74 dart sport bumper gap
- Thread starter Phil21502
- Start date
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72Dart6pack
Harder Better Faster Stronger.
Yes. But you need to fab shorter brackets.
James Camp
no mopar
if you want to lose the 5 mph impact brace you have to buy braces, but if you don't mind the weight, you can drill a hole in the impact pistons, remove the rubber boot and weld them while they are pushed in, some say they have a large spring in them ,and dangerous to take apart, so i pushed mine in and welded them so they wouldn't push back out ,put the brace that goes across and bolted my bumper back like original, but was able to do away with the plastic filler between body and bumpers, didn't have to buy braces that way.mine was a 74 duster.
Earl Austin
Well-Known Member
Mines not a sport but yes, and it looks great !!
I converted my '74 Duster from a shock mount to a non-shock mounted '70-73 rear bumper.
First version was here, I just fabricated a set of mounts to take care of the inner holes on the earlier brackets. I like Rapom's brackets better, but they were probably a little more work than mine.
My "new" '74 Duster- or why I need a project like a hole in the head
Second part of my conversion is here, I got rid of the brackets, filled the holes in the tail panel where the shock mounts went through and made the flanges for the tail panel like the earlier cars had. So from the outside it looks like a '70-73 car. With the bumper removed you can tell it's converted if you look at the corners.
My "new" '74 Duster- or why I need a project like a hole in the head
Of course doing the earlier bumper conversion requires a '70-73 bumper, '70-73 bumper brackets, and then either an extra fabricated bracket to replace the shock mounts or welding up the tail panel similar to the earlier cars. The easier option is to collapse the shock mounts, but they are filled with oil and do contain a heavy duty spring. So you have to do as Robert described above- drill the shock and drain the oil, collapse the shock mount to the length you want it, and then weld it in place so it doesn't extend out again. Or completely fabricate a new bracket at the length you want. That method is a cheaper, but you keep the '74 bumper and all of it's weight and size.
Here's a cut away of the original shock brackets so you know what you're dealing with.
First version was here, I just fabricated a set of mounts to take care of the inner holes on the earlier brackets. I like Rapom's brackets better, but they were probably a little more work than mine.
My "new" '74 Duster- or why I need a project like a hole in the head
Second part of my conversion is here, I got rid of the brackets, filled the holes in the tail panel where the shock mounts went through and made the flanges for the tail panel like the earlier cars had. So from the outside it looks like a '70-73 car. With the bumper removed you can tell it's converted if you look at the corners.
My "new" '74 Duster- or why I need a project like a hole in the head
Of course doing the earlier bumper conversion requires a '70-73 bumper, '70-73 bumper brackets, and then either an extra fabricated bracket to replace the shock mounts or welding up the tail panel similar to the earlier cars. The easier option is to collapse the shock mounts, but they are filled with oil and do contain a heavy duty spring. So you have to do as Robert described above- drill the shock and drain the oil, collapse the shock mount to the length you want it, and then weld it in place so it doesn't extend out again. Or completely fabricate a new bracket at the length you want. That method is a cheaper, but you keep the '74 bumper and all of it's weight and size.
Here's a cut away of the original shock brackets so you know what you're dealing with.
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