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!).
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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:
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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!
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.
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.