Hey, does anyone have any experience or had any luck swapping the front bumpers from a '71 Mav to a '73 and vice/versa? Can it even be done?
Yes, very popular modification. There are plenty of pictures and write-ups. Just search for bumper swap. Also check out the Tech Articles for a few examples. PS. If you do the swap, do not ditch your 1973 front bumper. They are a 1 year only front bumper. Can be hard to find.
Thanks Rusty. Not sure yet if I'll do the swap but I really like the smaller bumper on the 71 and the wife says "not more than one old car in my yard!!!" So the 71 will likely go on sale.
i have done this and actually will be selling my brackets after i remove them this weekend. pm me if interested.
Its not something you can just change out! Theres threads that will so you the steps and yes thats a one of bumper dont throw it away..
X2 on the bumper tuck. The 73 rear bumper is the same piece as the early one, and so you can use which ever one is better and the earlier bumper brackets and small filler pieces under the quarter extensions to tuck that in. On the front, I think a "half-tuck" might look really nice. The stock '73 bumper sticks out a bit far in my opinion, but, looking how some folks have moved them back, I think you can go too far, and then the face of the car looks very flat ... 2 dimensional. I would still want the bumper to be just a bit forward of the front edge of the hood, when looked at from the side. I have noticed that some have placed it on the car a bit lower, too, and that is very distracting. I think that, placed right, a 73 front bumper can really look sculpted and add to the looks of the car ... on par, or better, than the earlier bumper.
The bumper tuck does look nice ... almost hate to take the bumper from the '71 since that's gonna detract from it's value and the car is not in terrible shape. Bought it to restore then found a '73 in much better shape with a 302 (the '71 has the 200 cid). I guess it will all depend on how things go this weekend. If I swing the deal on the '73 gonna park them side by side and make a decision then. Wasn't aware that the bumper tuck was an option, so thanks for that info!
