[vertigto]

That's a shame with the repro bumper...not even close.

[dataway]

That OEM bumper fits nice.

Does that $800 include removing the dings? Just wondering what the cost is for chrome with no other work.
I'll be moving in TN in the next year or so .... will be able to save some shipping

[ZeGermanHam]

Wow, very poor fitment of the aftermarket bumper. Do you know who the manufacturer is? AMD or The Parts Place possibly?

[roger1]

Originally Posted by vertigto

That's a shame with the repro bumper...not even close.

Yeah, kind of a pain. I should have pursued getting the original bumper redone in the first place and not bothered trying a repro. Btw, Ron Johnson of Potomac Classic Pontiac said although not perfect, he's had pretty good luck with the Goodmark repro bumpers. But when I told him how well my original fit, he said it would be a much better decision to get that one redone and said he uses Tri City Plating.

Originally Posted by ZeGermanHam

Wow, very poor fitment of the aftermarket bumper. Do you know who the manufacturer is? AMD or The Parts Place possibly?

I don't. All I know it's the more expensive of the two that Ames carries and they say "Very Good". Makes me wonder why they will charge me a restocking fee. I hate to think they would sell this bumper to someone else.

Originally Posted by dataway

That OEM bumper fits nice.
Does that $800 include removing the dings? Just wondering what the cost is for chrome with no other work.
I'll be moving in TN in the next year or so .... will be able to save some shipping

Yes, $800 to make it perfect. Not sure if he has a different price or not if there aren't any dents or dings. I told him (Chip) that I counted over a dozen small dings and that there were 2 minor bends but the bumper fit the car very well. I asked him if he wanted to see any photos but he said no because my description didn't concern him at all.

[69hardtop]

I had Tri-City plating do the rear bumper on my 64 GTO. It was very rough but they straightened it, took out all the bumps and bruises, put a beautiful chrome finish on it and it looked great.
I did however, find a small crack in the chrome a couple of day after I installed it. I do recall my helper and I had to lift and twist it a little bit to get it aligned the way we wanted during the install, but i dont think we were anywhere near strong enough to cause this crack.
I sent pictures to Chip at Tri-City and he thought it was likely shipping damage of some sort. I didn’t see it when i inspected it out of the packaging and I’m prettty sure i would have saw it given the size of it.
We didn’t come to an agreement on who was responsible for it and I really wasn’t in the mood to eat shipping and send it back so we could debate it, so I just decided to live with it. 2nd pic shows crack and chrome splitting (super enlarged, not as visible in real life)
It was $650 in 2017

[rwfisher]

$800.00 is not bad considering the size/contours of those bumpers. I was quoted $650 for my 1969 Firebird front bumper which is considerably smaller…. Good chrome work is not cheap but not out of line in comparison to body/paint work..

[roger1]

Originally Posted by 69hardtop

I had Tri-City plating do the rear bumper on my 64 GTO. It was very rough but they straightened it, took out all the bumps and bruises, put a beautiful chrome finish on it and it looked great.
I did however, find a small crack in the chrome a couple of day after I installed it. I do recall my helper and I had to lift and twist it a little bit to get it aligned the way we wanted during the install, but i dont think we were anywhere near strong enough to cause this crack.
I sent pictures to Chip at Tri-City and he thought it was likely shipping damage of some sort. I didn’t see it when i inspected it out of the packaging and I’m prettty sure i would have saw it given the size of it.
We didn’t come to an agreement on who was responsible for it and I really wasn’t in the mood to eat shipping and send it back so we could debate it, so I just decided to live with it. 2nd pic shows crack and chrome splitting (super enlarged, not as visible in real life)
It was $650 in 2017

Wow that is really unfortunate. That looks like a vulnerable place on the bumper for damage to happen in shipping. Maybe I should pay extra for insurance on the return side. I'll discuss that with Chip when the time comes.
Thanks for the heads-up.

Originally Posted by rwfisher

$800.00 is not bad considering the size/contours of those bumpers. I was quoted $650 for my 1969 Firebird front bumper which is considerably smaller…. Good chrome work is not cheap but not out of line in comparison to body/paint work..

I'm OK with it. After I made my decision to do the research, it was in the ballpark of my guess of what it would be. It's probably a better investment too since it's a numbered factory original to the car. Even though it's a restomod, I'm saving all the original parts if someone wants to put it back to original after I'm gone from this world. I'm also trying very hard not to drill new holes anywhere for the changes I'm making. I didn't drill any new holes for the exhaust install but I did have to enlarge the 2 holes for the rods that hold the rear of the mufflers.

[OG68]

Originally Posted by roger1

I'm also trying very hard not to drill new holes anywhere for the changes I'm making. I didn't drill any new holes for the exhaust install but I did have to enlarge the 2 holes for the rods that hold the rear of the mufflers.

I was wondering why you used the rods instead of the factory style mounting?
(bracket not finalized in photo)

[roger1]

Originally Posted by OG68

I was wondering why you used the rods instead of the factory style mounting?
(bracket not finalized in photo)

The Magnaflow mufflers were included in the kit and had rods already welded to them. I wanted to use those vs going with the original type.

Here's a link to the kit:

https://www.magnaflow.com/products/1...exhaust-system

The kit came with 3 different tailpipe options but I never considered using either of the other 2 options.

[gtohurstjudge]

Believe it or not, the repro Ames rear bumper I purchased was way
worse than the one they sold you......All the repro bumpers are crap and they
shouldn't sell them to people and claim that the quality is excellent in
their catalog because they are CRAP!

[ZeGermanHam]

I wonder if the quality of fitment varies by specific model years. RedDirtRoad seemed to have great success with the bumpers he got from AMD for his '67. That's where I got the bumpers for my '66 from, but I haven't had the opportunity to test fit them yet, so fingers crossed...

[68ragtop]

I had a hard time stepping up to have my original 68 bumper re-chromed, But I have no regrets. Just so hard to get over the sticker shock.

[roger1]

Originally Posted by gtohurstjudge

Believe it or not, the repro Ames rear bumper I purchased was way
worse than the one they sold you......All the repro bumpers are crap and they
shouldn't sell them to people and claim that the quality is excellent in
their catalog because they are CRAP!

I remember you warning me to be prepared for a fitment issue after I had purchased it. So I was prepared. Too bad I didn't consult you before I bought it.
It cost me $127 to ship back.

[Sidponcho]

Thought you might enjoy this Vert

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1398...5413200961113/

[roger1]

I can't access that link without being a member of the group. I don't do facebook.

[Sidponcho]

RA IV.....Just sold at auction for..........Two Hundred and Forty Thousand Dollars.

[roger1]

Originally Posted by Sidponcho

RA IV.....Just sold at auction for..........Two Hundred and Forty Thousand Dollars.

I love the color!

Some updates to report.

I got both bumpers sent off and both Ames and Tri City Plating have received them. I contacted Ames today and asked that they waive that 10% restocking fee and stated some of the reasons discussed here why they shouldn't charge me that. They did honor my request with no argument so my refund is being processed and will show on my credit card. Btw, I do want to express how nice Donovan was during the whole return process and he actually calls back or emails back when he says he will. That seems hard to get in this day and age.

Installed the transmission cooler that I got with the transmission from Art Carr. He insisted I buy this from him and I'm glad he did. It's nice and small and there was a perfect place to mount it. I refuse to use the plastic ties that go thru the cores so I hunted for a good place and it was obvious that not only was the center bracket a perfect place but it was pretty much the only place for it to attach. I fabricated 3 small brackets and it's very solid and about 1/8" from the condenser core.







Here it is with the horns mounted. The assembly manual shows the horn on the left to use the upper bolt hole and the one on the right the lower. However, for the left horn to clear the cooler, I had to do it the opposite way.
I can't see it will make any difference at this point.



I bought new transmission cooler hard lines from Inline tube and got them installed yesterday and hooked up the hoses to the auxiliary cooler today. I had to modify the tubes bit to connect to the 2004-R transmission. The connection points aren't in exactly the same place or angle as a Turbo 400 and the pressure line on my transmission is the top connection where on a Turbo 400 it's bottom one.





Installed both doors and latches a couple of days ago and the d/s fender today:

[Shiny]

Always a treat to see your updates. Thanks again for the great photos and sharing your work.

Wow is only a three letter word but appropriate.

Mike

[roger1]

Originally Posted by Shiny

Always a treat to see your updates. Thanks again for the great photos and sharing your work.
Wow is only a three letter word but appropriate.
Mike

Thanks for the compliment!

[roger1]

Got the battery cables made up. I crimped, soldered and used heat-shrink tubing on all the connectors.



From the top down they are:
2 gauge positive battery cable with a 4 gauge secondary to fuse block.
2 gauge negative battery cable with a 10 gauge secondary to fuse block.
6 gauge positive alternator cable
6 gauge alternator ground cable

Here is the fuse block mounted on to the flat portion of the inner fender behind the battery tray and under the fender:



Here's the info on it:

https://www.waytekwire.com/item/45977/Littelfuse-880094-LX-Series-Power-Distribution/

And btw, this is the same part as Blue Sea Systems markets for marine use. They call theirs a Safety Hub 150 and it has a clear cover instead of black. I bought the Littelfuse version because it was a better price.

Here's a photo of how I wired it:



The 4 gauge secondary wire attached to the positive battery cable powers the fuse block and connects to the fuse block at the top of the photo.
The secondary 10 gauge wire attached to the negative battery cable is connected to the ground bus at the very bottom of the photo.

For the 4 MIDI screw down type fuses, here are what they power. From the top down:
10 gauge wire to the main fuse panel under the dash using a 60 Amp fuse
10 gauge wire to the HVAC blower motor relay (30 Amp) fuse
10 gauge wire to the stereo amp mounted behind the glove box (30 Amp fuse)
6 gauge alternator wire (150 Amp)

Only using 1 of the 6 available ATO fuse slots and it is for the Edelbrock EFI power. The only ground used on the ground bus bar is also for the Edelbrock EFI.

Here are photos of how I decided to route all the battery wires. As you can see, I used 2 vinyl coated wire clamps to help with the positive battery wire to the starter. I mounted one to the unused mount hole on the front of power steering pump and one on the front motor mount bolt.











Grounds for the body and the frame:



I made up 2 wires with connectors using 6 gauge welding cable. Then connected one wire from the passenger side engine head to the firewall body mount bracket. The other wire is connected on the same point on the bracket and then goes to frame. I had to drill a hole on the bracket but used an existing hole on the frame. I installed 1/4" steel rivet nuts in both holes for the attaching bolts.

With the car powered up, everything I was able to check works correctly so far. The radio, HVAC blower and Dakota gauges seem to be working fine. The blower does seem like it blows a lot of air. At least through the bottom vents it does. I can't change it to the top vents without engine vacuum.

Also got the passenger side fender installed: