Reproduction Endura Bumpers are horrible

[DavidS]

This is the best fit for a $279.95 reproduction 1969 Endura Bumper.  Blech.

[camaronut]

Welcome to the world of bad reproduction Camaro parts.

Why make this junk in the first place?

[DavidS]

Welcome to the world of bad reproduction Camaro parts.

Why make this junk in the first place?

It's really terrible living in the world of foreign made junk.  The only thing that seems to fit OK so far are the reproduction kick panels.  

note: My clone car is loaded with reproduction parts......my Z gets all the good parts that I can find and pay through the nose for (like original weatherstripping).

[KurtS]

What's amazing is how well the original endura bumpers fit.....
They've never made a good repro endura yet - they've been like that for years.

[keech]

I hate to be negative but I hate all repop stuff  !!!     

[DavidS]

What's amazing is how well the original endura bumpers fit.....
They've never made a good repro endura yet - they've been like that for years.

It's also amazing that reputable resellers have been selling this stuff for years.  They should be putting warning labels on some of this junk.  

I recently bought an original one that has been hacked up.  The former owner had cut two big chunks out of it to attach tow tabs to their car.  Once the original one is patched up, the repop bumper can go into the dumpster.

[LM69Z28]

Just curious as to what materials/product your using to repair the endura bumper. I know GM made an actual repair kit in a can.........."Urethane Bumper Repair kit" #1050951
I have one can but the black paste tube has dried out...............good luck
Michael Kellogg
LM69Z28

[z28z11]

Evening, Gentlemen -

I wish had started reading posts at CRG years ago - it really goads me into looking for solutions that I have ignored for years upon years. Anyone ever use John @ www.endurabumper.com ? He has some really nice examples of his work on the site, and gave me a rough estimate of repairing my original (jack damaged) Endura bumper for my X77 - price starts around $375.00.
I had some delusions about being able to repair my own for years, even purchasing the aforementioned GM repair kit attached, but I would rather hand this over to a more experienced shop, hopefully like John's. If someone has past experience with this man, please post it.

Regards,
Steve

[DavidS]

Just curious as to what materials/product your using to repair the endura bumper. I know GM made an actual repair kit in a can.........."Urethane Bumper Repair kit" #1050951
I have one can but the black paste tube has dried out...............good luck
Michael Kellogg
LM69Z28

I was thinking about trying 3M Automix 05883 Plastic Repair Kit on a small area, but after reading Steve's post, I might end up sending it to John at www.endurabumper.com.

The repop bumper is on my clone car which is loaded with repop parts that needed to be modified (like the horrible rear quarter panels and window trim).  The repop bumper might be able to be modified enough to be somewhat OK.

[lynnbilodeau]

I was told the repro bumper will fit better if you buy the correct mounting brackets such as these:

http://www.heartbeatcitycamaro.com/store/product/20482/Endura-bumper-brackets-exact/

The difference between the crappy repro brackets and the correct brackets is apparent just looking.  The correct ones have about a 20% grade or slope to the front that are just not there on the crappy ones.  If I had a good one in my hand, I am sure I could modify the crappy one to the correct angle.

Reason I ask is that I have a repro and am wondering if trying to get it to fit, even with the correct brackets is hopeless.  If so, I will just put on a chrome bumper.

Anyone have ACTUAL experience using repro bumper with correct mounting brackets.  I know that generally most repro stuff is pathetic, so I don't need that input.

Thanks for any help.

[DavidS]

I was told the repro bumper will fit better if you buy the correct mounting brackets such as these:

http://www.heartbeatcitycamaro.com/store/product/20482/Endura-bumper-brackets-exact/

The difference between the crappy repro brackets and the correct brackets is apparent just looking.  The correct ones have about a 20% grade or slope to the front that are just not there on the crappy ones.  If I had a good one in my hand, I am sure I could modify the crappy one to the correct angle.

Reason I ask is that I have a repro and am wondering if trying to get it to fit, even with the correct brackets is hopeless.  If so, I will just put on a chrome bumper.

Anyone have ACTUAL experience using repro bumper with correct mounting brackets.  I know that generally most repro stuff is pathetic, so I don't need that input.

Thanks for any help.

The HBC brackets are the ones that I used.  However, the shop that I had my car at was able to modify the repro bumper to get it to fit better.  It's not as good as an original, but I think it's passable.  If you want, I can post of some pics of how it looks now.  

They had to shave down a few areas on the back of the bumper.  Also, at the corners where the bumper was sticking out, they removed some material on the inside of the bumper (it looked like about 1/2 a golf ball size) and filled it with epoxy while pulling the edges in.  This way, it doesn't look like ears sticking out any more.  

I'm not sure what type of epoxy he used, but I'll find out.

[mark x22]

Get the correct mounting hardware kit  EXT-1024 from Heartbeat City when you get the brackets .

[z28z11]

I don't want to violate posting rules, but I did list my spare VE3 on eBay this past weekend if anyone is interested in a very intact original. I hope that an owner with a need gets to it before a speculator -

Regards,
Steve

[lynnbilodeau]

David:

I would appreciate any info you can provide on the fitting of your bumper.  I already have it, along with the crappy looking brackets that came with it.  It looks to me like I can cut a two inch "V" in each bracket, then bend them down to the correct angle and weld them up.  I am a pretty good fabricator, and think I can do that in about 5 min.   The only question for me is how wide to make the
"V" cut.

The other problem with this bumper is the amount of silicone all over it.  I will be cleaing this for hours trying to get it silicone free.  I can see fisheye problems trying to get it painted.  Getting out the acetone tomorrow.

It's always something.

Steve, did your bumper sell?  Semd  me a pm if you still have it.

Lynn

[z28z11]

Lynn,

Not sold yet, but still receiving bids as of this afternoon. If you need any bracket pics or measurements let me know - the originals are still mounted to my bumper, and the intermediate brackets are handy ( I also have a spare set of the intermediates I can do pics of if you need them).

Down side of looking at this thing today - realizing that when it's gone, it's gonna be difficult (no, say impossible) to ever replace - I guess I'll have to make do with the chromes -

Regards,
Steve