Anyone converted a large bumper (76) mav/comet to the small cool looking one? How much of a pain is it? Already did the front. It rusted so I put a 74 Mav front (with medium sized bumper) on my 76 Comet (thus Comick) I made the brackets to bring the bumper in 3.5". But now the rear looks kind of silly.
i coverted my 75(same as 76) to the small one not that hard just had to drill holes ,but you do need to make an internal reinfrocement bracket (which they make for mustangs)...i'm going to be making my own
Fabricating not a problem here. I work in a full service shop and my boss let's me use all the stuff for my Comet in exchange for working on his *cough*Gag* chevy truck. which needs a LOT of work. What's the deal with the bracket? Internal to the bumper or inside/below trunk area?
heres what they look like(spot welded to trunk floor) http://www.cobranda.com/GetItemDetail.asp?ItemID=12083&CatID=636&DeptID=13
You'll also need a rear valance and you will have to weld up a couple of holes in the lower rear part of the quarters. I think you mean your front bumper is from a '73. '73 was the only year for the mid sized bumper. '74 and up are big bumpered.
There is also a bunch of little holes to weld up on the lower section of the tail light panel. Its where the filler panel bolts to.
I did mine without using any inner bracket, and until I saw the picture on this thread I never knew what you guys were talking about. I also don't know which holes need to be welde up. Maybe those holes were filled in with the 4 rear body extensions that came with the spoiler? I used all existing holes and no drilling, on the rear. On the front, I think I drilled and tapped one hole into the frame on each side to bolt the rear of the bumper bracket (where the two flat pieces come together) to bolt that part down. Overall, easy job. You will also need a metal "rock pan" or fabricate one out of your rubber one (goes below the grill on the front, fills in the area inside the top of the front bumper, otherwise you can see down into the bumper brackets and there is a large empty space between your bumper and the grill)
On the rear you have to drill for holes for the rear bumper bolts going into the trunk. This is where the reenforcement brackets get welded. You will have 2 extra holes on each side on the back of the 1/4 panel. If you look up below the ledge underneath the gas filler cap there will be a hole bunch of holes were the filler panel bolted. I welded in 68 Mustang reenforcements. I welded the 2 holes on each 1/4 panel closed and grinded them smooth. Since I don't drive my Mav in the rain I have left all the filler panel holes open. I'll close them up with some strip caulking one of these days. Here are some before during and after pictures .... In the during picture. The Green Dots are holes that will be left open after you remove all the big bumper stuff. The Blue dots are what need to be drilled for the small bumper bracket. The second picture is the 68 bracket spot-welded in ... Also ... you will need small bumper 1/4 extensions ... all 4-pieces ... to do the swap. I put a Grabber spoiler with the matching 1/4 extensions on my car.
Good description and pictures. But honestly, I don't remember all those holes in mine. The rear bumper mounted to the frame by two large compressed tubes underneath the body panels. I think I drilled one, or maybe two holes per side and just put a washer on the inside of the trunk where the bumper bracket bolted in. I would have to look, since it has been a couple years, but I didn't remember it being this much work. That inner bracket, I assume is for extra strength and reinforcement upon impact...do you think it really provides extra impact resistance, or would my washers be enough? If i get hit in the rear, that small bumper is not going to do much to protect the car, in my opinion. Looks good, though
The inner bracket causes all the weight of the bumper to be on the trunk floor instead of the rear panel. The bumper is light enough for the rear panel to support it but could easily stretch out over time or be pushed in by the lightest bump on the rear bumper. Ford wanted to make sure a minor accident merely required the bumper to be replaced .. not the entire rear panel. If you don't have the two holes on the backside of each 1/4 panel you must have sealed them up somehow ...
Good point on the weight being distributed to the floor. I will have to fabricate a couple of those, unless they are easy to find.
Hmm..Now I really wish the city didn't tow away my 73 4 door. It had the valence panel on it. And yeah Jamie it was the 73 bumper, but the 74 front end. Forgot which one I used.
