body and interior Euro bumper conversion question

[Tulah007]

So Ive seen a ebay seller

Offering stainless steel euro shorty bumpers

For around $1080 shipped.

Is the conversion a simple bolt on?

Can I use my existing mounting gear?

Anything tricky about this conversion ?

Thx,

Tony

I forgot to mention its a 1973

Thx,

Tony

I forgot to mention its a 1973

[eurotrash]

If you may need to go to the 72 mounts and brackets..    But a quick noodling says that it should be a bolt on.

[Conserv]

And if you have a long-tail rear bumper on the car presently, you'll wind up with a pair of spare holes (one on each side of the car) from the existing front attachment points, just aft of the rear wheel wells. But I'm guessing you already realized that.

You'll have to drill new holes for the relocated front attachment points.

Regards,

Steve

[tashakes]

And if you are planning to sell the ones you currently have let me know. That is if you have them.

GL

[Mike Self]

You should be able to fit those stainless steel bumpers to your existing front '73-only brackets; there's no difference in the three front bumper blade segments from the late 71 to end of 73.  The rears are different, having longer side pieces, but by using the 69-72 rear brackets, the short bumper ends may well cover the holes left by the long bumper ends fitted to the extended, 73-only rear brackets.

 

You might also investigate the cost of re-chroming your existing bumpers--might be less expensive than the new stainless steel ones.

 

cheers

mike

[Tulah007]

The cost of getting my bumpers rechromed is around $1000.

I know it sounds nuts, but here in MD that kinda stuff is crazy expensive .

I paid $700 to get my w113 Mercedes front bumper rechromed last winter.

I paid $5000 to get all of my trim rechromed on my w111 mercedes 2 years ago.

Lucky for me the value on my 71 w111 3.5 coupe jumped thru the ceiling.

God I wish it was a Conv . I'm getting side tracked. Lol

I figured if I decide to I can easily sell my chrome bumpers which are still in nice shape

Also if I upgrade to stainless , I'll never worry about them rusting out.

Also I always really liked the shorter euro style. My front bumper has the thin rubber strip that I was never crazy about either . I already have euro turn signals so this touch would give it the euro look.

Thanks for the info guys.

This site is awesome.

[02Les]

The cost of getting my bumpers rechromed is around $1000.

I know it sounds nuts, but here in MD that kinda stuff is crazy expensive .

I paid $700 to get my w113 Mercedes front bumper rechromed last winter.

I paid $5000 to get all of my trim rechromed on my w111 mercedes 2 years ago.

Lucky for me the value on my 71 w111 3.5 coupe jumped thru the ceiling.

God I wish it was a Conv . I'm getting side tracked. Lol

I figured if I decide to I can easily sell my chrome bumpers which are still in nice shape

Also if I upgrade to stainless , I'll never worry about them rusting out.

Also I always really liked the shorter euro style. My front bumper has the thin rubber strip that I was never crazy about either . I already have euro turn signals so this touch would give it the euro look.

Thanks for the info guys.

This site is awesome.

You would have a Euro look with the long-sided rear and impact strips front & rear, and be "correct" for your '73 . Both the short & long styles are Euro.

[Conserv]

You would have a Euro look with the long-sided rear and impact strips front & rear, and be "correct" for your '73 . Both the short & long styles are Euro.

Thank you, Les! As you point out, Tulah007 is largely seeking the "pre-'71 look". The primary difference between Euro bumpers and U.S. bumpers from '66 through '70 was the rear license plate lights, integrated into the bumpers on Euro bumpers but required to flank the license plate on U.S. cars. Similarly, flush front turn signals are frequently referred to as Euro turn signals, which I find confusing because they came on all U.S. cars in the early years.

Ironically, many of us -- that means, me -- were trying to modernize our cars back in the day. I had swapped out the red-center taillights and flush front turn signals on my early '70 for amber-center taillights and bulge-style turn signals. I had collected all the knee trim and a long-tail rear bumper to bring my '70 into the "modern age" when I totaled the car. They even sold kits of the new knee trim to do just what I was doing (photo below from ca. 1972 accessories brochure). And I quote: "an easy way to make your car look like the new models"!

Regards,

Steve

Edited March 18, 2015 by Conserv