'81 Custom with Lights in the Bumper

[Oberon67]

Hi all.

I have an '81 that is a pure farm truck... two-tone light blue and white, fleetside, 8-foot bed, 2WD, and the 250 inline 6. It has no AC but it does have a Saginaw 3 on the tree. The factory AM radio doesn't even make a noise.

I'm trying to do some repair work on it, so I picked up a pair of turn signal light assemblies online. These mount in the front bumper.

Now, I was able to get the two original light housing/lens assemblies out of the bumper (barely), but the new ones just won't go in. They're a little fatter front to back, and so lack the clearance to allow them to pivot into place.

It's starting to look like I'm going to have to take the bumper off to swap out these lights, which I would really rather not have to do.

Has anyone else had this problem, and if so, how did you solve it?

Thanks,

Oberon67