Ok, a few weeks on and the bumper is now level but it’s also no longer a 1978 bumper.
Because I couldn’t justify the spend to put on Euro bumpers I decided to fit the unique-to-1974 US bumper instead. I already had the beam and its rubber cover and a set of turn signals but the chrome piece came from Mr Boger (great service as usual). I had hoped to be able to empty the bumper shock absorbers and push the rubber-covered beam in a bit but, as you’ll see below, that isn’t possible on my car.
I am very happy with the look of the result. It’s not just the Euro style turn signals. The rubber looks a little less tall and the overall effect is lighter looking.
Overall effect:
Head on - notice it is level!
For comparison here’s the old 1978 bumper - not level!
Here’s what I had to do to get it level regardless of which bumper I fitted - cut a big chunk off the top of the mount on the front of the right-hand side shock absorber where the retaining bolt goes through and bend down the bracket that the chrome attaches. However, that wasn’t enough. The metal of the bumper beam sat on top of the cylinder holding the shock absorber so I had to remove a section of the top of that cylinder and some of the rubber sleeve between it and the shock absorber to allow the bumper beam to sit lower.
It’s because the bumper beam now sits in that section I cut out of the cylinder that I cannot push the bumper in and the whole thing will no longer slide in in a 5mph impact either but I can live with that risk.
After I removed the metal plates fitted over the turn signal holes in the front body, I found the plates were larger than the actual turn signals. So I had to do a bit of body work but it’s blended in quite well and it’s low down so not many people will even see it.
David