Front bumper problem.

[Jamiez]

The valance and fender are connected by 2 bolts per side that run through J clips.  It might be that one of them is missing which allowed for the separation.  They are a bit bothersome to reach, unless you jack up the front end, but once you do that it's not too bad.

They can be quite rusty and a pain to remove....I just snapped 3 of the 4 off on my car this weekend.

[351c4v71]

Thanks for the info and the heads up.
I'll keep you posted.
Thanks again.

[dutch]

I don`t think your valance has a big problem. It just needs a little tweaking. If you look at the picture taken from the front of the car, you can see the part that runs along the bumper is pointing up on the driverside. When you pull that forward the line underneath the bumper will level and the valance won`t look so strange from the top.
The bumper brackets are 2 pieces with slotted holes. They bolt together onto the framerail but there is another bolt ( 1/2"or something like that) that bolts the 2 pieces together. All bolts have good acces with a socketwrench. There are big holes in the outer bracket to get to the front bolts.  To see if the bumper will allow any tweaking at all,  I would try to loosen the outer bumper bolts and leave the inner ones in position. Then push back the outer half of the bumperbracket to create a gap between the bumper and the bracket. Then retighten the outer bumperbolts.
I hope all this makes any sense.... 

[351c4v71]

It's been a while but I finally have time to look at this seriously.
I removed my front bumper last night. Confirmed that the brackets are the correct ones.
Will try to adjust their placement this week probably.
However, the gap between the valance and fender is disturbing to me, I have it on both sides and can't understand how it can be fixed since the bottom of the fender is "flush" with the bottom of the valance and the top of the fender is "flush" with the top part (don't know the name of that part).
A picture is worth a thousand words so here goes.
Is this normal and if not, how do I fix this?

[BIGSHCLUNK]

Are there any aftermrkt parts in the mix? I just did the rear pan... it had to be trimmed and pie cut to line up decently.  A combination of parts could complicate the issue...

[4 speed fish]

I would remove the valance then see if you can suck the fender closer to the header panel on both sides.If you can close the gap a little I would trim the valance to fit correctly.You will need to get the valance re painted.This would be easier then removing the header panel.This happens when someone does not test fit panels.I spent a ton of hours on test fitting.Imo the bumper was rechromed at some point and when they rechrome they try to reshape the bumper thinking it needs to be straighten.That is why rechromed bumpers are all different.The re pop  front bumpers are nice and fit well.

[dutch]

I would start with removing the lower valance.  I suspect the problem to be in that part. Looks like too much space between headlight buckets and grill too. so when the lower is gone, you create room for the fenders to line up with the grill.  Take a look at the very first pic you posted. looks like the lower val took a hit or something.

[351c4v71]

Can someone post a few pictures of how all those pieces are supposed to fit.
Some pictures of the front of your cuda, close ups of each sides and maybe a top view of the bumper?

With a 40+ year old car, for sure parts might have been interchanged. I think the fenders might be 72-74 :-(
I didn't intend to spend much $ on this so I might just reinstall the bumper as it was and wait till I have the dough to tackle this.
I have my tranny to have rebuilt first so....priorities!

Thanks all.

[crocha617]

Just try removing or loosening the bolt that connects the center of the valance to the radiator support. If the valance is pulled in too far it may have been pushing out the bottom of the fenders when it was assembled. Try this before you take the whole thing off. The fenders may have just been poorly installed when the car was done. There are also bolts in front of the fenders that attach it to the radiator support those may need to be loosened and adjusted a bit as well. The Fender to grill gap should be an easy fix. The bumper looks to need to be pulled in a bit. Try loosening one side where the bracket meet the frame & pull it back hard and have a friend tighten the bolts while you're pulling I think you'll be surprised how much it will move.