[Judas]

I've been noticing that the bumper on my 69 has much larger gaps between it and the quarter panel (on the sides) than pictures I see on the web. I decided to check and it does seem to be pushed backward about an inch. The two snubbers on the tailpanel corners have gaps between them and the bumper. This is also true of the rubber blocks that slip on the tail panel lip.

What I find curious about this is that the bumper has a fixed center support that would seem to prevent any forward/backward adjustment. Its the one that mounts under the license plate flap. What am I missing here?

[Greg Reid]

The rear frame crossmember is commonly out of shape. What about yours?
How does the bumper fit if you leave that center support out, just to see?

[Judas]

Thats going to be my next step- remove the center brace and try again. I'll eyeball the frame too.

A couple other possibilities came to mind too:

1. Although I would think it would set the bumper at an odd angle, maybe the center brace is upside down. I guess it would bolt up, but I think the bumper would be pretty 'screwy' in alignment.

2. The body is shifted forward on the frame. I think this is highly unlikely but those body mount holes are pretty big.

3. The tailpanel and quarter panel ends are shifted forward. Recall that I replaced all these as a unit. I don't think this is possible at all because the rest of the quarter and in particular the trunk lid would have horrific alignment. My trunk lid actually aligns pretty well and I havent even adjusted it yet.

We will see what the weekend brings...

[GTO JONES]

We spent 3 days on the back bumper and 3 days on the front to get a tight fit. We cut the center bracket and shortened it and re-welded it to get a nice fit. The front we made the slots on the brackets bigger for more adjustment, worked out really nice.

[Greg Reid]

I really could use some more adjustments on my rear bumper. It fits closer on one side than the other and I was considering cutting something or opening up a slot or two.

[Judas]

Originally Posted by GTO JONES

We spent 3 days on the back bumper and 3 days on the front to get a tight fit. We cut the center bracket and shortened it and re-welded it to get a nice fit. The front we made the slots on the brackets bigger for more adjustment, worked out really nice.

Over the years, I've read many stories of having to 'reslot' the front frame to get the front bumper snug. I guess the bottom line is they never really fit all that well from the factory.

me and my buddy struggled with my front bumper for hours to get it right. We ended up getting it by loosening specific bolts, "walking" the bumper a little, tightening, then repeating on the other side. A key thing was prying upward on the backs of the frame extensions (between frame and ext) as we did this. I couldn't imagine ever doing this job alone btw.

Anyhow, to get the rear bumper right, I think cutting the center brace might be required. I wish I had an early pic of the car to see if it was this bad when I took it apart- i really can't recall.

[68droptop]

I haven't tried the back bumper yet, but I was able to get my front bumper aligned pretty nice by myself before it was painted. I didn't open the slots up more on the brackets, but last night I just realized that I didn't have the support brackets installed when I did that. Not sure if that matters or not, but I'll find out real soon

[Greg Reid]

I didn't have any problem with my front doing it alone either. It's not the custom, precision fit that some may require but it fits pretty well.

[Bob's GTO]

See if this picture indicates the fit you want to achieve. I didn't use the snubbers on both ends of the tail panel. I loosened the frame brackets and simply moved the bumper back until it wouldn't go any farther. The center bracket behind the license plate will need to be shortened in order to bolt back in position.
The front bumper will need to be final fit BEFORE mounting any of the headlight/ grill assembly because you need access to do the adjusting. The frame mounted brackets may need a slight relief cut into the bolt slots, and also some relief in the slots on the bumper mounts. Once you have the frame brackets in their final set, if needed, you can shim the tops to get your final fit with fenders and hood lines. Don't forget to use the valance mounting points to get the fender sides to line up with the bumper sides too. After you install the finished bumper with grills and headlights, you can reach the "behind the grill" bumper bolt with the hideways in their open position.
And yes, it's easier with two sets of hands. A beer assistant is a big help too.

[Judas]

Originally Posted by Bob's GTO

See if this picture indicates the fit you want to achieve. I didn't use the snubbers on both ends of the tail panel. I loosened the frame brackets and simply moved the bumper back until it wouldn't go any farther. The center bracket behind the license plate will need to be shortened in order to bolt back in position.
...
And yes, it's easier with two sets of hands. A beer assistant is a big help too.

Man that is a super nice fit Bob. I am pretty sure the gap on mine is over 1in on the sides. I'll try to post a pic later.

The reason I needed 2 people on my front was one person had to pry the frame extensions up and forward (kind of a 'roll forward' prying motion) from the rear area of the extension while the other person tightened the frame bolts from below. Until we did that we just couldnt get it right. We had to move it a little at a time, one side then the other. I had installed the grille and headlight assemblies ahead of time. Your milage may vary.