Duster rear bumper question

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powerwagon70s

powerwagon70s

Good hands, lousy taste in cars
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I want to install earlier bumpers on my 75 Duster, I got a rear off of a 72 and the gap between the bumper and the body looking at it from the side does not look right. Do 73 bumpers fit better? I definetly do not want the Ralph Nader crash bumpers back on the car. I see that the quarters for 72 and 73 are different and I am wondering if that is why it doesn't look right. From the pictures I have it's hard to tell if the quarter has a cutout for the bumper.

Thanks
 
i saw a car on ebay a few weeks ago it was a pink giveaway duster. i think it was a 75 and it had an early bumper, it fit terrible. i want to put an early rear bumper on my 74, but not if its gonna fit like that car.
 
Ya I did notice that too. This is me holding an early bumper up to a 75 Duster. It could fit a little better. I am still going to put it on though as it still looks 100 times better than that ugly heavy POS 75 bumper ever could.

100_1894.jpg
 
Burnt,
one of the things that I noticed with my '73 is that the angle of the rear sheet metal and the bend of the rear bumper are slightly different. The gap is smaller in the center and opens up slightly twoards the outsides. This is the way it came from the factory. As you know I have done alot of work on my back bumper, but because of the amount of work needed to get it right I decided to live with that flaw.
Other than that your bumper looks like it fits like mine does.
Andrew
 
Can you use the bumper brackets off the 72? That might let it fit better.
 
Are you sure that is a 72 bumper? I don't see the slots for the bumper jack. I also have a 74 and installed a 73 rear bumper. you will have to modify the brackets to attach them to the rear frame, also the lower rear quarters must have about a 1 inch extension put in place to fill the gap between the bumper and quarter.
It can be done, just takes minor mods. Sorry I do not have pictures.
 
wayne57 said:
Are you sure that is a 72 bumper? I don't see the slots for the bumper jack. I also have a 74 and installed a 73 rear bumper. you will have to modify the brackets to attach them to the rear frame, also the lower rear quarters must have about a 1 inch extension put in place to fill the gap between the bumper and quarter.
It can be done, just takes minor mods. Sorry I do not have pictures.
Click to expand...



It is a fiberglass bumper so I don't think jacking it up buy it would work to well. It is a 70-72 bumper though.
 
Burntorange70 said:
It is a fiberglass bumper so I don't think jacking it up buy it would work to well. It is a 70-72 bumper though.
Click to expand...

so who can take good pics of a 73 duster or dart sport? did they use one year only 1/4s or bumpers to make things match up better or did they leave the factory with poor fit.
 
I allways thought that all the 70-76 duster quarters were the same other than the marker lights.
 
i thought so too, but this pink car i saw on ebay, the bumper hieght was too short, i was wondering if maybe they used an early valiant sedan bumper, i dont know how close they are but this car the bumper looked at least and inch too short on the hieght. it really fit terrible.
 
I agree with you it looks lousy.
I just went out and measured mine (its a 73) and the body extends 3/4" below the bumper. The best I can figure they took an older bumper and stuck it on to replace the slightly larger ralph nader version. Also one side looks slightly cocked outward from the pictures. Also the rear shot shows the top gap to be tight at the outside and more open in the center, the oppisite of mine.
Andrew
 
Good luck.

I'd think that the 73 bumper would be your best bet. That's the year they changed the taillight panel. It's also the year with the giant rubber blocks on them. The blocks can be left off without any problems other than making sure you have chrome covers for the bolts.

Check to make sure that the bumper mounts from the 73 will match up with the 75 body. The mount is probably different as the 73 had to satisfy an slower impact speed than the 74+

Anything later than 73 is going to have the 5 mph, buggy bumpers on the rear.
 
72 Demon said:
Good luck.

I'd think that the 73 bumper would be your best bet. That's the year they changed the taillight panel. It's also the year with the giant rubber blocks on them. The blocks can be left off without any problems other than making sure you have chrome covers for the bolts.

Check to make sure that the bumper mounts from the 73 will match up with the 75 body. The mount is probably different as the 73 had to satisfy an slower impact speed than the 74+

Anything later than 73 is going to have the 5 mph, buggy bumpers on the rear.
Click to expand...



The mounting location is probably different. I was going to use a set of 72 mounts I got off of a Demon. Mount them to the bumper then hold the bumper up where it needs to go and mark the hole locations then drill them out. Shoud not be to hard.
 
72 Demon said:
Good luck.

I'd think that the 73 bumper would be your best bet. That's the year they changed the taillight panel. It's also the year with the giant rubber blocks on them. The blocks can be left off without any problems other than making sure you have chrome covers for the bolts.

Check to make sure that the bumper mounts from the 73 will match up with the 75 body. The mount is probably different as the 73 had to satisfy an slower impact speed than the 74+

Anything later than 73 is going to have the 5 mph, buggy bumpers on the rear.
Click to expand...

is there actually a 73 bumper or is it just left over 72 stuff that was used?
 
jamesdart said:
is there actually a 73 bumper or is it just left over 72 stuff that was used?
Click to expand...
In the case of the 4-door, the 72 rear bumper is the same as the 73 less a re-inforcing bar and the big rubber blocks. I know that the taillight panel for the 73 Duster was different from the 72. What I am unable to do is tell you that the older bumper will fit properly with an appropriate gap between the bumper and the sheet metal.

Given the cash situation at Chrysler at the time and the low profitability of the a-body, I don't see Chrysler investing any more in the platform than they absolutely had to. It would not surprise me that the older bumper with its mounts would not bolt right up. I just can't say for sure.
 
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