our site about the fitment of the bumpers and the issues with variance from the factory on the front ends, this might help you understand why some people will have a bumper that falls on the car and other will have to fight them! http://willcoxcorvette.com/repairand...lp.php?hID=139

You also have to factor in that some cars have been crashed and repaired.

IMHO,

Willcox

 

I replaced my 73 front bumper with the Trueflex fiberglass one that I bought through Willcox. Here is a link to my web page on the install:
Bumper install

 

Brian,

Love that page. This shows people pretty much what we try to tell them. The factory front ends have flaws that urethane can hide.

I liked the pictures you show of the corners! I especially like driver side before and after pictures. Explaining the passenger side repair is also a great help.

The bumpers are listed in the forum special price section! They can be found at this link: http://willcoxcorvette.com/advanced_...eywords=bumper

Willcox

 

I had a pretty easy time with mine but no two cars are a like. This weekend I ran into a guy that put one on his 73 and it looked like it was about a 1/4in to long. Stuck out on both sides emough that I would not have been happy with it. But with time I am sure it could have been made to fit better.

 

Does the Willcox Tru Flex "Rear" bumper for a 74 have the seam down the center like the original? I will probably have that one done at the same time.
Thanks,
Tim

 

This can usually be corrected by cutting loose the fender from the inner fender. It won't work all the time but it will get the fenders out further for a better fit.

It is rare for any of these covers to be an easy installation; there are too many variances between cars. We install them here and have had just about every different fit you could find. The one thing that is consistent is the size of the cover! They are all made on the same mold.

Willcox

 

Yes the rear cover will have a simulated line in the middle to emulate the original cover!

Willcox

 

I just put on the flex-fit fiberflass from eckler's on my '74. The back 2-pc fit great but the front was way off. Not much "flex" in the flex-fit. Ended up having to grind it a bit to get it close. Still not perfect but good enough for me.