Working on the wagon..

[Longroof79]

Thanks man!
It's always good to have a spare bumper in case you screw one up.. My existing rear bumper had some rust in it, which I had to weld in a patch anyway. But as the old rule or adage goes, measure twice, cut once.
Weren't the '74 bumpers made closer to the body? I'd have to look at one of those cars again. Also if there's a support bar backing up the bumper, that would also have to be trimmed as well.

I will post more updates as they happen...thank you!

 

[liquidh8]

Thanks Jim! My one concern is being able to shorten the tailgate cables. With the clearance being closer to the bumper, the cables can't drop as much as the used to. Do you know who might sell replacement swage eyes?

I suppose the curve in the gate would contact the bumper? I had thought of that also. I have a steel bumper, was going to cut it up and make it fit. Lauren has a fiberglass stock replacement, $220.00.

I would need to get the chrome blasted and removed for paint. I have painted chrome before and it does not last long on a Daily driver, one driven every day all year round like I will be doing.

In any case, the though came to me to make the top of the bumper concave a bit to match the gate. Maybe stab it in my press and heat and bend it.

As far as the lugs, the machine shop in the Air Force used to have that stuff, be our missions changed so I no longer have access to all the cool stuff. 😢

 

[liquidh8]

Sorry, just had a thought. Maybe you could measure the gate cable, get online and fins something a hair shorter?

 

[Longroof79]

Jim,
When I lower the tailgate, it just barely clears the bumper. But if I put some weight on it. it will definitely hit. I have bent the bumper slightly to conform with the slight curvature of the lower tailgate edge. I could lower the bumper, but it will look like crap...plus all that hard work in trying to get it to fit close, will be for naught.

As for the swage eyes for the cables, they make many different sizes, but for some reason, I can't seem to find the right size.
I even took one apart, cut the cable and tried redrilling the swage eye....the metal is too hard...it won't work.
It just needs to be an inch or two shorter.

I used a DA sander with 80 grit paper to scuff up the chrome. Then I sprayed it with self etching primer. It's now just covered with 2K primer. I plan to paint it silver. Powder coat would have been nice, but there was too many imperfections. Chrome would have been nice as well, but again the amount of work to take out all the imperfections would have broken the bank.
The thought of using fiberglass bumpers didn't appeal to me. If it was a racecar, it would be great.

 

[81msw79]

you can use "all metal" body type filler to fill in imperfections then powder coat over that. also heard from many people you can powder over jb weld. jb weld is real popular on the bmx forums with frame restorations.

 

[Longroof79]

Thanks, I wasn't aware of that. However, I did use All Metal filler on the imperfections, etc. That's good to know.

 

[81msw79]

nice. the all metal stuff is what my powdercoater suggested to me for one of my project. so you should be good to go then. . do not use bondo or any other plastic type filler.it will turn out horrible. it tends to off gas and bubble or pin hole the powder.

 

[ssbrewskyaz]

Hey Jack,

Curious; What does shortening the bumper have to do with interferencing with the tailgate? Have you done additional modifications that pushes the bumper up or is it the fact that the bumper now sits closer to the body that causes the interference?

:arrow: :arrow: :arrow: :? Scott. ...

 

[Longroof79]

nice. the all metal stuff is what my powdercoater suggested to me for one of my project. so you should be good to go then. . do not use bondo or any other plastic type filler.it will turn out horrible. it tends to off gas and bubble or pin hole the powder.

Hey, thanks for your advice.

 

[Longroof79]

Hey Jack,

Curious; What does shortening the bumper have to do with interferencing with the tailgate? Have you done additional modifications that pushes the bumper up or is it the fact that the bumper now sits closer to the body that causes the interference?

:arrow: :arrow: :arrow: :? Scott. ...

Hi Scott,
It isn't the shortening of the bumper, it's raising the bumper up closer to the body, or tailgate. It helps lessen the gap or clearance between the bumper and tailgate when the tailgate is lowered...so therefore by shortening the cables it would help create more clearance between the tailgate and bumper.
It just barely clears now, but with weight on the tailgate it would surely rest against it.