Gutting the bumper on a 73' mustang.

[1973mach1]

Has anyone ever gutted the bumper on a 73 mustang? I was looking at mine and its at least 100lbs of rusty looking steel under the rubber cover. I seen one place makes a fiberglass model which saves like 80lbs. IM wondering if i can just cut it down alot. It be nice to shave 70lbs or so off the front end of the car. Any tips/opinions?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[73newbe]

i'm going to take mine off and put in a chrome one.

 

[XeonTux]

As far as gutting it, wouldn't that decrease its ability to withstand impact? Sure would suck to hit a civic head on at 20 and have *both* cars crumple like tin rice cans...

i'm going to take mine off and put in a chrome one.

I've got chrome and been thinking it would look better colored when I paint the car. Then again the chrome isn't so bad either. Luckilly I've still got time to decide.

 

[1973mach1]

I've got chrome and been thinking it would look better colored when I paint the car. Then again the chrome isn't so bad either. Luckilly I've still got time to decide.[/QUOTE]


I think the Mach 1's always came with colored bumpers it was an upgrade option on the chrome. I do like the painted bumper to match the car. Can you paint chrome? I might throw a chrome 71-72 bumper on it to save some weight then paint it.

Jim

 

[XeonTux]

No you can't just paint over chrome, and it is difficult to prep for painting.

so leaving it chrome is sounding good. Especially after I came across the following pics on cardomain. It's like my car (same wheels too) in the color I've been thinking about (at least this week LOL). Looks good with the chrome. http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/542670

Chrome is more resistant to rock chips too

 

[kcp203]

The '73 bumper is a really heavy piece that was used to meet the 5mph impact standards that were put into effect in 1973. The 71-72 bumper brace is different, and onlyweighs about 15 pounds. However, i don't think that you could use the 71-72 inner brace with the '73 urethane cover since the shape on the inside of the cover is different (the '73 brace being much thicker). Maybe you could fill the extra space with something else? (Pour in some epoxy or liquid urethane foam? A shaved down 2x4 even?) It's been a long time since I worked on a '73, but i think the brace is about 3x3" thick. The earlier piece is only a thin piece od metal with a 1" rolled lip on the front edge.

The 71-72 cover wouldn't work for you since the ends are shaped a little different and don't match up with the indentations in the front edge of the fenders. Those too are different between 71-72 and the 73.