71-72 Duster bumper on the 74 Duster.

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Snake

Mopar Nut
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First off sorry the pics are crappy.Well it got warm enough to work on the Duster.As you can see that heavy ugly 74 Duster bumper has bean replace with a 71-72 style rear bumper,not lined up yet,tomorrow i will work on it.The brackets are from 71-72 duster.I love it and lighten the rear up.

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Do you have pics to show the difference between each bumper and how to attach? Would it be possible to use 73-76 bumper is 70-72 brackets?

Riddler
 
Do you have pics to show the difference between each bumper and how to attach? Would it be possible to use 73-76 bumper is 70-72 brackets? go to the search forum type the demonizer build strikesssssssssss again, its all there.

Riddler
 
The front brackets used on the 67-72 cars can be used to fit a 67-72 bumper to anything up to a 76 but the hood, grille and lower fill panel are in the way on the 73-76 models.
I had a 74 Duster that I called Frankenduster. I put a 71 hood, grille and fill panel in it. There are some 1974 models that had traditional old style non impact type front bumpers. Those are easy to retrofit because the frame has the holes there and threaded. Sometime in the 1974 model year the 5mph impact bumpers were implemented and the frames were modified to accomodate a larger threaded hole for the shock absorber brackets. The holes for the old style bumper were still in my frame but they had no threaded nuts behind the holes in the frame rails. I made a sheet metal plate with the appropriate sized nuts welded to it, then slipped it in the frame and welded them in place. I was then able to mount whatever I wanted.
For the rear, I again welded a plate against the inner valance panel. This allowed me a surface to mount the bumper. The 5 mph impact bumpers have a fat shock absorber that ordinarily passes through that inner valance. The hole there left nothing to attach the old style brackets.
 
Do you have pics to show the difference between each bumper and how to attach? Would it be possible to use 73-76 bumper is 70-72 brackets?

Riddler

You could use a newer bumper with older brackets but it involves some creativity. The outer shape is different enough between the years that you'd need to do some cutting, welding,maybe adding spacers, shims, etc. The bumper bolt holes are all in different spots so you'd either add more holes in the bumper to match the brackets or add more metal to the brackets to provide backing for the bumper bolts to attach through.
I like fabricating stuff but sometimes it goes against common sense to spend so much time and effort to do something the hard way just to save $100.
 
To use the earlier bumper you need to drill 2 holes in the rear panel and weld/patch the bumper bracket hole and drill 4 other holes for the center brackets. The 73-up nad a rubber filler at the corners so you maybe have to get used to the gap of find some way to fill it to your liking. The first pic is 73-up and the other is actually 67-72 Duster,Demon,Valiant

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It looks like you will have to weld patches in to cover the holes and then drill the holes for the earlier brackets

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The holes in the support panel don't have to be welded up. If you can weld it's probably the easiest way to do it, but if you don't want to weld in patches or don't have access to a welder you can make a set of brackets that will bolt to the old shock mounts and the 70/72 bumper brackets. I have a bunch of pictures of the conversion I did on my '74 Duster here My "new" '74 Duster- or why I need a project like a hole in the head
 
The holes in the support panel don't have to be welded up. If you can weld it's probably the easiest way to do it, but if you don't want to weld in patches or don't have access to a welder you can make a set of brackets that will bolt to the old shock mounts and the 70/72 bumper brackets. I have a bunch of pictures of the conversion I did on my '74 Duster here My "new" '74 Duster- or why I need a project like a hole in the head
Thatsssssssssssss the way i plan on doing it,nice job 72bluNblu,ps that hole that you pictured was all ready pe drill buy the factory,score.
 
Hey does anyone have a pic,of the license plate light and were does it mount,on the 71-72 Duster,my license plate bracket from the 74 bolt right on the new bumper NICE ,just got the swap over done.and made up 2 cardboard brackets to mount the 2 holes left,now to find a shop to make them up.Thanks.
 
Well I started up the Duster jut now,fast idle @ 2 grand and warming up nicely,So I thought it was a good time to show off my 72 bumper on the 74 looks great,what a difference,now next is the twin scoop once i get 1 that i can afford.

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I really think the Duster body is one of the best looking shapes of the muscle car era. Just some wider taller wheels and they look amazing. Better than a Chevelle to me, and for the most part faster!
 
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