[BAN]

Hey Guys,

in the midst of my restoration, around lunch time on Saturday i got a bug up my ass to do some fabricating.

I hated how my rear bumper fit, around the rear quarters, i could fit my hand on both sides and it got me so wound up on Saturday i decided to get into it and start chopping.

on any normal car or truck i should have been able to make the cut just back from the corner, but sadly the tail light design wont let that happen. I measured and measured.... drank some beers... then measured some more. found the most even flat part of the bumper either side of the license plate, and figured that 7/16's out of each side should make things a bit neater.


Got to choppin "only original once!" LOL

I never did this before so i really didn't know how to go about it, i got a few tacks on and started to realize how heavy the inner brackets were, so i needed even more tacks if i was gonna keep the thing together while trying to bolt it on




Let the welds cool, drank more beer, installed it, and boom. Thing fits better than i ever imagined it could. At least i think so anyways.









Pretty stoked! i doubt anyone will directly notice, but i certainly think it was worth the effort!

Cheers,
Sam.

[jww]

I think you did good. Looks like a fine fit to me

[flyingn]

looks good!

[rohrt]

IMO look like you did an excellent job!

[indymanjoe]

I like it.i just had mine off last weekend and i Messed around along time trying to get a good fit.Are you re chroming it or painting it?

[BAN]

Cheers guys, yeah really really stoked with it, its the one thing on the car that always displeased me. Really happy with it.

Originally Posted by indymanjoe

I like it.i just had mine off last weekend and i Messed around along time trying to get a good fit.Are you re chroming it or painting it?

Thanks, i will be re-chroming it, the car will be as stock appearing as possible. i finish welded it and slightly ground the weld seam front and back, leaving it proud of the bumper. The Bumper restoration place asked to leave the welds, so they can finish them . Something about too many people trying to grind things flush and leaving massive low spots.

[Scarebird]

Nice job. There are a few other Pontiacs that could use this treatment, ie. 64 front bumpers, etc.

[BAN]

Thanks, Yeah i agree, i'm expecting to do it to my front bumper once i get all the sheet metal back on.

The more i look at it, the more it really cleans up the car.

[pontiacs-r-us]

Looks great man.Hope you recorded it? Have watched your videos,& enjoyed looking at them. Your not afraid to try something for first time.Ive always tried to be that way.If you don't try you only prove you "can't" do it,lol. Keep up the good work.


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[BAN]

Originally Posted by pontiacs-r-us

Looks great man.Hope you recorded it? Have watched your videos,& enjoyed looking at them. Your not afraid to try something for first time.Ive always tried to be that way.If you don't try you only prove you "can't" do it,lol. Keep up the good work.


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Appreciate the kind words Sir, i really like that saying, you can count on me reciting that to someone, someday!

I've always loved the Evil Knievel saying of "A man can fall many times in life. But He's never a failure if he tries to get up"

thank you again, i'm glad you are enjoying the videos!
Cheers,Sam

[dataway]

I think you did a nice job on the modification. But ... you will need to keep an eye on the corners.

The bumper is hard bolted the to the frame, the body is NOT, they move differently, sometimes quite a bit under hard acceleration, cornering etc. When you put it on permanently ... keep those gaps as even as you can or the bumper is going to contact the body and start taking paint off. Good chance that on a bumpy road you might start hearing the bumper hitting the body.

[BAN]

Originally Posted by dataway

I think you did a nice job on the modification. But ... you will need to keep an eye on the corners.

The bumper is hard bolted the to the frame, the body is NOT, they move differently, sometimes quite a bit under hard acceleration, cornering etc. When you put it on permanently ... keep those gaps as even as you can or the bumper is going to contact the body and start taking paint off. Good chance that on a bumpy road you might start hearing the bumper hitting the body.

Thank you!
The bumper brackets actually mount to the body, so if the body would move independantly of the frame, the bumper will move with the sheet metal/body. I also boxed and braced my frame, and am using Solid aluminum body mounts. So it should be fairly rigid! Appreciate you checking it out.

[indymanjoe]

^ That looks great also.I'll check your vids when I get home.

[PunchT37]

For a while, I thought you destroyed your rear bumper at the race track.
Then, I said wow. The street section, with that hookup?

[BAN]

Haha. Yeah I can see that, wel it is a T 37 post car, ain't that what they are for?!


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[Formula8]

Originally Posted by BAN

Pretty stoked! i doubt anyone will directly notice, but i certainly think it was worth the effort!

Cheers,
Sam.

Looks great and anyone that has done stuff like this will notice! Anyway, I don't know how you feel about the remaining gaps but you can take some 1/8 round steel stock (which bends easily, even more so when heated) and tack weld that to the body to close up the gap between the body and bumper. You would have to do the same to the rear edge of the trunk lid but no biggie. One you get started it goes much faster than one would think. Once tacked, you run a bunch more tacks then grind everything down to achieve the desired gap and metal finish on the outside. Finish the back side with duraglass and you are good.

[dataway]

Originally Posted by BAN

Thank you!
The bumper brackets actually mount to the body, so if the body would move independantly of the frame, the bumper will move with the sheet metal/body. I also boxed and braced my frame, and am using Solid aluminum body mounts. So it should be fairly rigid! Appreciate you checking it out.

I see what you mean ... that's not going to move around much Nice work!

[Hunter98TA]

Looks fantastic. My aftermarket bumper needs that type of tweaking.

Chip Foose would be proud of you!!!