Earth Friendly 5mph Bumper

With the recent buzz about "green" lifestyles and "flex" fuels, I was compelled to decrease my carbon footprint... so I got out my Sawz-All and glared at my 460 car. My 1973 Gran Torino has the hideous first generation 5 mph bumper. Not only is it ugly to many, it also weighs 60-70 lbs. Since I had to remove it for a recent paint job, I took the opportunity to perform some do-it-yourself work by chopping off about 35 lbs from the inner re-inforcement section. Keep in mind, I'm just a hobbyist so please don't try this at home if you are concerned about disrupting the original impact design of this bumper.


Bumper removed during disassembly for paint job.


Inner reinforcement section removed from bumper and me performing the cuts on tailgate of my 78 F250.


Shot showing the keepers and the waste.


Bolting in the "new" individual mounting brackets.


A clear shot showing the section removed before remounting the bumper.


Lined up and ready for bolts.


All polished up. Even though it looks the same with or without the inner section removed... somehow the bumper is less obnoxious knowing it only weighs 35 lbs now. OK, pony up my carbon credits pal!

LOL... Awesome write-up. At least while doing this you still have a metal bumper. I know people that do this to their late model cars with plastic bumpers. I would hate to see one of those get into a crash with just that thin plastic protecting everything.

Great idea! I've considering a fiberglas bumper for my Zephyr but I may do this and compare the weight difference, my inner bumper looks very similair to what you had there. I'd rather be toting a metal bumper for some degree of safety than runnig the glass unit and hope the unfortunate doesn't happen!


Now back up and give us a good shot of the painted big block Torino!

Thanks. I felt a bit uneasy about compromising the integrity of the bumper. I think it may have been a bigger issue in the 70's. With most the Hummers and Suburbans off the road now, the Torino isn't up against much.

Tip: Get the longgggg Sawz-All blades. I was surprised how easy they cut through that re-inforcement but it's a wide piece. I also ground off the burrs and sharp edges from the remaining brackets.

PS. Torino paint job in progress is now in my sig. Thanks for asking. I'm proud of it.

Good Stuff Jon

Nice.
Glad to see you're doing your part.

Wow, The Torino is looking great! Good job on the bumper. What is next on the list?

Morgan

Thanks Morgan. Next on the list is re-assembly and then I'll be doing an interior restoration. Of course, I'll be covering both in FM articles.

The paint looks great, where'd you get the stripe? Are they being reproduced for those models? I've given up on finding any for mine but I think I may run without them anyway, by 1978 they just weren't as nice.

i can't see the usefulness of handycapping your car... Are you convinced that those 30Lbs will save the world? If you are so concerned, you'd better drop in a 1.1 liter yugo 3-banger engine in it...
Or you can put some smaller wheels underneath the car, having less rolling resistance...
Pitty to see these nice cars to be limped by people....