Bumpers

Discussion in 'The "X" bodies' started by Stagedcoach71, Oct 8, 2015.

  1. Stagedcoach71

    Stagedcoach71 Well-Known Member

    Anyone find a way to improve the look/weight of the 73-74 Apollo bumpers. I took my front one off Sat and it is a tank with all the brackets.

    Fiberglass? Body color?
     
  2. Carry Gross

    Carry Gross Well-Known Member

    I separated the chrome bumper cover from the heavy metal reinforcement piece that the bumper shocks bolt to.(actually I took the whole front bumper assembly apart -spread all the parts out and said ok something has to go- this thing is to heavy) Removed as much metal as I could from that piece using various size hole saws and a grinder for the larger frontal area, trying not to take away much of the parts strength just in case. I am sure it is not a sturdier piece now, but it is noticeably lighter than it originally was. I took about 11 lbs. out of it. The area right behind the lower grills in the bumper is where most came out, I was mainly trying to reduce that monster bumpers weight,but the bonus was more airflow directly to the radiator as those lower grills are now functional. Leave all mounting tabs in place as you will need them to bolt everything back up without changing anything. If I had the skills I would fab up an aluminum setup to replace those shocks and the bumper mounts. That would really help. Maybe this winter I will try. In the back I have decided to leave that bumper alone as the extra weight that far back might be helping traction. Hope this made sense,worked for me. I would love to have both bumpers tucked in and narrowed. Would make my main complaint of the car go away, other than that I love it. I will never be able to afford a real Yenko Nova or a real 70-72 Stage 1 GSX (my 2 favorites), so I went this way. Good luck
     
  3. Racerx88

    Racerx88 Platinum Level Contributor

    When I had my '74, I always wanted to try swapping on '72-earlier Nova/Ventura bumpers.
    Never got the chance to try it before I sold the car though.
    I know the fenders wouldn't match up very well, but maybe it could be made to work somehow.
     
  4. buickbill

    buickbill Well-Known Member

    a nova front from a 68 would clean it up and save 50? pounds , but would it still be a buick .someone must make glass bumpers. id take one
     
  5. I've been thinking about the Nova front and rear bumpers from the 72 and earlier. The front bumper won't match the front end of the Buick. The rear bumper won't match without changing the tail panel or some heavy modification.

    I have seen bumper tucks make a huge difference on these. I actually planned on doing the rear this weekend but it's gonna rain.

    I do have an idea of how the rear bumper would look good, but I need to make some time to develop the idea better.
     
  6. partsrparts

    partsrparts Silver Level contributor

    I removed the "shock absorber" from my bumpers and sucked them in, came out nice.
     
    MRP likes this.
  7. partsrparts

    partsrparts Silver Level contributor

    Here's a pic of the front bumper. tucked bumper.jpg
     
    MRP likes this.

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