My last bumper question...I hope

[Woodsman341]

I bought a '75 Dart Sport, with a '72 front clip. Good looking setup, but I'm going back to the beak, at keast with this project.

I have all the sheet metal, but I'm lacking a bumper (well, someone gave me a core last week, and good gravy that thing is heavy.). I was thinking I would have to get a late '74 or early '75 bumper because of the shock style mounts, and was bummed at how I'd have to try to lighten them up. BUT....

Since the car was previously modified to take a '72 bumper, I'm now wondering if I could mount a '73 or early '74, lighter bumper? That is, will the mounts work with the modified frame, AND will the point of the bumper match (generally) the front profile?

I'll attach pics of the car's current bumper mounts.

Thanks for the continued help! Also, as much as I appreciate lively discussion, telling me "keep what you have" isn't an opinion I share.

 

[Woodsman341]

Oh yeah, it's not pretty under there, I haven't officially begun the restoration.

 

[Lord Sparky]

“Good gravy,” love that term.

 

[Woodsman341]

“Good gravy,” love that term.

Just tryin' to keep it clean and non-denominational.

 

[72bluNblu]

I bought a '75 Dart Sport, with a '72 front clip. Good looking setup, but I'm going back to the beak, at keast with this project.

I have all the sheet metal, but I'm lacking a bumper (well, someone gave me a core last week, and good gravy that thing is heavy.). I was thinking I would have to get a late '74 or early '75 bumper because of the shock style mounts, and was bummed at how I'd have to try to lighten them up. BUT....

Since the car was previously modified to take a '72 bumper, I'm now wondering if I could mount a '73 or early '74, lighter bumper? That is, will the mounts work with the modified frame, AND will the point of the bumper match (generally) the front profile?

I'll attach pics of the car's current bumper mounts.

Thanks for the continued help! Also, as much as I appreciate lively discussion, telling me "keep what you have" isn't an opinion I share.
View attachment 1716059871

View attachment 1716059872

So first, I'd pull that bumper and see what you actually have behind those brackets. Because there's a bunch of extra holes drilled in that frame rail, and the hardware being used is terrible.

So the blue arrow shows the stock shock bumper mounting location, of which there is only 1. The hole behind the bracket shouldn't be there at all on a '75, and by the looks of it that would be a failed attempt at mounting the earlier bumper that's on the car. I would bet that bracket may be hiding some swiss cheese if that's the process that was used to location the earlier bumper. So before I decided to just run a '73 bumper, I'd investigate how much work there is going to be to do it right.

These are some pictures of what it SHOULD look like...

The label on the shock mount frame rail isn't exactly right, but you can see pretty clearly there aren't any other holes, just the one for the shock mount. That's what your '75 rails should look like.

Now, the other thing when the shock mount bumpers were used. A '73 bumper is a standard bumper and brackets, the whole year. And that bumper should work on your '75, provided you have mounting holes you want to use (or fix). '74 is a different deal. The production for model year '74 started out with shock mounted bumpers. Then around December, there was an issue with production on the shock mounted bumpers/brackets. So mid to late '74 got standard bumpers again. The brackets and the bumpers were different from '73, you can't put a '73 bumper on '74 non-shock brackets or vice-versa. So if you use a '74 standard bumper, it will be from a '74 made from December ('73) to July '74. And you want to get the whole thing together.


A better look at what the frame rail should look like- this is my '74 Duster, which had a June build date, and has both the standard AND the shock mount bracket locations from the factory. It had a non-shock mounted bumper too, which is pretty obvious looking at the wear marks on the frame rail.

Comparing the shock mount hole to the standard bracket mounting holes, it also looks like your modified car has put the standard brackets lower than what would be factory.

 

[Woodsman341]

So first, I'd pull that bumper and see what you actually have behind those brackets. Because there's a bunch of extra holes drilled in that frame rail, and the hardware being used is terrible.

View attachment 1716060049

So the blue arrow shows the stock shock bumper mounting location, of which there is only 1. The hole behind the bracket shouldn't be there at all on a '75, and by the looks of it that would be a failed attempt at mounting the earlier bumper that's on the car. I would bet that bracket may be hiding some swiss cheese if that's the process that was used to location the earlier bumper. So before I decided to just run a '73 bumper, I'd investigate how much work there is going to be to do it right.

These are some pictures of what it SHOULD look like...

View attachment 1716060056

The label on the shock mount frame rail isn't exactly right, but you can see pretty clearly there aren't any other holes, just the one for the shock mount. That's what your '75 rails should look like.

Now, the other thing when the shock mount bumpers were used. A '73 bumper is a standard bumper and brackets, the whole year. And that bumper should work on your '75, provided you have mounting holes you want to use (or fix). '74 is a different deal. The production for model year '74 started out with shock mounted bumpers. Then around December, there was an issue with production on the shock mounted bumpers/brackets. So mid to late '74 got standard bumpers again. The brackets and the bumpers were different from '73, you can't put a '73 bumper on '74 non-shock brackets or vice-versa. So if you use a '74 standard bumper, it will be from a '74 made from December ('73) to July '74. And you want to get the whole thing together.


A better look at what the frame rail should look like- this is my '74 Duster, which had a June build date, and has both the standard AND the shock mount bracket locations from the factory. It had a non-shock mounted bumper too, which is pretty obvious looking at the wear marks on the frame rail.

View attachment 1716060057

Comparing the shock mount hole to the standard bracket mounting holes, it also looks like your modified car has put the standard brackets lower than what would be factory.

Thanks for all the details! I'll definitely take them off before I start buying things. Yeah, I've noticed a few shortcuts and generic hardware issues so far...

I will definitely upgrade hardware and align whichever brackets I can find. Like most of us, I'm a bit of a stickler for alignment of things.