Endura Options
 

The Endura front cap of 71 Judge continues to show more spiderwebbing every time I look. Any suggestions would be of help. Is the a option of replacement repair or re-coating?

Probably the best way to repair would be to take the bumper down to the bare rubber and spray/block SPI Epoxy primer and repaint the bumper.

I've been afraid to even remove as I understand the thing is so brittle. I assumed the cracking is the endura, it is just the paint that shows it. Which makes sense because the paint never flakes off anywhere.

They. Had a show on Detroit muscle recently that showed how to check cracking depth with windows cleaner and how to fix cracks with epoxy 2 part. They had about 50 cracks to repair. Called the car the henchman.

Best way to fix is to have it blasted to bare rubber. You may see no cracks if it was just the paint. If the rubber is cracked, the two part epoxy filler is the way to go. Then SPI epoxy which is actually flexible even when dried and cured. Regular epoxy is brittle and cracks, as yours has. I was actually pulling and bending mine after paint, trying to adjust bumper and no cracking. Even 5 years later.

3m 05891 2-part flexible epoxy. stuffs amazing. there are articles out there on how to strip clean and prep endura -READ them. this is not a production shop repair. My endura had lean on cracks, front end was bumped and deformed endura on nose and body shop sanded it off . it's been going on 2 years, no cracking or lifting. spent more time on this nose than anything else on car. yours is smaller so thats good.

Thanks for posting that. I need to jump into some endura repairs soon on a '68 and a '71-72 and forgot the go-to 3M product. It does look like they discontinued that product number and now list it as 05887 & 35887 (depending on small/large 2-part epoxy tube size) but retained the same product name.

Thanks 👍

Don't be afraid to sandblast it. I've done 2 and it gets off everything you don't want left behind without paint remover residue. Sanding takes off too much good rubber.

Considering the size and shape of the '71 endura, that might be a prime candidate for a fiberglass or carbon fiber replacement part. It certainly would be much easier to graph on than a 70 or earlier one, or the 70-73 F body ones.

There are some out there that actually restore endura bumpers exclusively, and you can purchase one already repaired and ready to bolt on and finish. Not cheap, but some of those places will give you a core refund for a salvageable one.

Remember too that not only Pontiacs came with enduras, so places that specialize in the other makes are potential candidates for repair.

I know Paul at Fast may do just a bumper specifically, you could ask him.

Places like Legendary and Restore a Musclecar might also know someone reliable that could repair one, they deal with them frequently.

There are also used repaired ones that are on eGay that you might be able to find, a little risky, but you could probably homework it and reduce the risks.

There is someone who is reproducing the 68-69 GTO endura bumper, OPGI sells them, you could find out who makes those, and maybe see if they can do a run of the 71-72 endura, but that may have a considerable lead time.

https://www.opgi.com/bumpers-hardwar...o-G240103.html

Places like Ultra-Carbon and Anvil make carbon fiber replacement parts, they may consider doing one for the 71-72 GTO. The Anvil one has all the brackets that house the grills and headlights for the 70-73 firebirds, as well as many other cars, so it is possible. Probably not a cheap option, but still an option.

https://anvilauto.com/pages/1970-1981-firebird-transam

https://www.ultra-carbon.com/product...amarofirebird/

If you plan on doing it yourself, load-up on homework before you dive in. Here is a pretty good place, Paul at Fast is a great resource, pretty sure he still lurks here sometimes, and SPI has a forum that is also a good resource:

https://www.spiuserforum.com/

These things are getting more scarce by the moment, as are the people who can properly repair them, it's a shame but the way it is.

Just throwing out options here....


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X2 on sandblasting- its fun ! Don't stay in one spot, keep moving.

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...d.php?t=833566

This is what I did and 6 years later there’s no signs of any cracks