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1973 Front Bumper

Old Jan 2, 2010 | 06:03 AM
  #1  
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Default 1973 Front Bumper

Hi guys,

i´m on the way to rebuild by front bumper. The old one was damaged an i removed it completely.
For the restoration i bought a fibreglass front nose here in germany. The guy i was buying at told me the nose was bought in usa and should fit ...
But what should i say - The nose does not match to my car.
If placing it to my front there´s a overhang of round about one thumb at the left side if fitting it closely to the right side. Also the nose does not reach to the lower valance panel - There are round about 1,5 inch missing...
I have to buy a new nose and don´t know which to buy.
(in order to don´t use a saw while installing... )

So my questions are:
- Is that usual for those fibreglass noses?
- Does only a genuine GM front nose fit as i want to?
- Is Ecklers Flex-Fit a option? (Any experiences?)
- PU / Fibreglass?

Many thanks in forward and
a Happy New Year

Last edited by grinzi; Jan 2, 2010 at 06:05 AM.
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Old Jan 2, 2010 | 08:48 AM
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Fiberglass replacement parts almost always require "minor modifications" to fit. Get an original urethane replacement part. Give a call to Corvette Malburg in Gensingen (near Bad Kruenznach) :06727 / 5555. He used to be a neighbor when I lived in Hochstaetten (Pfaltz) and while he can be a bit of a "snake" at times, he knows his stuff and has a pretty decent parts supply.

You have pix of your car?
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Old Jan 2, 2010 | 10:04 AM
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I replaced mine with Trueflex fiberglass bumper from Willcox here on this site.
bumper replacement
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Old Jan 2, 2010 | 10:16 AM
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Mike,

I am a Truflex fan myself...and have had geat success in using them. As mentioned above, they all need a little tweaking to fit. But, it is not that big of a deal. Sounds like, you have a purchased another year, and that will cause you problems with the fit. Check out the larger Corvette house's here in the states for the best price you can get, Willcox, Paragon, Ecklers are all great stating points. Let us know how it all shakes down.
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Old Jan 2, 2010 | 04:19 PM
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Originally Posted by GREGG-73
Mike,

I am a Truflex fan myself...and have had geat success in using them. As mentioned above, they all need a little tweaking to fit. But, it is not that big of a deal. Sounds like, you have a purchased another year, and that will cause you problems with the fit. Check out the larger Corvette house's here in the states for the best price you can get, Willcox, Paragon, Ecklers are all great stating points. Let us know how it all shakes down.

Even though I went with original urethane, I also had to do some adjusting to make a good fit. Find your best buy, as shown above and good luck.
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Old Jan 2, 2010 | 06:01 PM
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All right guys, thank you so far - I will post a few pics tomorrow to realise what i mean exactly. But anyway i will check out sellers you told me. Anyone experiences with Ecklers Flex-Fit?
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Old Jan 2, 2010 | 11:11 PM
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Spounds like a poor product to me. My fiberglass unit from J & D Corvette was off at most 1/8" on two areas. A long board took care of that.
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Old Jan 3, 2010 | 11:34 AM
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Problems with the pics... cam had a small issue - Will be back tomorrow.
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Old Jan 4, 2010 | 12:14 AM
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I've done both the fiberglass and the original urethane. There was no comparison for fit. The urethane is very easy to contour to the car. On the fiberglass nose, I had to contour the car to fiberglass nose.

Get the urethane. I believe it's still available at your Chevy counter (who will likely have to have it order it) But it's not cheap,..$600~.
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Old Jan 4, 2010 | 10:02 PM
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I have a tru flex and had to mod it. The problem is the bumpers are the same size but the cars are not. I cut mine in half to remove some of it as it was too long, then added some glass to the nose area to close the gaps a bit and it fit. I spent hours getting this to fit right, as I am no expert in fiberglass but after this I am getting closer. In retrospect it would have been easier to do urethane and about the same price if you include my labor but I was free! I do like the fact there are no waves with the fiberglass. But to each his own preference, good luck.
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Old Jan 5, 2010 | 02:14 PM
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