Reply to "L series bumpers"

Well Red,

The front of the fenders L & R are the same '71 through '86 EXCEPT ...

The 73-74 "L" model cars had 4 holes in the front of each of the forward fender face to mount the front black bumper. Each fender had 3 bolt holes about 3/8" in diameter and one large hole about 2" in diameter. The large hole allowed a front bumper shock to pass through. The front bumper shock also attaches to the bumper. In later cars with the L type bumper, the shock strut holes (and shocks) were deleted.

If you want to change bumpers, depending on what type of bumper you chose, you may need to deal with the holes. A Euro bumper will require patching all the 4 holes (Check out Husker's link). An early 71-72 bumper will not fit without major rework because of the turn signal light change.

I went with a light-weight fibreglass bumper that was the same in appearance as the original. While it mounts using the 6 mounting bolt holes, it covers and does not use the 2 shock strut holes. I like the appearance (and nose protection) of the original "L" bumper. While mine is black, it looks very much like the white bumper on the white car in the "Detomaso Internet Community" photo.

Personally, Kirk's small bumpers for L cars look very good (great, in fact) on a dark coloured car such as Mark D.'s car (Moderator). To my taste, they don't look as good on a light coloured car.

B.G.