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The 73/4 cop car guards look like crap as where the small 70-2 guards look cool.



You know what they say about opinions... I don't mind the looks. I'm just tired of banging my knees, or shins as the case is in front LOL



The front you loose completely. The rear needs the 70-72 smaller guards or "bumperettes" as stroker is stating they are called. Either way, is anyone reproducing these?



Let me explain a few things on the E-body bumpers, as this subject comes up quite frequently.

(MODS: Anyway you could archive this in Tech?)

70-72's had bumpers relatively flush with the body. They did not have jack slots. They had a cut-out on the underside lip of the bumper, & the jack "hook" hooked into this slot, whereas 73-74's had a "slot" in the bumper face, and a "tab" on the jack mechanism fit into the slot.

Bumper guards on 70-72 were strictly an option. They were an upright chrome piece with a rubber facing, and had extra holes drilled in the bumper to accomodate them. These optional guards were available both front & rear. On the rear, the opt. guards are not to be confused with the rear "bumperettes"' which all 70-72's had as std. equipment. These "bumperettes" hung down below the rear bumper, & filled the cut-out rectangular openings in the rear valance. For 73-74, the rear "bumperettes" disappeared, and these cut-outs were filled by the huge oversize guards which were std. on all 73-74 cars , as part of the fed. govt. 5 mph crash regulation compliance. The 73-74 front bumpers also got the huge guards.
The optional front & rear guards from 70-72 were no longer offered.

Here's the process to make your 73-74 look like a 72. First you need to acquire the shorter front & rear bumper brackets from a 70-72. These will pull the bumper in flush, and allow you to do away with the rubber/plastic (whatever the heck they are) filler pieces, as well as the extremely heavy metal inner bumper re-inforcement bars. I've heard that on the front, you can re-drill the brackets to move them in further, but I'm not sure about that.

You'll need 70-72 bumpers, since the bracket holes are in a different position from the 73-74, as well as the previously noted jack slot vs. cut-out difference. Don't forget, your jack with the "tab" will not work. You will need a different jack mechanism, as well as a 70-72 Challenger specific jack hook. The last 3 digits of the part no. on the hook are "102", and the 102 hooks are being reproed.

To finish the front, I bought the 70-72 style rubber bumper "wedges" which fit in each end of the bumper, by the fender indentation. I also bought what I believe was a 72 style license plate bracket, as my old one was badly rusted. This hangs from the license plate opening in the bumper. The 2 holes in the bracket aligned perfectly with the 2 existing holes in the bumper opening. I did not compare my old rusted 73 plate bracket to the repro I bought, so I don't know if they are the same.

For the rear, you will need the narrow metal filler piece which goes between the bumper & the body. These came on 70-72's. I used sheet metal screws, and ran them thru the underside lip of the filler, and into the rear body of the car.

You will need the 2 rear "bumperettes" which hang down and fill the rectangular openings in the rear valence.

Last, but not least, you will need to remove the upside down "V" brace from the rear valence, that the rear plate mounts to. If you don't, the plate will be too far rearward in relation to the bumper and the rear plate light, and the light won't illuminate the plate properly. It will look funny, and may cause you to get pulled over, because the cops can't read it. When you remove the "V", there will still be 2 square holes in the valence. Use these to press your white square plastic license plate nuts into. The plate screws go right into these nuts.

I do not have pics. of the bumper changeover process, but my 73 Challenger now looks like a 72. Best mod I did to the car. It really cleaned up the lines, and made it look so much sleeker.

I think I've covered everything needed to do the conversion. If anybody has anymore questios, feel free to E-mail me...