58-60 frt bumper or 61-62?

[James B.]

Hi all,

Trying to confirm if the frt bumper I have (driver's side) is correct for my '59, or if it's a 61-62 bumper.. I have provided a pic below with measurements- any help would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Jim

[Bill M.]

Re: 58-60 frt bumper or 61-62?

My '59 driver's bumper measures 6-5/8, 7-1/8, 5 inches.

It is possible that the only difference from '58-'62 is the attachment for the toothy grille on the '58-'60. If yours has two bolts for attaching the grille bar, it may be good.

[Jim D.]

Re: 58-60 frt bumper or 61-62?

I got pretty much the same measurements as Bill. Mine is a 1960 and guaranteed 100% original. That being said, I thought the difference was where the grill bar attached. Not sure though.

Jim

[William C.]

Re: 58-60 frt bumper or 61-62?

Difference is in the grille bar attachment location as the '61-62 bar is moved foreward to take up the space used by the grille teeth in the '58-60 cars. Measure the depth from the rear of the opening to the grill bar locater and I'll check your dimensions against my car.

[William C.]

Re: 58-60 frt bumper or 61-62?

from the starting point on your 6 1/2 inch measurement to the contact point for the grill bar is 1 1/5 to 1 5/8 inch on a 61-62, best I can measure with the car assembled.

[Bill M.]

Re: 58-60 frt bumper or 61-62?

from the starting point on your 6 1/2 inch measurement to the contact point for the grill bar is 1 1/5 to 1 5/8 inch on a 61-62, best I can measure with the car assembled.

I get 3 inches from the rear point of the 6-1/2 measurement (in the picture) to the inboard edge of the bumper. This is on an original '59.

[Tom B.]

Re: 58-60 frt bumper or 61-62?

I would like to thank everyone for chiming in on this subject. Jim and I were having a lenthy discusion on the differences of these bumpers yesterday based on something I observed at the Kruse Labor Day auction in Auburn IN.

There was a row of 1958-1962 Corvettes setting there from a dealer in Springfield OH and I noticed something unusual about a couple of the cars. One of the 58-60 cars (can't remember which) had the grille set back in to the opening by a couple of inches further than the others. On that car the front edge of the bumpers were much flatter and did not have the same curve and did not project out from the body like the rest of the 58-60 cars.

Of the 61/62 cars setting there all but one had these same flatter ftont bumpers except for one that had the more rounded bumper of the majority of the 58-60 cars. The grille bar didn't look like it was located right in that car too. It looked to me like they got the front bumpers mixed up on these 2 cars. Unfortunatly I didn't take a picture.

I was telling Jim that I thought that on the 61/62 the grille bar mounting was different as Bill stated but also the contour of the front edge differed resulting in a bumper that isn't as wide as the 58-60. My '59s are burried in the basement and hard to get to right now.

Any further comments?

Tom

[Mike E.]

Re: 58-60 frt bumper or 61-62?

You're likely looking at original 58-60 and 61-62 bumpers, and reproduction 58-60 and 61-62 bumpers. That would explain the difference in setback for the teeth (GM diffeerence) and the difference in contour is likely GM vs. repro.

[Tom B.]

Re: 58-60 frt bumper or 61-62?

I was wondering if that might be the case. I have never taken the time to look closely at repro bumpers.

Thanks,
Tom