Custom shortened, correctly angled front L bumper?

Years ago, there was an article in one of the POCA publications that discussed removing the center section of the L bumper and only leaving the front 2" or so, to connect the two sides. It was probably 20 years ago, or more. I wouldn't even know where to start, to find it.

The OEM bumper is a massive chunk of rubber attached to a steel sub structure. It would be a beast of a project to successfully and professionally cut it to reduce its size.

I can see this project being much easier to complete if you started with a fiberglass reproduction bumper.

Larry

Yes, the idea would be to do it with a fiberglass bumper I think. Mine is in good condition, so I'd like to be able to just put it back on if I ever needed/wanted to.

I'll try searching through the POCA website... although I remember last time I tried that it wasn't very convenient.

Be careful when you buy a fiberglass bumper….

I got one that was 2” short in the long axis. (Per Kirk Evans), if the builder isn’t careful, and doesn’t compensate for “shrinkage”, the parts get smaller as a part of the mold making process.  

After I bought mine (from a fellow Pantera owner….  Grrrrr!) I found out it was 2” too short!

Rocky

Funny, I had the same thing happen when I bought a set of Kirk’s rear bumpers off somebody here. They turned out to be hollow prototypes which had no method of securing to the car. I tried some clever two-sides tape but after one fell off on the freeway, I figured he couldn’t have made them that way. Got some laughs out of it though.

Even the fiberglass bumpers are going to be a bit of a challenge. The outer ends of the bumpers taper inward, so removing 2 inches from the rear of the bumper leaves a bumper profile with a much smaller width than the sheet-metal profile.  

so to have the shortened fiberglass outer ends properly fit, each end area will need to have a widening section added to them so the concave area near the hood remains properly aligned as well as the outer end.

You actually could just retain the entire center section intact to include the two concave areas, and confine your fiberglass work to widening the two outer bumper areas

how are your fiberglass, finishing, primer and painting skills? 😉

Larry

I was searching but can't find the discussion from years ago. I believe Kirk Evans made one previously out of fiberglass. The picture was on a yellow car. I am not sure if they sat in as short as you would like or narrow as his split bumper conversions, but his one piece bumper was in considerably closer than stock. Kirk still may have one for you, or be able to make one. I will keep looking for the thread.

Thanks. I tried emailing him too but no response. I’ll keep trying.

There are a few pictures that I have seen of Panteras with 'Nerf bars' connecting the front 'small' bumpers on the front, usually all in chrome.  I seem to remember seeing somewhere that this was an aftermarket product from some of the vendors back in the day. If you go to Pantera 4142 which is currently in the 'most recent activity' window of ProvaMo home page, and scroll down, you will see a picture of the front, with black small bumpers and black Nerf bar connecting them. Maybe gives you some inspiration.

Cheers, Tim.

The nerf bars were sold by Hall Pantera.

I’ve never thought they looked right.

YMMV

Larry

This is the bar you're talking about, right? Yeah, not a fan...

I think Mind Train (among others) sold them back in the day.

The are kind of silly looking in my book, but they are cool, merely because they hearken back to a simpler time….

Plus, June from Monday Train was pretty hot.  She probably sold half of the nerf bars herself!

Rocky

Riley, to my knowledge, no POCA article was ever written on this subject. A couple were written on repairing damaged stock front bumpers, usually from rust of the 1/4" thick steel reinforcing slab, inset in the rubber. Obviously, getting a modified-stock front bumper weather-sealed would be as much of a challenge as the requested mods! I would agree with Larry- doing it to a fiberglas replica will be better.

Yeah, it feels like that's gonna be my best bet. Maybe it'll be my xmas project!

Riley, a bonus: fiberglas front bumpers do not use the stock hydraulic impact mounts, so they can be removed and you replace one of them with a custom welded tube of the same design. The new welded tube then can function as a tow fastener using a welded nut inside the new tube and a removable eyebolt thru the fiberglas bumper. A hardware store plastic plug closes the needed hole in the bumper for the eyebolt when not in use. No a-arm damage or valence contact damage when towing or loading.

And backing up the decorative-only fiberglas 'bumper' with a 1/4" or 3/8" thick steel strap underneath restores some of the stock L bumper's original function if desired. Note- Kirk Evan's Amerisport was not the only shop that sold fiberglas replicas in the '80s-90s so I'm not surprised there are sometimes fitment issues.

Very cool, thanks.

Rocky

Post a picture of June and the Nerf bars !

Here's the picture of June...  I'll have to dig up my Mind Train Catalog for specs and current pricing on the Nerf Bars!

She even provided her phone number!

A previous owner installed a "nerf" bar on my car.  Do not waste your time even thinking about that.  UGLY.  

I believe Riley's idea with the narrowed or shortened fiberglass on a full L style bumper is considerably different than how the old chrome pre L nerf bars looked.

my comment was about the use of a nerf bar

Remember, the top of the front L bumper sloped because I think Tom Tjaarda was trying to match the slope of the hood for an aerodynamic effect, since the US Feds forced big, damage-proof bumpers on us after the car was designed.

yes, I want to keep that slope... it's the front tip of the L bumper that I don't like which ISN'T angled in line with the car IMO. Want to change that with this. You can see here when compared with Kirk Evans split L bumpers (stole these pics from google whoever this is, thanks!).

Riley, I am pretty sure that was the pic I was looking for earlier but had mistakenly thought it was of a one piece on a yellow car rather than primer. I like that picture because it does show how much further in the Kirk Evan's designed ones are and the way they match the body lines. Not just the top but the bottom looks better too, exposing more of the signal light with its contour going up rather than staying flat. Maybe connecting a set of his splits is the best way to go. Hopefully Kirk gets back to you.

@otis posted:

I was searching but can't find the discussion from years ago. I believe Kirk Evans made one previously out of fiberglass. The picture was on a yellow car. I am not sure if they sat in as short as you would like or narrow as his split bumper conversions, but his one piece bumper was in considerably closer than stock. Kirk still may have one for you, or be able to make one. I will keep looking for the thread.

I think this is what you were looking for:

https://pantera.infopop.cc/top...8419891616#478101366

Wow. Lights within the bumper is too much for me but very cool. Thanks. I have a fiberglass one from a member on the way, so I’ll let you know what happens. It may be a disaster!

Lights?

I’ve got lights, too. 😁

Larry

Wow....that's pretty sweet.  I like the look, its nearly as bulky as the OE bumper. I like the turn signals. Do you know if this was modifite from OE or something that was cobled together to look similar to the L bumper?

I have envisioned doing something similar to that to my rear L bumper by just shorthening the mounts or creating new solid mounts that pulled the bumper into the body by a few inches to eliminate the gap.

The bumpers on my car are from Kirk Evans, his standard mini bumpers. We worked together and he drilled the holes for the LED strips I had obtained.

Larry

Riley, if this whole post is about the tiny  1" wide vertical face of the L bumper, its likely that vertical section was a design feature by Tom Tjaarda to prevent the bumper from either climbing or submarining when impacting other car's bumpers in minor collisions. Or it was a DOT or Ford design mandate for the same reason. Compared to the surface area of the rest of the car's nose, that small vertical section will have a negligable effect on aerodynamic lift or dive but in the event of a collision, a slope could slightly increase the damage..

@bosswrench posted:

Riley, if this whole post is about the tiny  1" wide vertical face of the L bumper, its likely that vertical section was a design feature by Tom Tjaarda to prevent the bumper from either climbing or submarining when impacting other car's bumpers in minor collisions. Or it was a DOT or Ford design mandate for the same reason. Compared to the surface area of the rest of the car's nose, that small vertical section will have a negligable effect on aerodynamic lift or dive but in the event of a collision, a slope could slightly increase the damage..

From what I see it's about eliminating that little eyebrow section of fender showing unevenly over the bumper.

The OP is describing the bumper as not fitting presuming that it is not part of the original design.

Evans design eliminates it.

I think that is what his displeasure is about?

No, actually my issue is strictly aesthetic — I don’t like how much the front L bumper protrudes forward. About 6.5 in to be exact. I wish it were about half that or less.  Like the Ferrari 308 Euro vs US versions of the bumper. In that car you can just push it in, can’t do that on these cars. I also don’t like how the tip angles straight down instead of at a slight angle which would match the car’s angle in the front.

if the Kirk Evans bumpers were connected in the middle and not two separate pieces, then that’s what I’m going for basically.