Front Fiberglass Bumper

[roadtrp204]

Who's making just the plain pre '75 stock replica. I was going to do the oil cooler in the front and use GT-Racing's unit but decieded its not worth the cost/hassle. A general cost would aslo be greatly appreciated, thanks.

[kevinseven]

I got my set from GT-Racing. Only I ordered it without the oil cooler cutout. I swear it was like $150 dollars fro the front. It's been a while. Sorry.

The GT guy said I was on my own for "dogbones" and mounting hardware. He basically leaves the mounting up to you...especially on a '75 like mine without exisitng hardware. The body shop that mounted them said they couldn't imagine what the manufacturer was thinking and saw no way to use what had been provided as far as mounting plates and such. They felt the plates were too deep and in the wrong location. They rigged their own deal and I'm really nervous about having to remove it one day and see what kind of bubblegum and paper clip system they devised.

[Hi_Fi_Guy]

Patrick Motorsports is mounting front and rear FB Valence, Bumpers, and decklids to my '74.

They seem to have very good quality glass parts in stock (I am not sure if they have them made or buy them elsewhere). The units I was shown were light and STRONG with no stuck on balsa wood supports or any crap like that there were very well made.

I believe Jim Patrick showed me 3-4 different styles of front bumpers and valence panels while I was there. I chose a stock looking bumper and the valence with the cutout for my cooler but there are any number of combinations available.

I can't speak for mountin as they are doing it along with the rest of the car but I do know taht even with the good glass they use they recommend that DIY-ers spend some time mocking everything up (dry-fit) and adjusting clearances, etc.

[skline]

I got mine from a company called Rennspeed up in Arcadia. The front was $150.00 and I used a set of dog bones from an early car. I had to grind off the tabs where the rubber clipped into and it fit ok with a little more spacer between the dogbones and the body.

[campbellcj]

I have the GT bumper w/o the cutout (I cut out my own opening which was way bigger).

The mold and gelcoat quality was very nice, but the mounting was interesting. I had to do significant trimming of excess glass around the "bracket" area...then use dogbones, rivnuts, zip ties etc. to mount it up. It actually came out pretty nice but it is not quite a 5 minute "bolt-on" procedure like you might guess.

[Zeke]

Originally posted by campbellcj
I have the GT bumper w/o the cutout (I cut out my own opening which was way bigger).

The mold and gelcoat quality was very nice, but the mounting was interesting. I had to do significant trimming of excess glass around the "bracket" area...then use dogbones, rivnuts, zip ties etc. to mount it up. It actually came out pretty nice but it is not quite a 5 minute "bolt-on" procedure like you might guess.

Ditto here. Well, maybe no zip ties I can't say much about the cost, I bought used. But, I've never heard of anyone just bolting one right up. Plan on a few trips to the hardware store.

[campbellcj]

The zip ties were just to keep the dogbones in their place

Next I need to try to convert my spoiler and ideally the bumpers to dzus fasteners. Just going to the rivnuts made a big difference compared to before, where I had to use a wrench or screwdriver on -both- ends of the fastener.

[Bleyseng]

I got one from Rich Bontempi at High Prefomance House and it bolted right up using dogbones and bolts. Really high quality piece without waves and blems in the fibreglass.

Geoff

[Serge914]

Did anybody install the Getty Design one. They sell for $199.00 but need some specials brackets that cost $50.00.

[Zeke]

Hey, I'm stupid here. What are dogbones? How did I mount front and rear FG bumpers and not know the answer to this question?

[Rleog]

Dogbones - the rubber spacers between bumper and unibody, sorta shaped like.....

[Zeke]

And you need these to install a FG bumper? My car didn't have bumpers when I bought it. The FG bumpers I bought had standoff brackets attached to inside of the bumper that bolted directly to the body.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

No, you don't need them to install an FG bumper. But it's kinda nice when you can simply use factory hardware and bolt the aftermarket piece up, don't'cha think?

The FG will crack into pieces before the rubber in the dogbone really deflects much if at all, so in fact the dogbone is pretty useless on an FG bumper. But as I said, it's awfully nice to just bolt it up the same way the factory piece came off.

--DD

[campbellcj]

The bumper I have was made with "tabs" that were in essentially the same location as a stock steel bumper. So there would be a 1+ inch air gap between the body and the bumper's tab without the rubber dogbone in between. Obviously some other kind of spacer could be used instead, but without anything in there it would be easier to break the f/g tabs.

[campbellcj]

Oh yeah -- the rear does not use the dogbones. Alum brackets go directly to the body.