Fiberglass rear bumper 1975 warning

[Bob B.]

If anybody is thinking about the aftermarket rear fiberglass bumpers here is a little heads up-
The edges are sharper than Sxxx. I just returned from spending the day at the local Doc in the Box
getting my thumb sewn up from a good solid hit on the edge of one of those bumper edges- split me open like
a watermelon- be warned they look ok, but removing the spare tire messed up my entire day

If you have a original nice rubber rear bumper assy I am a buyer anybody want a fiberglass rear 75 bumper CHEAP ?

color ??? BLOOD RED !!!!! contact me Bob #967.

[Paul B.]

Re: Fiberglass rear bumper 1975 warning

......no offense, but you'd really, really be wasting your time(and money)to be installing an original 44yr old bumper on your car. Even, and that's a BIG even if you found an original uncracked one, you could spend a good few hours just mounting it only to watch in horror as it cracked in the afternoon sun right in front of your eyes. Seen it happen to almost a dozen cars(bumpers)over the years. I removed my 1974's mint original rear bumper to make a repair in 2003, took it off ever so gingerly & carefully only to watch it curl up and literally self destruct into about 10 pieces over a 6hr period. Too bad I didn't do some kind of elapsed time video of it, nobody would've believed it anyways.

You'd be better off installing that '75-'79 OEM replacement ureathane bumper which I thought was still available(unless it's been discontinued)and mount the '75 letters to look original. I believe it's actually the late '76-'79 style, but I've seen quite a few installs of this bumper on '75s and they do come out nice if done correctly.

[Bob B.]

Re: Fiberglass rear bumper 1975 warning

OK, Is this cracking 75 bumper a common thing or isolated ? Any other 75 owners had this cracking issue ? Must be , because I have not been able to find a used 75 rear bumper How about some feedback from other 75 owners what is happening with those 75 rear bumpers ?
Now, lets talk Judging CDCIF Configuration? Shaped pretty close but surely no part # or logo Date- ding Completeness mostly there unless judging can see mounting screws / license mount small ding, Installation small ding Finish texture and type significant ding
20% of available originality points. SO, maybe 20 to 40 % loss of originality points ? I am looking for some JUDGE feedback.
A cracked original bumper probably doesn't lose a lot fewer points I THINK- what about a good judge ?

[Russ S.]

Re: Fiberglass rear bumper 1975 warning

Pretty much all 73-75 front and rear bumper covers are destroyed by now. If the car sat inside most all of it's life the bumper cover could still be on the car however won't be for much longer. As stated by Paul. they can be nice and with a little messing with them they will crack and then disintegrate.

[Bob B.]

Re: Fiberglass rear bumper 1975 warning

Chevrolet ought to be ashamed of that kind of quality, excuse me LACK OF QUALITY back then.

[Russ S.]

Re: Fiberglass rear bumper 1975 warning

I don't think so... It has been 45 years and the urethane bumpers were new technology at that time.

Chevrolet ought to be ashamed of that kind of quality, excuse me LACK OF QUALITY back then.

[Paul B.]

Re: Fiberglass rear bumper 1975 warning

...when I replaced my '74's rear bumper in '03, I went with the Eckler's true two piece "TrueFlex" bumper. It is 95% identical to the OEM urethane rear bumper(s). It's not urethane, but it's not that stiff, sharp raw fiberglass either. I believe their '75 rear bumper is also nearly identical to an OEM original. I've seen a few installs of this bumper and done right they come out great.

[Jimmy P.]

Re: Fiberglass rear bumper 1975 warning

Pretty much all 73-75 front and rear bumper covers are destroyed by now. If the car sat inside most all of it's life the bumper cover could still be on the car however won't be for much longer. As stated by Paul. they can be nice and with a little messing with them they will crack and then disintegrate.

No doubt about that Russ,
Perfect example of this in the most recent CORVETTE MAGAZINE edition with the "Missing Link" 1983 on the cover that everyone was talking about in an earlier post about the Show on the History Channel. Richard Prince wrote the article and also included the photos. There is one photo of the Peter Max Collection that was discovered in 2014. If you take a look at the '73,'74 & '75 Vettes you can see the disintegrated front bumpers. Photo attached. " A picture is worth a thousand words! lol!

[Leonard M.]

Re: Fiberglass rear bumper 1975 warning

Paul, When I bought the cousin to your '74, the Paul Angell roadster, it had original bumpers. The also fell apart in my garage and I replaced them with trueflex.
I also had a 12K mi '74 Super Duty a few years back and had to replace the urethane filler strip between the bumper and grill with a fiberglass one. I was getting up off the floor and leaned on it.

[Ronald L.]

Re: Fiberglass rear bumper 1975 warning

Criticizing what was state of the art 50 year later... Easy to do. What was the state of art technology for bumper impact in 1970's? Do you have the facts? Do you also recognize YOUR government imposed bumper performance laws that required 5 mph impact with no damage? Do you know how hard the engineers at GM scrambled to meet these quickly passed laws? Your government started "ugly design" by imposing these requirements. Does unpainted steel last 50 years? If not, they why is your expectation any different in performance than the rest of the car? Time to move off criticizing things for which you fail to have the facts about. Get a repro, if its not close enough (75 was a one year only rear), cough up the $$$$ to make a tool and make some for the hobby.

[Bob B.]

Re: Fiberglass rear bumper 1975 warning

Lets take it down a notch, I don't remember asking MY Government for rubber bumpers and all the other laws GM was trying to comply with.
I may be from California, but that doesn't mean I agree with everything MY GOVERNMENT is doing.
My political opinion probably is better
spent someplace other than NCRS, I am here because I enjoy Corvettes and the people I have met in NCRS- it is a hobby. Enjoy it.
Bob

[Paul B.]

Re: Fiberglass rear bumper 1975 warning

Paul, When I bought the cousin to your '74, the Paul Angell roadster, it had original bumpers. The also fell apart in my garage and I replaced them with trueflex.

...yeah, Paul Angell's '74 roadster was a very nice one. He offered it to me one time for a very good price when he was done judging it-always have regretted not purchasing it. I have a few photos around somewhere where we had the cars side by side in Bloomington Gold Survivor judging in Springfield, IL in 1994. Also ironic, his '82 Collector Editiion ended up about 50 miles from me here in Ohio. Small world.

[Ronald L.]

Re: Fiberglass rear bumper 1975 warning

Lets take it down a notch, I don't remember asking MY Government for rubber bumpers and all the other laws GM was trying to comply with.
I may be from California, but that doesn't mean I agree with everything MY GOVERNMENT is doing.
My political opinion probably is better
spent someplace other than NCRS, I am here because I enjoy Corvettes and the people I have met in NCRS- it is a hobby. Enjoy it.
Bob

Nothing political was started above.


Stop raping GM quality and stating incompetence especially where you have no basis educationally or professionally to do so.

It happens too often on this forum

And for the record I have zero equity in their survival nor their performance good or bad.

[Gary R.]

Re: Fiberglass rear bumper 1975 warning

Our 75 coupe had the original bumpers on it when I bought it 12 -13 years ago. They looked great, the car sat outside for the summer and by the Fall both front and rear bumpers cracked badly and started to fall off the car. Installed new glass bumpers, which don't fit anywhere close to the originals and require glass work to blend in.

[Bob B.]

Re: Fiberglass rear bumper 1975 warning

Actually, I do have quite a bit of professional experience with ALL autos , especially 70s, 80's I had over 900 cars in my lease company,
literally hundreds of Corvettes. I was in my 20s and 30s back then and lived Corvettes 7 days a week, club, race SCCA, my 75 convertible won many many car shows. GM and every other manufacturer had a tough environment back in those days. I had to listen to our customers complaints. Lets go positive, TODAY GM's quality is outstanding I had a '19 Grand Sport Vette and
the quality on that car is out of this world. The paint quality is better than most show cars, mechanically it runs with anything, fast, quite
and mileage twice what we got mid 70's 50 years from now I expect that our children will have a Corvette that is still great.
This is the Golden Age for Corvette 700 horse power, 30 mpg if you baby it on and on- can it get better ??? Lets see what this mid engine is all about. Could todays 700 hp 19 be 2075's 67 435 ????? Time will tell enjoy the ride Bob B