Rear bumper fitment. 70 challenger

[MopSquad]

The rear bumper on my '70 bows out and has a gap. Almost as if the bumper is too wide.  It fits flush on the sides. Any ideas what may be up? The car has been rotisserie restored prior.

TIA

[brotow]

Do you have the metal piece called the bumper filler installed?     This is what it looks like:    http://www.ebay.com/itm/AMD-1970-1972-Dodge-Challenger-Rear-Bumper-Filler-/201615135519?hash=item2ef132d31f:m:mH_bVrDjzv0GnnsbyYmPHZg&vxp=mtr

[MopSquad]

I'm not with the car but that would definitely be the reason if it's missing. Lol
Can you tell from the pic? It appears that the orange that is in the gap is the rear valance only.

[anlauto]

I would say the filler is there

[MopSquad]

I would say the filler is there

Here's a few pics of the crappy valance to quarter fitment

[rUNCHARGER]

Ahh: That looks bad. The bumper should have a perfect gap with the taillights and back up light all the way across looking dead vertical and deal horizontal. Sorry. If that bumper is mounted on the correct brackets it looks fubared two ways. It looks twisted up but that would make the gap looking down at it from above closer in the middle which it is not, So it appears to be mishaped two ways, firstly twisted upwards and secondly pulled out in the middle.
That is assuming the tail light and back up lights assemblies are mounted correctly and the tail panel isn`t warped.

Sheldon

[rUNCHARGER]

The orange Challenger was an AMD bumper and it didn`t fit perfect but I got it pretty close after a few hours fiddling. My Green car`s bumper is a replated original and it doesn`t fit correctly, it has been straightened incorrectly and is up a bit in the middle, I had a lot of force on it by strapping to a large jack and jacking the car up but I could only straighten it about half of what it needs.
Between fitting the tail lights, bumpers, valances and exhaust systems on these two cars I bet I have half a weeks work into them. The green one is going to get another go-round though as I`m not too happy with it.

Sheldon

[brads70]

I have the same issue with the new bumpers I got from roseville.( I don't blame Dave it's the supplier)  It's like the die they are stamped in is off, not straight. I've looked at many cars with the "new" bumpers and they all suffer from the same issue. ( gap horizontally between the bumper and tail lights) like the green Challenger pictured above. The stock/original bumper is straight with no issues in that regard so I know it's not bent brackets or something.
Here is the original bumper...
 

While not the best angle ( I don't have a picture looking straight on to compare), here is a picture with the new bumper installed, notice how the gap increases as you get towards the ends of the tail lights. Under the reverse lens is fine then tapers out to a bigger gap

[MopSquad]

So, it could be the bumper, brackets or tail light panel?  I'm going to have a body shop see if they can get these panels to line up (valance/quarter) then fool around with the brackets and bumper.  I hope that the car doesn't have some previous rear end damage.

[mopardave]

From what I know and see the bumper is bad.
When the bumper blanks are stamped they don't have the license pocket in the first stamping. the second cut and stamping is when they put the cutout in place. that's when the excessive crowning comes into play. This maybe the reason they are ALL on back order. Both Keystone and AMD have had the same issues. Mind you that issue is hit and miss.

Brad sorry you had to fiddle with that, But it looks good.

[MopSquad]

From what I know and see the bumper is bad.
When the bumper blanks are stamped they don't have the license pocket in the first stamping. the second cut and stamping is when they put the cutout in place. that's when the excessive crowning comes into play. This maybe the reason they are ALL on back order. Both Keystone and AMD have had the same issues. Mind you that issue is hit and miss.

Brad sorry you had to fiddle with that, But it looks good.

Thx,

I hope it is just the bumper and nothing structural. 

[brads70]

From what I know and see the bumper is bad.
When the bumper blanks are stamped they don't have the license pocket in the first stamping. the second cut and stamping is when they put the cutout in place. that's when the excessive crowning comes into play. This maybe the reason they are ALL on back order. Both Keystone and AMD have had the same issues. Mind you that issue is hit and miss.

Brad sorry you had to fiddle with that, But it looks good.

   not blaming you at all Dave I didn't even mention it to you as I knew it was a stamping problem. I looked at a lot of recent restorations on here and noticed the same issue so I figured I'd have to live with it. Maybe I'll buy another rear when they get the issue sorted out? 

[YellowThumper]

I agree based on the pics that the bumper appears to have an upwards crown in it.
Tail light panel looks correct and the bumper covers over the center more than the outside ends.
Also...
Looking at the lower valance. You can see the gap increasing the same as the top is decreasing.


Bumper.

Mike

[MopSquad]

Thanks. Also looking at the bumper guards, the right one is not lining up properly as if the mounting hole on the bumper is a bit too wide.

[brads70]

Also because of the crown in the bumper that causes the bumper guards to not fit right either.