Bumper Swap
Be careful with your year breaks on the front bumpers. Most of the '74 cars actually do not have shock mounted front bumpers, mine didn't. There was some kind of issue with the shock mount front bumpers, I forget exactly what the problem was. But the factory only put shock mounted bumpers on the '74 model year cars up to about November of 1973. After that they switched back to standard brackets for the rest of the '74 production year, and the shock mounted front bumpers didn't come back again until '75.
Why bore you with all that? Because it gets even more complicated. The body style changed in '73, so, big bulky bumper, but standard brackets- no shock mounts. In '74 they started with shock mounts, but then switched back to standard brackets. BUT, the shock mount bumpers have a different bumper mount configuration, and rather than switch back to the earlier style bumper Ma Mopar changed the brackets. So, the '74 non-shock mount brackets are not the same as '73 brackets. So a '73 bumper will not fit '74 non-shock mount brackets. '73 and '74 are both 1 year only deals for the standard non-shock mount bumper bracket, and must be matched to their respective one year only bumper. Looks almost the same from the outside, but they mount to the brackets differently.
Here's another thread on the '73 vs '74 bumpers...http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=329887
So, now the problems with switching the front bumper.
1- '73 up Dart's have a "beak". The front bumper is peaked to go around it. Pre-'73 bumpers are straight, so they won't clear the bodywork.
2- '73 up Dart's don't have front valances. The bumper is much taller, so no front valance was used. 'pre '73 Dart's used a front valance. Pretty much means you're stuck with a '73 or '74 non-shock mount bumper, and they're still really big. Or doing a lot of bodywork. Or swapping the entire front clip to the earlier style.
3- The frame mounts are different. Shock mounted brackets use a single bolt to mount to the frame, and it's further back. The standard brackets use two bolts, and they're not as long. So, none of the bumper bracket bolts are in the same location on the frame. Which is a bit of an issue, because they use captured nuts that are welded inside the frame. So, to install a standard bracket on a shock mount car you'll need to figure out how to get behind the bracket bolts.
So, the frame rails actually look different, and there's 3 types. 67-73 has the standard 2 captured nuts for the non-shock brackets. Early '74, and then '75+, has the single captured nut for the shock mount bumpers. And then the wildcard- mid '74 to late '74 has all 3 mounting locations. My Duster is in this category, it has captured nuts in the frame for both the standard and shock mount brackets.
Here's the differences from the outside...
'76 with the shock mounts and filler pieces
'73, no filler pieces and no shock mounts
'72 and earlier- small, straight bumper, different fenders, front valance.
Be careful with your year breaks on the front bumpers. Most of the '74 cars actually do not have shock mounted front bumpers, mine didn't. There was some kind of issue with the shock mount front bumpers, I forget exactly what the problem was. But the factory only put shock mounted bumpers on the '74 model year cars up to about November of 1973. After that they switched back to standard brackets for the rest of the '74 production year, and the shock mounted front bumpers didn't come back again until '75.
Why bore you with all that? Because it gets even more complicated. The body style changed in '73, so, big bulky bumper, but standard brackets- no shock mounts. In '74 they started with shock mounts, but then switched back to standard brackets. BUT, the shock mount bumpers have a different bumper mount configuration, and rather than switch back to the earlier style bumper Ma Mopar changed the brackets. So, the '74 non-shock mount brackets are not the same as '73 brackets. So a '73 bumper will not fit '74 non-shock mount brackets. '73 and '74 are both 1 year only deals for the standard non-shock mount bumper bracket, and must be matched to their respective one year only bumper. Looks almost the same from the outside, but they mount to the brackets differently.
Here's another thread on the '73 vs '74 bumpers...http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=329887
So, now the problems with switching the front bumper.
1- '73 up Dart's have a "beak". The front bumper is peaked to go around it. Pre-'73 bumpers are straight, so they won't clear the bodywork.
2- '73 up Dart's don't have front valances. The bumper is much taller, so no front valance was used. 'pre '73 Dart's used a front valance. Pretty much means you're stuck with a '73 or '74 non-shock mount bumper, and they're still really big. Or doing a lot of bodywork. Or swapping the entire front clip to the earlier style.
3- The frame mounts are different. Shock mounted brackets use a single bolt to mount to the frame, and it's further back. The standard brackets use two bolts, and they're not as long. So, none of the bumper bracket bolts are in the same location on the frame. Which is a bit of an issue, because they use captured nuts that are welded inside the frame. So, to install a standard bracket on a shock mount car you'll need to figure out how to get behind the bracket bolts.
So, the frame rails actually look different, and there's 3 types. 67-73 has the standard 2 captured nuts for the non-shock brackets. Early '74, and then '75+, has the single captured nut for the shock mount bumpers. And then the wildcard- mid '74 to late '74 has all 3 mounting locations. My Duster is in this category, it has captured nuts in the frame for both the standard and shock mount brackets.
Here's the differences from the outside...
'76 with the shock mounts and filler pieces
'73, no filler pieces and no shock mounts
'72 and earlier- small, straight bumper, different fenders, front valance.
