I need to replace both the front and rear urethane bumpers on my 74 convert. due to deterioration. There are several choices, including fiberglass, TrueFlex and Flex-Fit. Original urethane is too expensive and only available for the front. Does anyone have any experience with either TrueFlex or Flex-Fit bumpers? Is one better than the other? I see I can only get the 2 piece rear bumper in Flex-Fit or straight fiberglass, but is that better than the faux two piece offered by TrueFlex. Any and all comments are welcome, especially any hints/tricks/tips from anyone who has installed them. :thumbs:

 

Yup, I'd be interested in hearing replies to this as well.

 

Randy,
First let me say that I hate bodywork. But I am in the process of installing such bumpers on my 81. I am installing a fiberglass rear bumper (don't remember where I bought it) and a Trueflex bumper (from Ecklers). I was under the misconception that they would simply bolt on, some minor sanding and paint. Boy was I wrong. Gaps in the seam, body was from 1/8" to 3/8" wider on sides. The TrueFlex was a much higher quality but will still require some blending to fit well to the body. The TruFlex is the way to go in my opinion. I'm about 1/2 way done installing the rear bumper. Some tips, measure 3 times before drilling or cutting anything, such as emblem mounting holes, license plate lamp opening, or tail lamp guide pin holes. What I did to straighten out the seam and blend sides to meet the body was to tape wax paper over the flange and back of body, mount the bumper, and then used a quality fiberglass filler along the seam and packed it in as well as possible. I then used a D/A sander and inline sander to bring the filler down, sanding through the wax paper to the original body. The results were a laser straight and razor thin seam line. Of course if you don't want the seam it would probably be easier. I've only bolted the front on so far, but plan on using the same method because it worked so well for me. As with everything on this project it is a lot more involved than I thought it would be. I could try to post a few pictures if you like. Let me know.
Robert

 

Robert,

Pictures would be great! I have the rear bumper removed already and getting ready to start the front. Everything I read so far says pretty much the same thing. "The bumpers are not a bolt-on job, they have to be fitted." I know it will be some work, as you stated, but if your process works I'm willing to try it. Thanks for the tips!

Randy

 

I purchased the Eckler's '74 one-piece and threw it on the car so I could drive it until the paint-job. It looks/fits great as-is.

D. Ocean
Miami, FLA

 

I replaced my front and rear on a 75. The tru-flex worked well. Went on easy, but I knew that the sides had to be reworked. My painter fiberglassed and blended before painting the car.
I would like to give you a useful tip tha helped me relocate the CORVETTE on the rear bumper. I took a piece of cardboard and layed out the letter spacing per specs. pushed the letters into the cardboard so the pins would create their holes. I then place the carboard on a thin piece of masonite or luan plywood, and drilled the holes thru. This now became my template to use for drilling the rear bumper. Hope this is helpful. :) :) :)

 

Here are some pictures of my installation progress on the 81. I just listed the URL because they are fairly large pictures.

1. These 3 photos show the gaps on the front bumper on the RF corner and near the RF headlamp opening. This is the truflex bumper and actually fits better than the rear fiberglass one did, but gives you an idea. Hope these work.

http://www.ultimatespreads.com/pictures/DCP_2295.JPG
http://www.ultimatespreads.com/pictures/DCP_2296.JPG
http://www.ultimatespreads.com/pictures/DCP_2297.JPG

2.These are of the rear bumper. Still lots of work to be done, but I think you'll be able to make out the seam line. This is after my fist application of fiberglass filler. Still needs work on sides.

http://www.ultimatespreads.com/pictures/DCP_2288.JPG
http://www.ultimatespreads.com/pictures/DCP_2290.JPG
http://www.ultimatespreads.com/pictures/DCP_2294.JPG

Hope these give you some ideas. Nice thing about fiberglass is that it's easier to fix than metal.

Robert :)

 

Here is my $.02. I have a 146,000mi '75 "driver". I bought "seconds" directly from TrueFlex for $322 FRONT & REAR(not each-for both)and spent over 3 days on each aligning, sanding, featherfilling, sanding,etc. Bumpers came out "very good", not perfect for "this" driver. For the money and time spent, I'm satisfied. Story #2. I bought an Eckler's FlexiFit front and rear for my '74. The rear is on, painted, looks perfect and original(actually it's better than the original-no waves :lol: ). The front was a horror story-mounted the front, aligned good EXCEPT I had a 1/2" GAP between the front bumper and the vertical seam in front of the passenger side marker light. My '74 IS AN ORIGINAL paint car and I did not want to TOUCH the paint or body AT ALL!!! I ended up selling the bumper here to another forum member and buying the $599 '73/'74 GM Restoration Parts bumper. It was an ABSOLUTE match to the original one I removed EXCEPT it did not have the "INLAND" Mfg logo on the inside of it. Bumper is on the car now, mounted perfect and yet has to be painted. The ill fitting front IS NOT Eckler's fault. You have to remember the older Corvette bodies were hand assembled, bonded, glued & sanded, so how rigid bumpers fit from car to car vary alot. Since the original urethane bumpers were so flexible, bendable and "shapeable", it's no wonder how they got away with such great tolerances-these urethane bumpers practically conform to any shape or "contour" :yesnod:

 

Paul and everyone else. I did not mean to imply that I was dissatisfied or critisizing Ecklers for the fit of the bumpers. I realize the variances in the bodies. I am, in fact, extremely pleased with the product I purchased from Ecklers. The photos were merely meant to illustrate the possible variances and what may need to be done to correctly fit the bumpers. The hard fiberglass rear gaps were worse that the front gaps currently are. The original bumpers fit perfect and the only reason I am replacing them is that the paint was chipping off the corners when I bought it 12 years ago. I figured since I'm putting the time into it to do it right, I didn't want this to reoccur or have to put up with the waves later. :)

Robert

 

It sounds like you might want to stay away from the 'real' split tail because of alignment issues. Why are you wanting a seam? Why not an aftermarket with a spoiler? Like this http://www.ecklers.com/product.asp?d...6MG7XUAQG9F40E

 

Hi there!

Im looking at the same job in a short while. I will go for the flexfit bumpers from Ecklers, they seem to be the best fitting bumpers available.

I going for the "one piece design" at the rear, it does have a seem going down the middle to get the original look.

Good luck!

 

True Flex gets my vote. I have them on the front and back. The paint shop guy put mine on.


[Modified by Pete76Shark, 7:40 AM 2/19/2004]

 

I replaced the rear on my 74 two years ago with the Flex Fit which is a true 2 piece. I drilled the holes and mounted the bumper while it was still in the gray gel coat. I would definitely recommend going with the stainless steel t fasteners as well. I also drilled the mounting holes and then enlongated them to allow some adjustment. Perhaps I was lucky, but the fit was perfet and required no bodywork other than roughing up the bumper and having it painted. I disassembled the bumper after the initial fitting, and then re-mounted it after it was painted.

If you are looking for a true 2 piece, I would go with the flex fit.

Ron

 

I'll second the opinion to use the individual stainless steel fasteners. Because the fiberglass was so thick in the crease where the fasteners are supposed to sit, I had to grind out a place for the fasteners to sit and even had to cut off some of the metal along the long dimension of the rectangular portion.

Just be prepared for all of the special attention you'll have to give any fiberglass replacement. I got my nose from The Last Detail and it was okay. I had to rework some of the lip in the grill opening to get it all even but have no knowledge of the quality others suppliers provide.

Good luck! :cheers:

 

Yes, I was planning to go with the stainless steel fasteners since the original ones didn't fair too well in the removal process (most of the bolts twisted off the fastener frame).
I would just like to say thanks to everyone who replied to this post. You have given me some great hints and provided the feedback I was looking for. I'm probably going to go with Ecklers Flex-Fit since they aren't too far away and I can actually pick them up from their warehouse.