mkdesign

Hi guys. For anybody that wanted to see the bumper conversion with some paint, here you go. I still have some more blending and some creative scuffing to take the sheen off the new parts and match the texture of the existing weathered paint. The front conversion will follow when it goes back into the garage for the winter.
I want to match the patina of the rest of the car as closely as possible until I am ready for the whole paint process, but cosmetically, for now, I am happy with the progress from its very humble beginnings last November.

jr73

the 73 look.
love it

M4A3E2

Holy crap that's amazing! If I saw that on the road I'd think that was a 73.

paulrichy

Love those wheels too! Nice work.

pmr2000

Is it a 75/76? What year did the fender alarm start?

OP-so you are also doing the front in-time?

Looks excellent and those wheels and stance are mean!

Vettedreamer74

Looks wonderful!! The whole car looks great, and I'm surprised at how much I like them! Great job!

ddawson

Looks great but some thoughts.

If your going side pipes great. If not it looks a little strange without the exhaust coming straight out.

60 SHARK

Well done, looks like the old paint,,,,ya know, patina is very popular these days, shiny is over rated

mkdesign

Will do the front bumper conversion when it goes into the garage come November. I have quite a few hrs with the glass front bumper on it now, saving the crash bar. But for now, it's time to drive.

mkdesign

I would love side pipes... but I guarantee that my wife will burn her leg. And THAT kinda heat I can do without. lol.
As for the exhaust cutouts under the bumper, For me, I don't mind the clean look of it without the cutouts as I usually try to make the exhaust disappear as much as possible on my projects. Another point is the mufflers I am using (welded Thrush), that sounded so good on my fairly built small block in my Dodge truck, absolutely bark without some kind of turndowns behind them to settle the noise down. It is amazing the noise reduction with turndowns.

doorgunner

"Outstanding......Under budget......and ahead of schedule!

mkdesign

Oh don't get me wrong, I like shiny. My everyday car is shiny. The patina look is by necessity, as there are few other things vying for my attention... and money. Besides, this past weekend I went to a car show and a buddy of mine was beside himself that somebody scratched his LS-powered pro touring 72 Trans Am. Trust me, with my car, I don't quite have that anxiety.

blue67ragtop

Looks great! You've done a really nice job.

blue67ragtop

Just curious as to whether you were able to use your original '75 tail lights with the new bumper?

mkdesign

Thanks, Doorgunner. While I don't really have a distinct budget, I am very aware of what I can comfortably spend on a toy. In the past, I have always been fully aware of money spent on my project cars and what they will ultimately sell for in case of the unexpected or expected expenses life hands you.
These lessons have stuck with me so I spend where I need to spend (yes I needed the tail section), make it safe and enjoy the crap out of it. This way I never feel upside down on a project, and maybe resent the investment of time and money.
Oh I know I'll be spending much more time as well as money on my Vette but as for a schedule? No schedule, just enjoy it for what it was always meant to be, a top-down fun machine. And I'm keeping this one!

mkdesign

I actually did reuse the stock tail lights. While Don sent deeper pockets to use the 75 tail lights, they have to be glassed in. Since I am ultimately going to use 68/73 tail light, I wanted to find a way to use my existing tail lights and leave the pockets as they are.
I ended up splitting the tail lights between the bucket and the lens (pic included) and then simply sandwiched the tail section between the lens and the cup. There is enough room to access the lights from behind. You can seal it with either a homemade gasket or silicone.

The Punisher

Time to change your avatar pic. Looks very good

Torqued Off

Something interesting to me, and may be applicable to what you are doing. It appears to me that rubber bumper cars have a prominent peak line running from wheel well back to the obvious peak line on the rubber bumper. Almost every car I see has a problem that the peak lines don't line up well, AND, it seems as though on the bumper itself it takes a down turn from the forward edge back to the aft edge.

Now, on chrome bumper cars, it appears that there is really no peak line from the rear wheel opening back. Its just a smooth rounded area.

So, as I see in your pictures, as well as the other thread on right now about this type conversion, the peak line of the rubber bumper cars will need to fade away onto the rear bumper add on. The other thread pictures make it very obvious.

My input here is more of an observation, but also thinking that maybe what would be best is to sand and work out that peak line aft of the wheel well to avoid that type of awkward looking transition from peak line to nothing.

Hope I wrote this in a way that makes sense for the discussion.

mkdesign

You are correct about the rear fender peak that was added to the 74/82 Vettes to accommodate the rear rubber bumper. As I may have mentioned in a previous post, Don had to make some concessions in design, but I am super happy with the overall design, quality, and ease of installation of the tail section. It is a vast improvement over the absolutely horrible '75 fiberglass tail I was previously trying to use!
That said, I quickly painted both front and back bumper covers to get me on the road, but in the future, I will message the transition points (top of the deck and the aforementioned side body line peak) either solely on the bumper or with a full on bond and blend. But trust me, these are small allowances to work in, especially considering the overall impact this conversion gave my car.

mkdesign

I should also add that if you strictly want this conversion to be a true bolt-on with no body work, and to better hide the transition point as well as the seam, you can opt for a different color tail that many people apply to their bumper cars.