In response to the reply as to how involved the transplantation of the
'74 chrome bumper/rubber overrider to the '79 1500 chassis replacing the
the Big Rubber Bumpers.
On the '79:
Removal of the foam backing pad reveals the welded reinforced brackets;
we removed the two center brackets that are welded to the chassis- did
this by using the 41/2" grinder and attacking the welds on one side-
chiseling the bracket loose on one side and levering up to break the
weld on the opposite side - two brackets removed
Just inside the overrider brackets are two upright brackets- we left
these in place: No apparent reason to remove them- the adage of do no
more work than required!
The bumper mount/ over rider mounts have to be trimmed quite a bit; The
original mounts are in place and additional steel has been added to
strengthen this area- we only trimmed enough steel that would allow the
bracket from the '74 to fit- this is a contoured fit and the steel needs
to be trimmed accordingly- but the template for the shape already exists
interior to the mounts-
this require cuts on the top of the mount and at the bottom of the
mount. after the cuts/trim the brackets for the chrome bumpers fit into
place and a simple bolt up has the '79 transformed!
You will find that the time it takes to trim the bumper mounts will
directly reflect the types of tools available to your disposal; Chris
had very limited tools and I just happened to bring my grinder and
chisel with my MIG welder - I was initially going to weld the radiator
support bracket mounts from the '74 (upright position) into the '79 (
was an angled position)- since Chris was transplanting good mechanicals/
awful body tub in to a good body tub/no motor Spit.
I would recommend this exercise to anyone to do with the basics of
cutting/trimming tools.
Cheers,
--
Frank U
59 Ford Consul MKII 'lowline' convertible
http://home.aol.com/funder770
Atlanta GA USA (well sort of...)
oh yeah a '79 Spitfire 1500 project too!
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