body and interior Early bumpers

[echappe]

Can an early short end bumper be retrofitted (holes drilled) to accept rubber strip all the way across? Is the contour the same so the rubber would fit flush on the bumper?

[winstontj]

What rubber strip are you talking about?

[Conserv]

I'm guessing he's talking about taking the rubber bump strip from a mid-'71 through '73 rear bumper, cutting it shorter, drilling holes in a '66 to mid-'71 rear bumper, and mounting the rub strip to that short-tail bumper. The rear bumper center sections are probably identical other than the holes. And aren't the rear bumper overriders for the mid-'71 through '73 bumpers notched for the bump strip?

Regards,

Steve

Edited January 10, 2016 by Conserv

[echappe]

You are correct, Conserv, I have access to a pre-71 center section and my 71 center section is bent. I want to know if it's possible to use this older center section by drilling holes in it to accept the rubber

[esty]

yep...the center sections are the same for all years except for the rubber strip holes in the later bumpers which you can add

Edited January 11, 2016 by esty

[02Les]

Whilst I have no early (short) bumper pieces to confirm, I believe there is a contour difference between the short & long-sided bumpers. The bumper joiners (for those who choose no overriders) are different. The later bumpers have a "flat" that the rubber strip sits up against, and the short bumpers may not have this.

Edited January 11, 2016 by 02Les

[nbcbird]

IIRC there are two fasteners that can be used. One is a clip that requires an oblong hole and a plate/bolt (which is rather pricey) that uses a hole. I retro-fitted my early center section by simply drilling some holes and mounting.

Edited January 11, 2016 by nbcbird