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  1. #1
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    Default Shorten a Fairmont Bumper?

    Has anyone shortened their Fairmont bumpers, narrowing them to eliminate the gap between the body-side (fender) and the bumper? Know of a good place to have it done? Something similar to the 'Blue Collar Buick' on MuscleCar TV on Spike.
    Terry

    78 Fairmont Sedan V8 - Factory black interior, factory A/C, No longer a SHO project, t/c 8.8 diff w/ 3.73LS
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  2. #2
    FEP Super Member dburdyshaw's Avatar
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    It sounds very "Chip Foose" to me (though that could be a good thing).

  3. #3
    New User lazerstrouts's Avatar
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    if you get it dechromed, cut the ends and remove the unwanted parts, any good welding shop can put it back together. then carefully grind it back to close to the correct shape. when you take it back to get rechromed they should re nickel coat it and that should fill any minor flaws.

    if you bumper is say 1/2 too wide, the easiest way to remove it is put a piece of 1/2 tape down it and cut on both sides. do it in as straight a spot as you can in the bumper so the lines will again match up. also watch for the mount brackets, etc.

  4. #4
    FEP Super Member eric5oh's Avatar
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    No rechroming needed. It is aluminum, polish it! I thought about doing this to my Zephyr when I had it.
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  5. #5
    New User lazerstrouts's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by eric5oh View Post
    No rechroming needed. It is aluminum, polish it! I thought about doing this to my Zephyr when I had it.
    that will take a better welder and alot more care when finishing the welds. but with no dechrome/rechrome its alot cheaper. you should do it, that would be a nice touch.

  6. #6

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    If it is Aluminum as posted above, just find yourself a good welder with the right equipment and it will be about a 4 hr job. I would cut the 2 ends off and shorten them by the 1" or what ever measurement it is, and reweld back to the bumper. Grinding the weld down and repolishing is going to take all of the time or skill/talent... I'm a welder and wouldn't hesitate to do this to my car to make it my own......
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  7. #7
    FEP Senior Member Patrick Olsen's Avatar
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    An old thread, but this caught my eye while I was searching for info about tucking the bumpers by shortening the impact absorbers. I'm curious if SHOmont ever followed through on narrowing the bumpers - I might try doing that, too.

    As I said, though, what I'm really curious about is shortening the bumper impact absorbers to pull the bumpers in closer to the body. The car is going to be a caged, dedicated track day car, so I'm not really worried about preserving the "5mph" protection. I just figured the car would look better with the bumpers pulled in about 3 - 3.5 inches.

    Has anyone ever cut the impact absorbers? I've heard a couple of different ideas of what might be inside them - oil, rubber, etc. Just wondering what to expect if/when I cut them.
    '89 GT convertible - not a four-eye
    '82 Zephyr Z7 - future track car

  8. #8
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    Why not just fabricate a mount to the length you want?


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  9. #9
    FEP Senior Member Patrick Olsen's Avatar
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    Because that would require the ability to fabricate something, which is not an ability I have. Presumably fabricating a new mount would entail welding a tube to a plate, but I can't weld. I can, however, lop a few inches off the existing mount(s) with a sawz-all or cut-off wheel, then drill a new hole for the mounting bolt to pass through - assuming, of course, that that would work.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Patrick Olsen View Post
    Because that would require the ability to fabricate something, which is not an ability I have. Presumably fabricating a new mount would entail welding a tube to a plate, but I can't weld. I can, however, lop a few inches off the existing mount(s) with a sawz-all or cut-off wheel, then drill a new hole for the mounting bolt to pass through - assuming, of course, that that would work.
    It’s been awhile since I looked at how they are set up, but I imagine the mount is a plate on the vehicle side and a plate in the bumper side with the “shock absorber” in between. I don’t think it’s as easy as simply cutting a couple inches off.


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  11. #11
    FEP Senior Member Patrick Olsen's Avatar
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    I haven't taken the front bumper off, so I'm not sure what the front ones look like; they may be similar to what you're describing. The rear ones look like so:


    That's from when I had the rear bumper off earlier this year. The left end slides into the frame rail and is retained by a single bolt that passes through the end of the absorber. You can't see it in that picture, but there's a half-tube welded onto the end of the main pipe, and the bolt passes through that.

    The rear ones on my '89 GT are similar. Years ago, a guy on corner-carvers.com made some aluminum replacements, which looked like this:




    I was figuring I could do something similar with the stock Zephyr parts - cut them to the length I want, and just drill a hole through the main pipe for the bolt. I just don't know what I'll find when I try to cut them. One guy said he cut some Fox Mustang ones and they had a black rubber compressed inside. I don't know if all the Fox ones are like that, or if earlier Fox ones might be different? Some other manufacturers have ones that are oil filled.

    I might just throw the safety gear on and drill a hole to see what I find.

  12. #12
    FEP Senior Member Patrick Olsen's Avatar
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    Been fiddling around with my bumper tuck ideas a bit more. I bought a set of spare bumper shock absorbers off a guy on FB so I had a set to mess with; fairly certain what I ended up with is actually 4 front shock absorbers, but that actually works out OK. The front ones are 2" shorter than the rear ones, but the mounting is the same:





    I cut the end off one of the spare shock absorbers to see how they're built. The narrow part of the shock is the pressure vessel, and is welded to the flat mounting plate. The pressure vessel has something inside it - not sure yet what it is. I drilled a tiny hole into it and what came out was white, granular stuff, and it kept coming out for a few minutes. So, not a fluid, but I'm not sure exactly what the stuff is. That pressure vessel has a steel rod that comes out and presses against the end cap of the outer sleeve (the part that I cut off). Once I cut that end cap off, the outer sleeve is free to move up and down the inner pressure vessel (as seen in the 3rd pic below), but won't slide off, so there must be a lip on the pressure vessel that prevents the outer sleeve from coming off. That steel rod is hard - I sliced the end cap off with a sawz-all, and when the sawz-all got to that rod it basically stopped (and killed the blade ). I had to finish the job by cutting around the perimeter of the sleeve rather than slicing all the way through.







    In my earlier post, I had said I figured I wanted to tuck the bumpers 3-3.5". By installing the shorter front shock absorbers on the rear bumper, I'll already get 2" towards my goal, and I think I can modify the outer sleeve to get me the other 1-1.5". And if my plan works, I think I'll even retain the shock absorbing functionality, which is nice.

    As for the front, turns out that's getting replaced with a combined fiberglass bumper and lower valance. Should have that in the near future.
    '89 GT convertible - not a four-eye
    '82 Zephyr Z7 - future track car

  13. #13

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    What about using LTD bumpers? Just the chrome part maybe. Pretty sure those are a similar design, but shorter than an F/Z bumper.

    Either that, or you could use Granada or Boxy Bird bumpers with the plastic end caps. That way you could make them whatever length you want and then slap the end caps on and it would look right without needing to bother with re-polishing.
    Brad

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  14. #14

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    double post

  15. #15

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    Funny post. When I raced my stock car (1978 2 door Mercury Monarch), the trick for Fords was to run the Fairmont Aluminum bumpers. Not only were they lighter but they were really tough in the beat and bang bullring.

    That said, in the lower divisions I used stock mounts (absorbers). I drilled a 1/4" hole in them, collapsed them and welded them solid. It was pretty darn easy to do. You could also drill through and use a couple of self tapping screws. Once collapsed they jiggle quite a bit so you need to lock them down. I believe they are filled with urethane foam (they scare you to death with all the warnings, but the stuff just oozes out).

    Kenny

  16. #16
    FEP Senior Member Patrick Olsen's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ZephyrEFI View Post
    What about using LTD bumpers? Just the chrome part maybe. Pretty sure those are a similar design, but shorter than an F/Z bumper.

    Either that, or you could use Granada or Boxy Bird bumpers with the plastic end caps. That way you could make them whatever length you want and then slap the end caps on and it would look right without needing to bother with re-polishing.
    Interesting thoughts, although I haven't seen any Foxes in the junkyards to try to scrounge from. This is just one of those free projects to play with using what I've got on hand. Honestly, I'm not sure I'll ever get around to shortening/narrowing the bumper, so the re-polishing may be a moot point.

    Quote Originally Posted by mudgepondexpress View Post
    That said, in the lower divisions I used stock mounts (absorbers). I drilled a 1/4" hole in them, collapsed them and welded them solid. It was pretty darn easy to do. You could also drill through and use a couple of self tapping screws. Once collapsed they jiggle quite a bit so you need to lock them down. I believe they are filled with urethane foam (they scare you to death with all the warnings, but the stuff just oozes out).
    Ahhh, good to know! Urethane foam makes sense based on what I saw. I had only drilled a tiny hole, like 1/16" or smaller; I need to get some better drill bits to go any bigger, as mine are pretty beat up.

  17. #17
    FEP Senior Member Patrick Olsen's Avatar
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    The shorter shock absorbers from the front bumper work like a charm on the rear - I probably will just leave it like this.

    Before:









    After:











    If I somehow stumble across an LTD rear bumper, I might go for that to bring the ends in, as ZephyrEFI suggested. Other than that, though, I think it's lookin' good as it is, and I saved myself the trouble of doing further work on the shock absorbers.
    '89 GT convertible - not a four-eye
    '82 Zephyr Z7 - future track car

  18. #18
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    Name:  PhotoScan5 (3) - Copy.jpg
Views: 481
Size:  74.2 KB I don`t know how well you an see it in these shots, but I tucked both the bumpers on my 782 door sedan drag car over 30 years ago, On the front, we replaced the energy absorbing stuff with some ateel tubing that fit inside the factory holes on the rad support and frame rails. Since we did a back half chassis, it was simple to make up some small brackets to put the rear bumper where we wanted it.Name:  PhotoScan16 (3) - Copy.jpg
Views: 485
Size:  116.9 KB[ATTACH] I had thought of narrowing my rear bumper, to eliminate the outer edges hanging out in the breeze, you would think that would act like a mini parachute at 130+MPH, but since my bumpers are so nice, I didn`t want to cut them up. I should try taping up the space between the outer bumper edge and the quarter panel, and see if the MPH picks up at all. Back in the 70s, the Ford Pro Stock racers were narrowing the rear bumpers on their Pintos, and the early Pinto bumpers were a whole bunch thinner than a Fairmonts.
    Last edited by mcfairmont; 11-03-2018 at 10:58 PM.
    1978 Fairmont 2 door sedan, 428CJ 4speed. 9.972ET@132.54mph. 1.29 60 foot
    Replaced the FE big block with my 331/4 speed in my Fairmont, best 10.24ET @128 MPH.
    1985 Mustang LX hatchback NHRA Stock Eliminator 302 4 speed best in legal trim 12.31@107 mph, but has gone 11.42@115 with aftermarket intake, carb, and iron Windsor Jr. heads.New for 2012! 331 cube SB Ford, AFR 185 heads, solid flat tappet cam, pump gas; 10.296ET@128.71 mph, 1.37 60 foot.
    1979 Zephyr Z7, all original 302 auto, 2nd owner.

  19. #19
    FEP Senior Member Patrick Olsen's Avatar
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    Cool pics! My thinking is the same as yours on the ends hanging out - it would definitely be interesting to see if you found any measurable benefit by "smoothing" them with tape.

  20. #20
    FEP Supporter PROSTOCKTOM's Avatar
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    The easiest way to shorten the bumper shocks if your not going to fab new ones is by using a bearing press and compressing them whatever amount you desire and them welding the the two tubes together. Take just a few minutes and it's done. Personally I like the front bumper pushed back 1/2". While this sounds like a very minor amount it has a profound difference on the looks when completed. For those wanting to make to make new tubes from aluminum you need to buy 1.500"-.125" wall tubing and then turn the diameter down to 1.450" to fit in the core support holes.

    Tom
    Last edited by PROSTOCKTOM; 06-09-2019 at 11:42 PM.

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