My experience installing front bumper guards on 72 Vista Cruiser, Cutlass
September 3rd, 2014, 08:52 AM
#1
My experience installing front bumper guards on 72 Vista Cruiser, Cutlass
Someone asked to about my experience installing these guards, so here it is.
First, I took one guard to Ace to get my hardware! 4x 1 1/2"bolts, 4 washers and 4 locking washers.
I would have taken better pics, but I've got the bumper off while I wait for a new stonesheild and headlight housings and it is not easy to just "bolt on real quick for a pic". Lol. So the bumper is really just resting on it's supports off the frame.
In the first pic, you can see how they came out. I have read a few threads on the proper placement of the guards and I decided to go with placing them just to the sides of the license plate cutout, where the bridges between the holes in the bumper are. Mostly because I like that look better. The guards will "fit" just right in that exact location. In the first pic, you can also see that my bumper is dented off a little bit, but I think I'm gonna go ahead and hammer that out while the bumper is off.
I got these guards from a member here on Classicoldsmobile.com. They look pretty good and even though one of them has a defect in it, I didn't care. Sometimes, defects give character. In the second pic, you can see in between the gap of the guard. I used this for my first placement marker. All the guards I saw have this gap in the bottom, so you can use it to scratch your first marker in the bumper.
I placed the guard where it wanted to go (due to the angle of the bumper, the guard will want to move to where it was designed to go, left side or right), and then I held it in place while I scratched my first marker with an awl through the gap onto the bumper, through the hole for the bottom bolt on the guard.
I then measured the holes on the guard from dead center of the bottom bolt up to the dead center of the top bolt hole. Since the bumper has a slight curve on the top of it, I used a tape measure to then measure up the same distance from my marker on the bumper and made a mark there. To determine the exact center of the guard, I merely measured the thickness of the guard and found out where the dead center of the hole for the bolt was, then made guide marks with the bumper guard in place on the bumper. Using the guide marks showing me the width of the guard on the bumper, I used a tape measure to show me where my hole should be drilled and marked it.
From there, because of the angle of the guards on the bumper itself, you cannot drill a perpendicular hole into the bumper. You can start perpendicular, but you will have to draw your bit angled upwards towards the top of the bumper in order to get a good angle for your bolt.
The bolt holes were 5/16 on my guards, so I started with a smaller bit to drill the hole, then bit into with a 5/16 bit.
All you have to do after that is bolt them down. I used a washer and a locking washer on the backside of the bumper on each bolt.
I would imagine this job is much easier with the bumper off than actually on the car, but you can decide however you want to do it. With the bumper on the car, it would be quite difficult to get to that top bolt for the guard, I would imagine.
Good luck!
First, I took one guard to Ace to get my hardware! 4x 1 1/2"bolts, 4 washers and 4 locking washers.
I would have taken better pics, but I've got the bumper off while I wait for a new stonesheild and headlight housings and it is not easy to just "bolt on real quick for a pic". Lol. So the bumper is really just resting on it's supports off the frame.
In the first pic, you can see how they came out. I have read a few threads on the proper placement of the guards and I decided to go with placing them just to the sides of the license plate cutout, where the bridges between the holes in the bumper are. Mostly because I like that look better. The guards will "fit" just right in that exact location. In the first pic, you can also see that my bumper is dented off a little bit, but I think I'm gonna go ahead and hammer that out while the bumper is off.
I got these guards from a member here on Classicoldsmobile.com. They look pretty good and even though one of them has a defect in it, I didn't care. Sometimes, defects give character. In the second pic, you can see in between the gap of the guard. I used this for my first placement marker. All the guards I saw have this gap in the bottom, so you can use it to scratch your first marker in the bumper.
I placed the guard where it wanted to go (due to the angle of the bumper, the guard will want to move to where it was designed to go, left side or right), and then I held it in place while I scratched my first marker with an awl through the gap onto the bumper, through the hole for the bottom bolt on the guard.
I then measured the holes on the guard from dead center of the bottom bolt up to the dead center of the top bolt hole. Since the bumper has a slight curve on the top of it, I used a tape measure to then measure up the same distance from my marker on the bumper and made a mark there. To determine the exact center of the guard, I merely measured the thickness of the guard and found out where the dead center of the hole for the bolt was, then made guide marks with the bumper guard in place on the bumper. Using the guide marks showing me the width of the guard on the bumper, I used a tape measure to show me where my hole should be drilled and marked it.
From there, because of the angle of the guards on the bumper itself, you cannot drill a perpendicular hole into the bumper. You can start perpendicular, but you will have to draw your bit angled upwards towards the top of the bumper in order to get a good angle for your bolt.
The bolt holes were 5/16 on my guards, so I started with a smaller bit to drill the hole, then bit into with a 5/16 bit.
All you have to do after that is bolt them down. I used a washer and a locking washer on the backside of the bumper on each bolt.
I would imagine this job is much easier with the bumper off than actually on the car, but you can decide however you want to do it. With the bumper on the car, it would be quite difficult to get to that top bolt for the guard, I would imagine.
Good luck!
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