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Correct Euro Bumper Placement (Pre-L)

garvinogarvinoMember
Last night I removed my rear bumper in order to install some Pre-L bumperettes on my 74L. I have looked at numerous photos and combed the forums for the correct placement of the new Pre-L bumperettes on the vehicle. Everything I have read says that all the cars are a little different and that you may have to do a little grinding to get them to fit perfectly.

However, on the rear of the car is there a rule of thumb at how small the gab between the bottom of the taillight surface and the top edge of the bumperette should be? Some cars appear to have no gap where some appear to have a ¼ inch (see pic below).

I am also removing the front bumper and put some bumperettes on the front of my 74 and wondering if there is a correct positioning on this. With most of the cars I have seen the front bumperettes run pretty close to horizontal to the ground, however, I recently saw a GT5 where they are not level with the ground. Also what kind of measurement below the front of the fender where there is a sharp edge are most people running (hope this makes sense)? I have looked at the article by Thomas Bechtel on PanteraPlace.com regarding his conversion to the Euro Bumpers but do not see any measurements there either.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

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bosswrenchbosswrenchMember
Dennis, I have no measurements for you, but I did note that there seems to be a large disparity in the rear body panel; I found at least three different license plate recess dimensions- none of which were Euro cars, incidently- and on one undamaged 1971 pre-L, the plate recess was offset towards the left side by 4". Even to an untrained eye, it looked off-kilter, and since the car was stripped to bare metal, one could see the panel had been made that way. There are also several different split bumpers, at least two of which are made to different widths and lengths.
Bottom line: don't worry about it; bumper placement should be where you as the owner like it.
garvinogarvinoMember
Thanks for the advice Bosswrench. I was starting to wonder if anyone had read this post.

Interesting, the fiberglass rear bumpers I have right now appear slightly longer horizontally than any of the others shown in the above picture (when I hold them up on the car). I am guessing that the vendors must also have some various suppliers for their bumpers.

Thanks again.

Devin
garvinogarvinoMember
David,

Thanks for the info. I wondered why the bumpers on the white car looked so much different from the other cars. I personally like the look of the Pre-L bumpers better than the later European bumperettes.

I guess that is what you get when you live in one of the least populated states in the nation with probably the fewest number of Panteras also. My frame of reference is from various Pantera photo’s, my four or five trips to Quella’s shop, and my one trip to PIM – and don’t forget the forum. The forum and it’s members have been a great resource in the building of my car.

Thanks again everyone.

Devin
garvinogarvinoMember
Yesterday, I was messing around with the front Pre-L bumpers on my car after I pulled the front L bumper off.

I was considering how much actual fitting was involved to get the bumperette to fit tight up against the body. I then began looking at all the photos of cars that I had taken when I was in Castle Rock earlier this year.

I ran across this one and was amazed at the size of rubber edging that was on this bumperette. I never really noticed it until now, as I actually took the picture because of the headlights. Any thoughts or opinions on this look?

Devin

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push1267push1267Member
Yes, the rubber hides the imperfect fit, but also protects the paint against the sharp metal edges of the bumper.

Regarding placement of the front pre-L bumpers, they should be flush with the ground, thats also the only angle in which they will fit the body reasonably

I looked at many cars before daring re-drilling holes for mine.
The upper inner edge of the bumper should meet the inner corner of the fender and the lower outer edge of the bumper should approx align with the outer line on the fender.

At least, that was my conclusion and how I ended up mounting mine.

Kristian

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garvinogarvinoMember
Steve,

The bumpers in the photo with the rubber edging are from Pantera Performance in Castle Rock, Colorado. I think they sell them in both fiberglass and carbon fiber if memory serves me correct.

When I was in California last month, I stopped in at PIM and they had the carbon fiber bumperettes in stock. They also said that they could get the fiberglass versions if I wanted them.

Also Hall Pantera has some metal versions in black and also some chrome ones listed on their website.

I would bet the most of the other vendors sell similar, if not the same, bumperettes too.

Prior to pulling my L bumpers I was trying to decide if I should go with bumperettes or no bumpers at all. I was lucky enough to borrow a set of euro bumperettes from another Pantera owner before I pulled mine off so I could take a look at my car with the bumperettes and without.

I have decided to go with the bumperettes but have decided to make my own out of metal. I took some measurements from the borrowed set and have mocked up some prototypes which look very similar, if not the same, to the ones I borrowed.

When I get my bumperettes closer to being done I’ll snap some photos to show you how they look.

Devin
garvinogarvinoMember
Kirk also sells larger custom front bumperettes that require no body work or hole filling of your car when you remove the front L bumper. I think he calls them "Split Bumpers".

Kirk recently did a a black GT5-S that he put these on and they looked great. Here is a link to the car during the build after the bumpers were installed Black GT5-S with Split Bumpers link and here is a link to the finshed car Photos of Waynes completed GT5-S with the split bumpers.

Here is another link to a former post that has some picks of Kirk's front and rear bumpers. Post with Pics of Kirk Evans' new style bumpers. These are another option besides the typical euro style bumperettes that he and other vendors sells.

Devin
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davidbdavidbMember
The location is perfect, but my GT5 will have these big holes showing where the brackets protrude to hold my one current one piece bumper. But I still like the look.

David, I looked these things up at all the vendor sites and the prices are crazy - something like $650 - $1200 for two pieces of metal!

There are so many different parts and model numbers - square, round, inboard, outboard, series one, two or three. Sheesh, for sure I'd pick the wrong one!

Of all the vendors, Hall seems to have a nice solution (see pic below) for $375 for the pair. But with all the options I'm not sure what would fit.

I guess I will have to go visit a few friends and borrow theirs to try on. But even if I found the perfect set, how would I order them? Which PN is it?

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garvinogarvinoMember
A few weeks ago I installed a set of front and rear euro bumpers on my friends Pantera. Today I was loading up the OEM stuff I took off the car such as the bumpers, bumper shocks, bolts, etc. and started wondering how much this stuff weighed.

I found an old bathroom scale in the garage that seemed pretty accurate and weighed all the pieces. They came to 67 pounds all together. Now I know the vendor’s fiberglass euro bumpers have a few pounds to them but maybe only 2 to 3 at the most for all four. Not a bad weight savings, but more importantly I personally think the car looks much better (IMHO).

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