Original plan was to get some junkyard bronco brackets to modify and a new chrome contour bumper from Dennis Carpenter Ford. Well the bumper attached to these brackets was in darn good shape and I got the setup for $50 so why not?




Somebody had welded part of a hitch to the bottom and used one of the lamp holes for a trailer plug. I had originally planned to shave the top carriage bolts but after looking at how they key to the bumper bracket slot decided it was not a good idea.

Here it is all slicked up with some gloss black powdercoat. Where I filled the license lamp holes is still a bit low. If I had a do-over I would have filled with some JB weld

 

Modifying the bronco brackets. Originally I thought I wouldn't be re-using any of the holes so I cut the end of the bracket off straight. If you want the bumper tucked tight to the body (a little over a finger width) you will re-usle the hole on my splice.

Most of the weld has to be ground flush to accommodate the support bracket, so after tacking and fitting the brackets I ground a nice channel with my die grinder for a fillet weld.





Prepping lamp holes for the washer. Washer warped a good bit. A better way would be to cut a piece of 1/8" plate with a hole saw.

 

that bumper came out great. im going to redo a bumper as well and see if i cant go for that smoothie look. Love your truck btw, gets me inspired to drop mine snce ours look somewhat similiar in style, length and color. Keep up the great work!!

 

I'll post up with my lighting solution tonight

 

The rear bumper turned out really nice.

....the potential downside is, you MAY have created a cop magnet by deleting the license plate lamps.

Excerpt from the Montana motor vehicle laws:

License Plate Lamp
"Vehicles manufactured after January 1, 1956, must emit white light to illuminate the license plate for 50 feet to the rear. License plate lighting that is not original manufacturer’s equipment is prohibited."


In Arkansas, law officials like the excuse to pull people over because their 'license plate lights were out.'

I have a black contour bumper on my '69 F100 Ranger. The bumper, brackets, bolts and license plate lamps came from NPD.

 

Turned out great. Can't wait to see the lights.

 

If only you knew the irony of your statement, ha! It's not an excuse, it's probable cause!


Fear not!

















Here is a shot of my mockup apparatus, it's all highly technical

 

Good job can't wait to see it done. Have you seen those bolts that have l.e.d lights in them? Maybe use those for licence plate lights?

 

Hey, good idea! Why didn't I think of that!

 

Ah, 10-4. I thought you were deleting the lighting entirely just for the smooth look. --although your state's laws do say the lighting shall not be anything other than the original manufacturer. I don't know how strict, if at all, the law dogs would be on something like this where you live? Most of them probably weren't even around when these trucks were built and probably wouldn't know original from non-original.