I'm gonna need a bumper and some other things...

[XXL]

And so I'm wondering if this is the time I take a leap on a few design concepts to spice up the truck a little.

For those of you who have seen my truck (or pics), you know it takes a few departures from the norm. After the mover damage, I'm in need of doing some work on the front of the truck, including resolving a now-damaged bumper. What I've been toying around with is nixing the bumper as it is today and doing something truly custom. But I'm stuck on how it should play out. To complicate matters, I've not been happy with the taillights for some time, and since they play off the front signals in the bumper, it may be time to do something on both ends of the truck.

Anyone got suggestions on a bumper I might graft on? And "matching" taillights? The Intarwebs hasn't given me any good suggestions... maybe something from the early 60's or before???

Pics below are a side shot of the truck for reference, and a couple of shots of the front bumper as it was before being damaged.

[CG]

You should post up a couple of pics....BTW, I love the chop on your truck.

[XXL]

Here's a shot of the rear as it is today, as well as a couple of examples of sheetmetal work that intrigues me. The bumper on the Sub is superb... I would really like to do something like this (I don't know who's truck it is. I've had the pic for years. But I seem to recall someone said the bumper was hand made. I'm OK with going down that road, or if there's a bumper out there already that might give a similar look, I could build from there.). I'd still need some appropriately "matching" taillights to graft on the back.

[XXL]

Originally Posted by CG

You should post up a couple of pics....BTW, I love the chop on your truck.

Yup... you just beat me to it

[GRUMPYONE]

I like it the way it is my 2 cents. But the other pics is coll and would look great on your truck. If u sell off the bumpers and taillights put me in line please. As for the front look and the split bumpers found on early camaros.

[texanidiot25]

I've always wondered what the 60-66 bumper would look line on our trucks. May work pretty well with the 67-68 grille


Impala front bumper is nice and slick


This pontiac's tail lights were very cool, maybe work them into your wrap around bed rail:



The chrome middle and lower valance off the GMT800s would be fairly slick too, possibly.

[Frizzle Fry]

You could do something like this but lower (down on the 67-72 bodyline) I have no idea what they are from though :

[CG]

Originally Posted by Frizzle Fry

You could do something like this but lower (down on the 67-72 bodyline) I have no idea what they are from though :

Look like they might be 49-51 Ford to me.

[texanidiot25]

They do look like early 50s ford, but for the love of it I can't remember the model name. The Victoria comes to mind though, maybe mainline.

[Otsa580]

The picture of the suburban you posted looks sweet. Kind of like a bumper on a 68-71 Vette.

[OARNGESI]

You got a really nice truck

[magsnubby]

'49 to '51 Ford

[Frizzle Fry]

These bumpers are pretty slick too, but may not be "bent" enough for a 67-72 (that can always be fixed though):

[XXL]

Originally Posted by Frizzle Fry

These bumpers are pretty slick too, but may not be "bent" enough for a 67-72 (that can always be fixed though):

Know what that's from?

I was also looking at the '68 Camaro front bumper as a possibility. I'm trying to get dims from some of the ebay sellers before I shell out for one that ends up being completely out of scale to work.

BTW, whatever I end up doing, it will almost certainly be blue... not chrome.

[XXL]

uq&d using the Impala backup lights from texanidiot25's post above. I'd squirt the bezels blue to tie back into the body, and roll that (still annoying) sheetmetal corner up on the end to match the curve of the lens.

Meh... it's not jumping out at me.

[Primered_69]

The picture that you posted XXL I believe were modeled after 2nd generation 1970-1973 Camaro Bumpers for the RS/SS trim package. The ones with the split front bumper.

[Frizzle Fry]

Another option (just throwin noodles at the wall...) This wouldn't stick out so far on a 67-72. I think that previous one I posted was from an Impala. The 60-66 guys could tell ya for sure.

[Frizzle Fry]

Looks like that last one killed the thread bump for XXL

[Andy4639]

How about these.

[special-K]

I like the look of reworking the front bumper into a flush roll pan.You could bring the upper bumper line around to the wheel well.

[ChevLoRay]

Those Ford taillights are specifically '51. They have a slight cone on each side as you face the lens, while the '49 and '50 lenses did not. The later one may be just touch wider, too.

The '65 Impala front bumper is intriguing, if you like that style. I once had the same bumper impaled into the rear of my first car, a '54 Ford. Didn't do the Impala any good at all. The rear bumper of my car took out the grille and lead to the loss of 11 teeth of the guy who was driving the Impala. I guess I'm saying our bumpers offer better protection.

With that said, what about a minor resection on the stock bumper? By that, I mean reduce the width of it w/o eliminating the license mount, then modify the mounting arms and tuck the bumper closer to the body. The effect I am trying to infer would be a form-fitting look that would be just one-off from a roll pan, but with some bumper qualities.

Out back, some round light that you could install into the rear fenders, but maybe something from a late-model car. I can't think of any specific brand, but the new Beetle comes to mind, although the angle of installation would be wrong.

[XXL]

Originally Posted by Frizzle Fry

Looks like that last one killed the thread

Thread killer!

Originally Posted by ChevLoRay

With that said, what about a minor resection on the stock bumper? By that, I mean reduce the width of it w/o eliminating the license mount, then modify the mounting arms and tuck the bumper closer to the body. The effect I am trying to infer would be a form-fitting look that would be just one-off from a roll pan, but with some bumper qualities.

I had planned to narrow the original bumper about an inch on each side, but never got around to it... I've done it on other vehicles with success. However, the "tuck" is pretty good IMO. I don't want the old-lady-with-no-chin look ... and I'm not too concerned about "bumper rigidity" if I need to make something from sheetmetal.

I'm really leaning toward the '68 Camaro bumper as a base, and then modify from there. This bumper has a smooth horizontal line, isn't very weighty looking, and appears to have a decent bend in the middle (though I've only seen ebay and car pictures thus far). It may have to be widened to fit the truck... anyone got a '68 laying around that they can measure for me???

[Brad]

I've got one layin' around on my Camaro. I'll PM ya and we'll get some measurements for ya!

[steelhorse]

How about reworking the original bumper to accept the sergeant stirpe taillights, but flush mount them and have them pointing outward as in the direction you are turning.then chrome it.

[Brad]

Here ya go. The first and second pic is of my '68 bumper. The third pic is of a '67 bumper but I'm pretty sure they're the same thing.