Rear Bumper Valance hole cover

[rhamson]

I looked on Classic Industries and Year Ones sites and they seem to agree.

Year One has the 70 & 71 same part number B1370CR without slotted holes.
Year One has the 72 listed alone part number B1372CR with slotted holes.
Year One has the 73 listed alone part number B1373CR with slotted holes and another lower hole.
Year One has no listing for a 74.

Classic Industries has the 70 & 71 same part number MM1019B with no slotted holes.
Classic Industries has the 72 listed alone part number MM1020 with slotted holes.
Classic Industries has the 73 listed alone part number MM1021 with slotted holes and another lower hole.
Classic Industries has the 74 listed alone part number MM1022 with slotted holes and another lower hole.

It would seem that there are different brackets as you cited for the later years. I guess the question remains if you switch to a 70 & 71 bracket from a 73 & 74 bracket to lose the slotted holes the will they bolt up to the body correctly? It seems you say yes.

[1 Wild R/T]

If you use the 70-72 brackets you can use what they list as a 70-71 bumper or the 72 bumper which is actually mid year 71-72... You will lose all the brittle shrinking plastic filler that hides the gap between the bumper & the body, The early style guards will fit like they should....  There is a metal filler that mounts below the tail lights on 70's but it's missing on a lot of cars & most folks don't even notice...

[YellowThumper]

Do not have absolute info on the earlier years other than I know 74 brackets are different. I have the heavy crash bar addition. Here are some beliefs. If any listing info is incorrect I will edit post.
70-72 bumper physical location remained the same.
73 bumper moved out and the heavy crash bar was added.
74 I believe bumper location remained the same however the rear rubber (knee knocker) increased in size. Been stated that the heavy bar remained the same. So... then my belief is the mount brackets changed into the bent bar design to meet what might have been the requirement that there be no damage at 5mph. They would kind of act like a big spring.

Here is the link to process of conversion on my 74.

http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=106409.75

Mike

[burdar]

73 also has the thick reinforcements behind the bumpers.

70-72 and 74 Challenger rear brackets look similar. They are thick pieces of steel bent into shape. The 73 Challenger brackets resemble Cuda parts. They are a stamped steel bracket...thinner material.

[YellowThumper]

Thanks. I edited my first post

[chargerdon]

Yellow Thumper...    So you made your own brackets to move in closer, and still used your 74 bumper ?

Any chance you know what the difference between the 73 and 74 bumpers actually are??   I have the 74 Challenger, and need new bumpers...   73's from rock auto are way cheaper than classic industries, but, they do not have 74 bumper...   so was thinking of buying the 73..  what would it take to make it work?

[YellowThumper]

Yellow Thumper...    So you made your own brackets to move in closer, and still used your 74 bumper ?

Any chance you know what the difference between the 73 and 74 bumpers actually are??   I have the 74 Challenger, and need new bumpers...   73's from rock auto are way cheaper than classic industries, but, they do not have 74 bumper...   so was thinking of buying the 73..  what would it take to make it work?

Sorry for the late reply. I do not know there is difference between the 73 an 74. I have found thru the years that many times catalogues do not include 74. They only were built car for a couple of months until production stopped. If making your own brackets it will not matter. Outside profiles remained the same. Only mounting locations changed. As for using my existing bumper I did not see a reason not to. Mounting bolt location and jack slots are irrelevant to me. They exist so I keep them. In the future I may hack it up and make it fit cleanly and more uniform. If/when doing that I would fill holes prior to new chrome. I also plan on customizing my lower pan to hide the gap that shows below the bumper.

[chargerdon]

Well, I bit the bullet and purchased the 70-72 chrome bumper guards.   

To install I had to drill new holes lower in the bumper and im using just the single bolt to hold it as i didnt have the lower bracket and dont know if it would fit.   But single bolt holds it pretty well, and they look pretty decent.   Even with my 74 brackets the gap is only about 3/4 of an inch and you have to look close to notice.   Ill post a picture later. 

Next decision is whether a 73 bumper face would work to replace my current 74 bumper as its chrome isnt all that good and 73's are available from rockauto for under $200, but they are "out of stock" for 74's.   But that is a ways down the road.

[burdar]

I did a Google search and found this picture.  I guess it's somewhere on this site already but I thought I'd add it here.  It shows the difference between the 73 style bracket(top) and the 70-72 and 74 style brackets.

http://i42.tinypic.com/33k9pjt.jpg

[chargerdon]

Ok, here are two pictures... first wide showing the new bumper guards installed from the back, and then a closer shot of one side to really see that there isnt as much gap as i would have thought.   Notice the two bumper bolts directly above the guards...  they are simply fillers as that is where the stock bumper guard would have attached.

[Pale Roader]

I did a Google search and found this picture.  I guess it's somewhere on this site already but I thought I'd add it here.  It shows the difference between the 73 style bracket(top) and the 70-72 and 74 style brackets.

http://i42.tinypic.com/33k9pjt.jpg

You mean the difference between 73 and 74 brackets. I have a 74 that is getting a 70 bumper (that i just happened to have in the shed). The 70-72 bracket is the same material as the later one, but the part that extends the bumper is longer, very visibly longer.

I've decided just to patch that (early style) bumperette hole too... more to save weight if anything. I've deleted the early style bumperettes from my 70 bumper. Saves 4.5lbs!

Burdar, you said you had a pic ov the patched valence?

[burdar]

You mean the difference between 73 and 74 brackets. I have a 74 that is getting a 70 bumper (that i just happened to have in the shed). The 70-72 bracket is the same material as the later one, but the part that extends the bumper is longer, very visibly longer

What I meant to say is that the 70-72 and 74 brackets look the same to the untrained eye.  They are made out of the same material and are bend similarly.  The 73 bracket is totally different.

There are pictures on this site of filled rear valance slots.  I don't have any saved on my computer.  You could probably find some pictures with a Google search.

[chargerdon]

At a recent car show, i was parked next to a 73 Challenger with my 74.   The REAR bumpers "looked" identical to the eye, and measured the same width height etc.   Then I measured the bolts, and found about 2 inches DIFFERENT on the inner bolts.   So obviously the brackets are different. 

So, if i decide to spend the money on a new rear bumper, I guess ill have to buy new brackets that match the year of the bumper I buy.   Re-chroming is way too expensive. 

[YellowThumper]

Yes, 74s have a heavy crash bar added. I did same thing and made my own brackets.

Check out my link.
http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=106409.75