# 69 GTO reproduction bumper



## liljohn442 (Sep 9, 2010)

I've been looking lately for a good quality reproduction bumper (rubber or fiberglass). I have found a few fiberglass one's but not made to use on a daily driver. I did find a repro rubber one, but i haven't heard any reviews on them (Muscle Car Parts, Pontiac GTO Parts, NOS GM Auto Part, Trans AM, Oldsmobile 442 Cutlass, Buick GS Skylark, Firebird, Bonneville, Grand Prix, Catalina, Olds 88 98, Starfire, Chroming, Polishing, Welding, Stainless Steel Straightening, Aluminum, Restor) BP1310G. Any help on getting a repro or a useable original one would help.


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## Bigalsworth (Nov 22, 2011)

When I was looking for a front endura rubber bumper for my 69 a year or two ago it was a complete pain in the ass. Lots of the online stores would advertise having them but then I would call and they would be out of stock. Far as I know there has not been a production run on these in a long time because the tool broke or is to worn. I ended up having to get the original one I have rebuilt which is not really a cost effective way and also the person who does it needs to know what they are doing with the endura.

I would make phone calls to these places to see if they are in stock, and also maybe talk to some parts people in the know to see if they have fixed the tool and did a production run on it. There are some shady online stores out there so also google reviews about them, lots of forum members post experiences they have with different places

Scott


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## MO Goat (Apr 7, 2011)

I don't know what your budget is, but I know of someone that has a few originals (last time I checked) here in the Midwest. Let me know if you're interested and I'll get some additional information for you.

I bought mine from D&R Chrome in Los Angeles and it arrived in incredible original condition! Maybe give them a call and see if they have anything in stock or at least put your name on the list.


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## liljohn442 (Sep 9, 2010)

Yea I might have to hit them up. I'm going to keep looking for an original one in Texas, but if needed I will go out of state for one.


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## TK69tempest (Feb 28, 2011)

When I was putting my Tempest back together I didn't want to re-use the dented chrome front bumper - I searched for alternatives. Endura bumpers were selling for around $800 to $1000 for ones in any kind of condition - without any other pieces (grilles, headlight bezels, etc.). I finally decided to get a fiberglass one from VFN - they made it extra-thick for a small fee. I modified the steel reinforcement of the original chrome bumper and added it to the fiberglass bumper to give extra strength. I also modified the headlight buckets and the grilles to fit inside the new setup. 

Because I wasn't building a GTO or a clone, I decided it would be cool to kind of make one up from scratch - almost like making it one of a kind. I don't know how well this would work out for someone that was doing a GTO, but I really like how mine turned out - especially at a third of the cost...


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## mrvandermey (Jun 15, 2011)

I just picked up a restored original enudra bumper for $650 plus $180 in shipping. It was worth it to me for as already mentioned the reproduction ones are always "out of stock" and they cost around $550 plus $150-$200 shipping. So a restored original one for a $100 more was well worth it to me. I did find a couple original unrestored ones for $300-$500, but have talked to many folks, including body shops, and was told that repairing or restoring one would easily cost $500 or more in resotration costs.


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## ALKYGTO (Mar 29, 2010)

TK69tempest said:


> When I was putting my Tempest back together I didn't want to re-use the dented chrome front bumper - I searched for alternatives. Endura bumpers were selling for around $800 to $1000 for ones in any kind of condition - without any other pieces (grilles, headlight bezels, etc.). I finally decided to get a fiberglass one from VFN - they made it extra-thick for a small fee. I modified the steel reinforcement of the original chrome bumper and added it to the fiberglass bumper to give extra strength. I also modified the headlight buckets and the grilles to fit inside the new setup.
> 
> Because I wasn't building a GTO or a clone, I decided it would be cool to kind of make one up from scratch - almost like making it one of a kind. I don't know how well this would work out for someone that was doing a GTO, but I really like how mine turned out - especially at a third of the cost...


Any pics of the bumper pre-installation and on the car? Always wanted to do this, I can't tell you how pissed off I was the first time I saw a crack in my Endura after the resto. Not to mention how heavy they are. 100 lbs at least way over the front tires sucks for handling and wheelies :willy:.


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## TK69tempest (Feb 28, 2011)

Sorry about the delay - was "out of touch" for a little while.

I didn't take any pictures of the fiberglass bumper "fresh out of the box", but I have one that I took while we were fitting it all together and adding more fiberglass and filler to get it closer to a proper fit. There were steel "tabs" on the sides of the bumper that we ran bolts through and mated up to holes we drilled in the front edge of the fenders where the rubber strip goes on chrome bumper cars - to give it more strength and stability.

This was purely a "two guys in a garage" approach to trying something new - it was definately lighter than the original bumper, but won't do much good in an accident - time will tell if it will hold up or fall apart...


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## mrvandermey (Jun 15, 2011)

I found another alternative to the endura bumper, in the event you want something different. My first GTO (clone) had the chrome bumper on it, however, it was stripped of the chrome and the painted black. The guy I sold it to, liked that idea so much that he stripped the paint off and had the de-chromed metal bumper powder coated to match his car and it came out rather nice (Sorry I do not have pics).

TK69, on your firberglass bumper, did you have the option to use the GTO grills (non-hide-away or hide-away)?


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## TK69tempest (Feb 28, 2011)

I've never had a set of GTO grilles to compare to the Tempest/LeMans grilles - so I can't say for sure one way or the other how well they would fit. I wouldn't think that they would just bolt right in as if it were an Endura bumper - I bet they would require getting a little creative with making some small brackets to mate them together.

We got a little creative and thought waaayyy outside the box as we were working on ways to restore/modify her. When it came to the bumper, our first thoughts were to strip the chrome off of the original and paint it body color - but, as we were mocking the front clip together, we didn't like the way the chrome one fit. We didn't want to install it in the factory position - we wanted it a little closer to the fenders, but when put there nothing lined up. So, we looked for alternatives and thought the fiberglass bumper would be both a unique solution and a good learning experience.

Am I happy with the way it turned out? Yes
Is it Show Car/Trailer Queen Perfect? No - and I'm OK with that.


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## mrvandermey (Jun 15, 2011)

Well I agree, it looks good. I was only wondering about the GTO grills for those of us who might like this option for our projects instead of an endura bumper. Do not get me wrong, I do like the endur bumper, but as every one can attest to, it is a bit of work to get them to fit just right, it takes special skill to repair/restore one, they are hard to come by, are expensive and and often have the problem of cracking after painted and installed.


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## bobby326 (Dec 13, 2009)

Liljohn. I live on long island and there is a guy selling a 68-69 endura bumper. Not familliar with hose years so not sure how good of condition its in but might b worth a call. Go on craigslist on long island or all new york and type in gto should come up. Hope it one you could use


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## liljohn442 (Sep 9, 2010)

I've been a little busy with the rearend setup for my car. I did look into the Long Island bumper and its still on Craigslist. I appreciate the help with the fiberglass bumper. As soon as I need to get the car to a body shop to get that portion started.


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