.

I know its not a Camaro, but i have one of those too.....I have an orig. 49k mile '67 Nova with orig. paint, all orig interior, everything is orig. on this car. Its a real museum piece. It's a sad day because today i was rear-ended and the bumper was pushed in.



Luckily the body was not impacted so i will not have to paint the car. The orig. rear bumper looks like new. I called a local bumper repair shop and they told me that to straighten it out they will have to rechrome it. I would have thought they could straighten it out without rechroming, but should i go that route or just put on a repro? Are the repros any good?



thanks mike



The first three pictures are before the accident, the last is the dented bumper:

http://www.fototime.com/AB1BF92B2832228/standard.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/8AD3C597156DCBF/standard.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/9E90DDCCE2CF5BC/standard.jpg





Here is a picture of the dented bumper:

http://www.fototime.com/EFCA1B62006A217/standard.jpg

A good metal man could straighten it some, but the way it is warped, I don't think they could get it to look great. The repro's are not show quality, but neither were the bumpers when new from the factory. The new repro's are cheap enough, I would probably try one.

I wouldn't even think about it for a second, give it to a bumper shop and let them repair it. Repo is the last resort.

Brian

nice 67 nova!!!

idk bout the repo nova bumpers.....you may want to call joe grom in taylorsville Ky 502-239-8487 or novajoe at 650-342-2483 or wayne at national nostalgic nova

I have repro bumpers and mounting brackets on my 68. The finish is nice but like so many repro parts they don't fit the same.

EDIT: BTW beuatiful car.

I just bought two bumpers from NPD. I haven't put them on yet,car is being painted.But they look great to me. This is for a Camaro of course.

Bumper straightening is almost a lost art. Used to be that most bumpers were straightened instead of buying a new one from the dealer. Rechrome shops had a couple of guys doing only that. Not too many guys doing it anymore because of the labor. Just a guy with hammers, dollies, wood blocks, metal forms etc. to hold the bumper and pound out the dents. Grind, hammer, grind, hammer, polish, plate. It can be expensive but I would rather have the original.

the quote i got to do the bumper is $300....of course repros are about $150, but i just don't know how good they look. I would imagine the metal is much thinner and the chrome not quite as good.....anybody?

Stay with your originals, the dent is not that bad. I bought the repo's for my 69 and they fit like crap. And after 6 months the front bumper's chrome started to peel. I took my originals down to Bumper Boys in Los Angeles. They did have a website, bumperboyz.com but I cant find it anymore. They did a great job. So stick with your originals.

Do the originals. I had mine on the 69 done and they look great. They also fit. Costs a little more, fewer headaches.

Rechrome the original. That way you know what you have.

How do you know if it is an original bumper?

Rob

Everything on the car is original... i have the protecto plate and the old man who owned it put every service to the car down since day one!

Next wednesday i have the pleasure of letting the other guys insurance company give me an estimate....we will see how that goes. I plan to take the bumper off myself, i don't trust too many people with my cars!

Sorry, I didn't mean your bumper, how can anybody tell if there bumper is original.

Rob

Some how mark or stamp your bumper and take it to a bumper shop, tell them you want straightened and rechromed and you want YOUR bumper back even if you have to wait a few months. Its not hurt that bad. looks just twisted. They prolly won't have an exchange anyway for you. Nice Nova.

www.tricityplating.com rechromed my original Camaro bumpers and did a really nice job. Both bumpers had rust inside and various dings and bends. Why don't you give them a call?
And your car is beautiful! The '66 & '67 Novas are among my all time favorite cars.

Something else that can be done to new or clean used bumpers. The back side is usually bare metal or excess electrolite plating? With some black POR 15 type paint, I usually brush on the unseen area with the coating, thus protecting bare metal form future rusting. I did this to my Trifive bumpers and guard and it protects well for street driven cars. Dries rock hard.

I would hope the person that hit you would be paying to have it repaired, so why take the cheap way out? Keep the original one.