[455Dave]

I'm almost finished tearing the the 76 T/A for painting but I ran into a snag. Three of the lower bumper bracket to body bolts are snapped off and the fourth is loose but rotating freely. The ones in the trunk look okay and I've soaked them with PB blaster. If I could get that one bolt loose, I'd be home free.

The bumper to bracket bolts don't want to budge so I'm thinking of using vise grips to lock the loose bolt and cutting it of with a wheel.

Is there any problem with leaving the brackets bolted to the bumper? Those bolts are so tight I'm worried I'll break them off.

Or would it be smarter just to find another bumper without frozen bolts?

Discouraged Dave

[455Dave]

I'm almost finished tearing the the 76 T/A for painting but I ran into a snag. Three of the lower bumper bracket to body bolts are snapped off and the fourth is loose but rotating freely. The ones in the trunk look okay and I've soaked them with PB blaster. If I could get that one bolt loose, I'd be home free.

The bumper to bracket bolts don't want to budge so I'm thinking of using vise grips to lock the loose bolt and cutting it of with a wheel.

Is there any problem with leaving the brackets bolted to the bumper? Those bolts are so tight I'm worried I'll break them off.

Or would it be smarter just to find another bumper without frozen bolts?

Discouraged Dave

[critter]

Dave,

That bumper is different than my 74 but I think you should be OK with leaving them on. Forget about another bumper. They're almost all in that shape. Hack away and replace the bolts after you get it loose.

[455Dave]

I ended up welding the bolt in place and then cutting it out. All of the bolts will need to be replaced anyway. The bumper isn't too bad, just has rusty hardware from the previous owner using 70-74 tailpipes that are too short for the later model birds.

Chris, are you going to John's this year for the T/A Nats?

Dave