question for 1970 fans or anybody

[don duick]

do not like body modifications but one I like is installing the front bumper of a 70 closer to the panels. I think that factory gap could be a bit smaller. It can always be put back to original easily enough. Does anyone like the look of this photo?. Minus the color coding I prefer chrome. would also be great to hear opinions of color coding also.



 

[Ghoste]

I like the look in that photo a lot.  The tighter gap and the color both look good to me.

[Charger-Bodie]

I like the tight gap at the fender, but it makes the valance look funny.

[Ghoste]

Hmm, yes.  I wonder if a different angle for the photo would change that?

[myk]

I don't like bumpers either; I wish I could tuck my 69's bumpers into the body as well.  Now as for the color?  I dunno; I think it looks strange to have them body-colored, but seeing them chrome gives them the "bolted on" look, if that makes any sense...

[Dino]

I briefly toyed with the idea to make my car like a modern car in the 'gap' department, but I let the idea go and will simply align all the panels properly and fix the door corner/rocker issue the factory had.  It's not a modern car and I don't want to make it look custom.  That stuff stays hidden.

When you do something like this, make the bumper fit the front end better, you need to do it all.  The valance, the fenders, doors, all of it.  If you leave one 'classic car' gap then it'll look ten times as bad.  If you leave all but one like this then it'll look way too tight.  All or nothing.

I never liked the 70 chrome bumper as much as the previous but when I saw a 70 track car with the color coded bumper that got my attention.  I like how it extends the nose and deepens the grille even more.  I'd have to go with a flat black grille though with maybe a silver loop around but definitely blacked out silver in the middle.

[myk]

^^^That sounds really good...

[Mike DC]

 
The wide bumper gaps on every side were originally necessary to allow movement between the body & frame on non-unibody vehicles.  Mopar (and later GM & Ford) went to unibodies but left the gaps as they were used to having them.  It allowed the bumpers to get tweaked a bit without banging the rest of the panels.  And in the case of cars like Chargers, the bumper was also the factory jacking point, which was another reason why little bit of play there didn't hurt.

Prevailing opinion on that issue has changed over time.  Now we don't seem to mind the slightest bump affecting 15 different body panels and costing a lot more to fix. 

   

[ACUDANUT]

That sums it up. Keep the gap.

[fy469rtse]

Don ,
yes i saw that car on ebay as well,
I like the look with out the sleezy poor gap seals that chyrsler installs to allow fast production line install.
a lot to like about the whole car ,
and it looks great starting from a 70, hope your getting some good ideas's for your 70
that could be as simple as slotting bumper mount holes a little further to allow bumper to adjust that bit further back,

[don duick]

I did some minor mods and halved the factory gap.It is not easy to go as far as the car in the photo as the bumper does not follow the shape of fenders perfectly. It would require some bending or the fenders would need some bog {bondo} to help them match. You would have to be really keen something a 70 owner would consider at the beginning of a resto or repaint. The factory gap way too far and ugly.   

[ACUDANUT]

BTW, I love the blacked out grill !. I did the same on mine back in 86.