Driving the '74 Maverick today to keep everything going(prior to salted roads, etc.) and the darn rear bumper fell off. Didn't get hit or run over and has a few scratches from the drop. Luckily it was on a gravel road with snow... The bolts appear to be on the frame members and welded, the brackets with bumper faceplate seem to be in one piece. Can anyone enlighten me on what the procedure would be to clean this thing up and fasten it back on. I want to do full restore on the car, so perhaps I need to get the thing done now while it's off? I wasn't planning on doing the body work just yet. Wanted to do the mechanical stuff first, then pull the body parts for a frame off... Not familiar with body work, but heard frame off is the ideal way to do a restore. Figured I'd find out how to pull the body parts, then take them to the body shop as I could afford it. Anyway, the Mav wants attention. Suggestions on the bumper anyone? A local junk yard found a bumper out in CA that is restore quality, also found a lot of people with what they call the faceplate. I haven't found any Ford TSM's yet, so don't know exactly how they sell the bumper, brackets, etc. when it was OEM. Ralph
In my opinion....if the rear bumper just "fell off"...it is due to severe rust...and would not be a good canidate for restoration. Just trying to help....been there......done that.
Lost bumper, now vac... Thanks Frank! What's the difference between buying a bumper faceplate or trying to buy the bumper? Is this just a metal cover that is made to go on an existing bumper? Plenty of people selling a chromed faceplate, only found one restore quality bumper and the brackets. The junkyard guys couldn't tell me anything. The existing bumper doesn't have any rust in or outside it. The bolts appear to have sheared off with the remainder of the bolt and nut on the other side in the bracket.
