How to tell a repop 68-69 front bumper from an original one?

[Greg L.]

Say you have two nice front bumpers on the bench, one is original and one is repop, how can you tell which is which?

I have myself into a bit of a situation now. My chrome shop in Calgary has let me down, two flaky bumper transactions have let me down so because of all this I'll have to pass on the chance to have my car judged at the NW Regional in August. BUT I am going to Bloomington at the end of the month so I'm hoping that I'll be able to find a nice original bumper there.

Any good advice on telling an original from a repop is appreciated as well as where I might be able to find a nice original if I don't see one at Bloomington.

[Blair K.]

Re: How to tell a repop 68-69 front bumper from an original one?

Very good question, Greg. I would like to know also. Hey, just a little east of you in Regina, Sask.

[Russ S.]

Re: How to tell a repop 68-69 front bumper from an original one?

An original(non re-chromed) on the bottom side will have two 3/4" or so sized areas- one on each end that has no chrome. These areas are around a hole that the original chromer hung them by.

[Edward J.]

Re: How to tell a repop 68-69 front bumper from an original one?

Greg, There are a few quality reproductions fro the C3 and there are some really bad ones. The problem with the repro ones is they really don't hug the body line well, especially at the front outer fender area's. And just looking at them maybe deceiving, But when mounted on the car you'll know, I have seen many bad ones.

[Paul O.]

Re: How to tell a repop 68-69 front bumper from an original one?

Here are 2 photos the bottom one is a 1968 and the top is a 1969.

[Keith B.]

Re: How to tell a repop 68-69 front bumper from an original one?

I would think good repro ones would have PR stamped some where on them

[Greg L.]

Re: How to tell a repop 68-69 front bumper from an original one?

I didn't realize that that 68 and 69 were different. Good to know!

Now are there any other ways to tell the originals from the repops besides the way Russ described? Maybe the way the bracket mounts are welded to the bumper or the way the mounts are made?

Keith what's the significance of a PR stamp and why would a good repop have it?

[Keith B.]

Re: How to tell a repop 68-69 front bumper from an original one?

Paragon Reproductions

[Roger G.]

Re: How to tell a repop 68-69 front bumper from an original one?

Greg,

One thing to look at is the center brackets. On 68 and 69 they are L shaped as shown in the photos above. In 1970 GM went to a Z shaped bracket with an extra bend. The 70-72 will retrofit to 68-69. I have one of these on my 69, and the bumper guards need some massaging to fit up against the lower chrome trim correctly.

Here's an old discussion on CF on the 68 bumper
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-g...r-cutouts.html

[Greg L.]

Re: How to tell a repop 68-69 front bumper from an original one?

Thanks Keith, So are the Paragon ones actually better than from the other vendors to the point where they will pass judging? I'm a little sceptical about using them again because their customer support with me has been poor to say the least and the products quality has been hit and miss at best. I just don't want to order one from them and have it be a "miss" and then have to deal with their customer service again. But if they are the only game in town....

Thanks Rodger, I understand the difference in the newer 70-72 style bumper lower brackets. That brings up another question though...does anyone know if all the repops are configured like the 70-72 style? If they are then it's easy to tell the 68-69 originals from a repop because then ALL repops bumpers will be wrong for a 68-69.

[Greg L.]

Re: How to tell a repop 68-69 front bumper from an original one?

Can anyone confirm one way or another if there is a 68 or 69 repop front bumper made or are all the repops the 70-72 style?

[Dale C.]

Re: How to tell a repop 68-69 front bumper from an original one?

Does anyone know when the bolt access pattern on the underside of the bumper changed in 68. Here is a service change referencing the early cooling issues, https://www.forums.ncrs.org/showthre...hlight=3888366, the last blog, and it shows that 1st design bumper with those access notches not present. Sometime in 68 they went to the second design with all the access notches, like the 69. What's the approximate VIN for the change?
Dale

[Dale C.]

Re: How to tell a repop 68-69 front bumper from an original one?

By the way this looks like one of those times they may have changed the part, rather significantly, and not the PN 3930410 in both the 68 and 69 AIM.