[kingbuzzo]

Hey Fellas:

Has anyone ever tried to restore the front or back bumper?

I know these are one-year-only/rare as hen's teef but the graveyard in Alberta wants 3000$ for a used front bumper.



The car I have has extensive cracking and appears that the previous owner tried to paint them with...something

What can be done?

[kingbuzzo]

pics hopefully come thru this time...

[sp4spd]

Sand, fill cracks with semi flexible filler, sand more, primer, satin black.
Wait for 6 months and repeat
I've had my front bumper redone twice and it still cracks just looking at it!
I think the foamy plastic type stuff that they used, ages and just has a tendency to crack.
Sand it down and see if its the substrate (plastic) or the paint itself.
Good luck!

[kingbuzzo]

Hmmm...so its constructed of plastic on top of foam on top of steel?

Could they be removed and dipped into some sort of (more flexy) space age plastic?

My old '74 had minty bumpers before I sold it...dammit

[ponchonlefty]

its a urethane material. if it has cracks v them out then use a good flexible filler. i would remove the bumpers. get some flex agent to mix with the primer and paint. now that is the right way. let me tell you what i did but understand this is not the right way. i sanded with 36 grit i then used 3m window weld and filled the bad spots. sanded with 80 then 120 . i bought rustoleom paint for plastic semi gloss black. and painted it. it has held up pretty well its been 4 or five years i cant remember exactly. my car is not a show car. i hope this helps.

[kingbuzzo]

Gosh this is going to be a mini project... Quite the eye sore for motivation however

Thanks!

[Airpowr]

75 Firebird front and rear bumpers will interchange with 74's. IIRC on 74's the front bumperettes are molded as one piece with the bumper, in 75 the bumperettes can be removed seperately. other than that there are small differences in the mounting brackets but the main bumper bar can be swapped out. Don't limit yourself to 74's

[Airpowr]

My 75 TA is in the body shop now and my bumpers looked a lot like yours. They removed all the paint and what looked like cracks in the bumper ended up being just cracks in the paint. The rear bumper is all one piece with the bumper being painted on.

[kingbuzzo]

Oh interesting...I thought it was an odd duck

I have to get the black stuff off and go from there.

Nice car you got there.

[pontiacstogo]

When you pull your bumper off to work on it, check to make sure you have all four of the locating studs (2 at the end of each bumper). Those tended to break off over time and they are needed if you want to have your bumper fit flush with the rear quarter.

Some info. here;

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...d.php?t=793726

[Airpowr]

Originally Posted by pontiacstogo

When you pull your bumper off to work on it, check to make sure you have all four of the locating studs (2 at the end of each bumper). Those tended to break off over time and they are needed if you want to have your bumper fit flush with the rear quarter.

Some info. here;

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...d.php?t=793726

Very True, they hadn't finished aligning and tightening the right side of my rear bumper and you can see it drooping slightly in the pic.

[kingbuzzo]

Sage advice...I'll watch out for those

Thanks!

[Formulabruce]

3m ezsand 2 part mux is what I use on these after a v in the crack if its big. Then I use SPI EPOXY Only over it. Block it, wait a few days, repeate. Shrink back is minimal and it remains flexible

[kingbuzzo]

3m...ok 👍

[3tas4me]

If you have cracks in the actual urethane, you will need to V them out and repair with what is mentioned above or a Lord Fuser product. My '74 was in excellent condition for it's age but the front bumper still had some cracks in the urethane. Shop painted it three times before figuring out that the cracks had to be repaired first. No problems since.

[kingbuzzo]

There are so many cracks maybe they used the wrong inflexible type of paint...still on the ToDo list'

[kingbuzzo]

Would the process be similar to the 73 nose detailed here?

Bumper Prep and Crack Removal

https://www.pontiacdiy.com/pontiac-t...lares-70-81-2/

Also, is there a "how-to" remove the bumper and bumperettes for dummies...or non handy computer guy 🙄

Thanks!

[kingbuzzo]

got the car out of storage today and was feeling adventurous enough to try to pull off the front bumper...

I think I have removed at least 30 bolts and she isn't even thinking about loose...where did I go wrong besides trying to do this myself:

It's hard to explain over photos but I removed all of the bolts from the bottom, the nose cone bolts from the bottom and the top and the front valance completely.

I don't see any other bolts to remove.

I can however "feel" some inaccessible bolts on-top of the bumper inside the nose cone just under the plastic "pontiac" grill. Do those have to go because they don't appear to be attached to anything!

There is also the mysterious yet fragile/rare piece on the front nose cone under the grill - I hope that doesnt' have to be removed to access some mysterious bolts.

Thanks so much.

[unruhjonny]

that “yard in Alberta” is known for having beyond outrageous prices.

They have had a monopoly of F-body parts for approximatly a 200km radius around Edmonton for probably thirty plus years - so if you’re living in that radius - they are the only game in town.

But, their supply of good original second gen parts is dwindling something fierce.

Best to look to other sources.

… like asking some other guys about three hours south of that yard.

I have sold a lot of my parts to guys who refuse to give them any business, even though I am a six hour round trip away.

[kingbuzzo]

Ya, tempted to go there with some 80's cologne and sell them some leftover parts...lol