Well the time has come to replace the rear bumper fillers on my 77 Toronado. When I had the car painted a few years back the body shop did what I thought was a good job of fixing the filler panels (there was a hole in one and a crack in the other) but it came out looking great. But after the heat wave of last summer both rear vertical filler panels split along the top and developed some cracks on the sides. There is nothing I can think of to patch them so it now seems like the time replace them.
I understand that Replica Plastics makes fibreglass replacement filler panels and I understand that some folks on here have actually used them. Can anyone offer any advice on what is involved to remove the old and install the new filler panels. I am guessing that I have to drop the bumper (here comes another hernia) and then detach the old fillers and the support bracket from inside the trunk. Is that kind of the gist of it or am i missing something.
Also any thoughts on how well the paint will match on fibreglass to the body paint.
One final point, I notice on the web that some Chevy guys are using replacement filler panels made of ABS which might be a good idea if I can locate the shops that provide ABS panels and assuming they make them for the Toronado. Does anyone know of such a firm that does ABS panels?

 

Byron,
My father put the same pair of fillers from Replica Plastics of Dothan on two different Toronados - his then current car, and then its replacement. I wasn't present for either occasion, so I can't attest to what exactly was involved. I'm almost positive he didn't pull the bumpers, though.
He had the entire second car painted and they matched the rest of the car perfectly.
The ABS angle is news to me. I haven't heard of that.
Good luck!!

 

Spent a whole day trying to track ABS bumper fillers for the Toronado. While there are firms that make/supply them they don't do them for the Toronado but do for some of the more popular Olds models so it looks like I have no choice but fibreglass.
Also spent time crawling around and under the car and just can't see how the old fillers can be replaced without removing the bumper or at least part of it. The bad sections on mine are the verticals and my thinking at the moment is to remove the chrome vertical pieces so that I can remove the old and install the fillers.
I have watched a pile of youtubes where guys have changed the fillers on 70's era Cadillacs and the one major issue they all have is that the metal support inside the filler usually has to be ground down and or tweaked to fit inside the new filler piece.
So I am going to try and just remove the vertical chrome bumper extensions to see if that allows me to change out the fillers. My center piece while still original equipment seems to be in good shape so I probably won't change it at the moment.
Fingers crossed!

 

I haven't used these guys but here is the info in case you want to reach out to them:
Autorifix
Art Joyce
Retailer for vintage plastic parts.
http://www.autorifix.com/
(888) 413-2288
Typically replies within an hour
webmaster@autorifix.com
https://www.facebook.com/search/?bqf=str%2FAutomotive%2BManufacturer%2Fkeywords_pages&ref=page_about_category&f=AbqgNFCJac8Y_8brdgD2lz8tLsRjIjhttWPwmxZcAj6VmFXJvfCT5xxQaj9NiW4zECfbQ6PAJp7jnZbURQxa5XVCErKsgIcPdn9slKYqYduqduNvXaHVZbL2MZRq-FgSvFWj37USyRubuXKhJ2cMb1ed

 

Chris I tried the link for the web site but it doesn't work. Will try to give them a phone call tomorrow and see if anyone answers.

 

Seems like a perfect application for 3D printing to me. Quality of the material varies but you should be able to easily find something close to an ABS. Do some on-line searching. A better bet would be to contact any technical colleges or community colleges near you. I'd be willing to be they have a printer and would like to give it a go. As long as you can provide them your originals to model, it wouldn't be hard. It's a fast and cheap process.

 

Never thought of 3D printing replacements. Will look into that but I suspect it may be quicker,cheaper and easier just to order the fibreglass units from Replica Plastics. But you never know. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

Byron, did you ever get the bumper fillers installed?

 

Hey Jaunty, good to hear from you. Happy New Year by the way! Never did get to doing them as I got busy running for the local Council this past summer and fall and then actually got myself elected. Hopefully I can find the time this summer to get them done.