looking to place the factory bumper guards on a 71 442, problem is every time i see pics of a car with them there in a different location. these are the ones that are chrome with black rubber strips running vertical. they bolt to the bumper front and rear, anyone have info on where they should be placed? steve.

 

most of the ones i see on the front are in the wrong place. i will see if i can find pictures of the original 72 i had with them in the correct place.

 

thanks i would appreciate that!

 

http://wildaboutcarsonline.com/membe...SECTION_14.pdf

and or

http://wildaboutcarsonline.com/membe...Section_14.pdf

This may help.

 

Here is a pic of the front of my 71 Supreme with the original front bumper. I replaced the rear and dont have that bumper anymore! Hope this helps.

 

this is the only one i found right now but it is not very good. this is a picture of an original and was never removed with 16,000 miles. i figure the assembly manual would have an exact position for you but i only have a 1970 book and i don't think they were available in 70.
04-25-2011074322PM.jpg?t=1303775112

 

Here is my '72 Supreme in 1985 untouched from Lansing sans the W-29 appearance pkg installed at the dealership in '72. Mine are clearly in a different spot than that of DarrylJ's '71 closer together.?? Hmmm.

 

Correct, bumper guards were not available in '70. If you look closely at the back side of '71-'72 front bumpers, I believe there are some dimples that show where you are supposed to mount them. I've seen them mounted at two different locations on the front bumpers though??

 

well now you see the problem. i see a lot of nice cars with them,but there never in the same place.

 

When bumper guards were introduced in 1971 Cutlasses, the front guards were centered between the grilles. the mounting holes were 6 and 3/4'' from an existing dimple or hole. In May of 1971, a Dealer Technical Bulletin, 71-T-21A was introduced advising of placement change. Oldsmobile moved the guards closer together so the back of the guard is totally supported by the bumper. The dimension is 2 and 7/8" from the same dimple or hole. Whether you can find this dimple is another issue. That is why you see both placements in 1971. All 72s have the guards close together. Hope that helps. So now you have to decide to go by your build date or what you like better. This would make a good Olds trivia question.

 

Here is the pick of the back on my '72 from the mid 80's and untouched from the factory sans the W-29 pkg installed by the dealer.

 

excellent! thanks so much !!

 

Man I'd just leave them off. Never cared for them. But thats me!

 

According toFig 14-17 - Bumper Guards (A Body) It looks to me like the guards go in the position shown on GAOldsman's car. I've also seen other cars where the guards are in exactly the same place. I need to find the proper location too, because I have guards to mount and I want the bumper piercing in the right place.

 

Here's the location on my 1971 wagon. It was purchased new here in the Rogue Valley and I bought it at a local car lot about 10 years ago. If the guards were added it must have been early in the car's life as it was clunker stage when I bought it. One observation about this location, if I try to put a straight edge across the rubber inserts it will hit the center of the bumper before contacting the two guards. That may be a reason to think this is not factory but maybe dealer installed. One of you guys with the guards closer together, do the guards stick out enough to prevent the bumper from touching anywhere else if you bumped something straight on?

P1010301.jpg

 

I can check for you tomorrow 2blu442, as my car is at my shop 15 miles away. If no one else posts a reply before then.

 

See rocketbrians post. At first, they were mounted in the center of each grill, then later moved closer together so as to be supported completely in the back by the bumper. Looks like yours might have been built early in the production year?

 

I missed RocketBrian's comment when I skimmed the thread. Having them centered in the grills may look symmetrical, but not only to have the support of the full bumper I think they should take a light impact without touching the chrome! The way mine are set the center would be pushed in before the rubber impact strips could do any good. I think it would be interesting to hear if the closer spacing does fully protect the center of the bumper. That may be a deciding factor too! John

 

I put a straight edge across the bumper guards on the front bumper and it only has about 1/8" - 3/16" gap at or near the top of guards to the center of the bumper. So in essence the center would definitely get damaged right at a slight impact to say the least.