1973 Front Bumper, replace or not to replace

[John L.]

Re: 1973 Front Bumper, replace or not to replace

Hi Michael,
mine look okay but wont know until I get into it. My car was always garaged and has very little in mileage for a 41 year old car. Would love to use the original retainers but condition will dictate that. But as you said if I go with True-Flex I'll need to get there retainers, cost goes up so be it. Looks Like the Corvette Central bumper would be a good choice.
John

[Rich C.]

Re: 1973 Front Bumper, replace or not to replace

I didn't purchase the after market ones, I um..cut up the originals in 'two stud' pieces, worked great and undetectable. However I did purchase NOS upper and side retainers for future use should I have the car judged and they won't give me a pass on the Tru-flex. Again unless they 'feel it up' I don't see how they could tell. My original urethane had dried up so much it was actually stiffer than the Tru-flex.


1973 LS-4 454 coupe owned 24 years (7 of those with a respectable front bumper)
1996 LT-4 Collector Edition coupe owned 13 months
Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA-currently on tap!

[Gregory G.]

Re: 1973 Front Bumper, replace or not to replace

The original retainers depending of course if the car was always garaged, and or not driven often in the rain and snow will require a good peridotic soaking of PB Blaster or WD40, while working the nuts in and out of few turns due to corrosion.
But when all else fails you may wind up cutting the studs and then purchasing new retainers.
I saved the left and right side, the upper I was forced to cut a couple studs. The rust prohibited the nuts from coming off.
So I purchased an upper retainer from CC with great results.

Greg

[John L.]

Re: 1973 Front Bumper, replace or not to replace

Hi Gregory,
Good point. I have started blasting the studs with PB Blaster so I hope in a couple of months those nuts will be easy to come off. I plan on taking off the bumper first then make one order for any other parts I may need. Hate to start something not having everything I need to put it back together.
Thanks
John