This is a 70 Chevelle SS, The front Pass side Bumper will not align with the bottom of the headlight panels. The hood and quarters all line up perfectly with each other. I have tried to loosen some bolts on the bumper and straighten it out with no success.

I assume this is a fairly common problem, as I have seen others like this. Maybe someone here has seen this problem before and can guide me in correcting it.

I provided two pics to illustrate my deliema. Any advice or help would be much appreciated.

Bumper1 (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/Chevy_Rat/PassSideFtBumper.JPG)
Bumper2 (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/Chevy_Rat/PassSideFtBumper1.JPG)

Could it be that the horns are crooked. I checked earlier and they seem ok, but I'm no expert on body work. Or is the bumper bent at the location where it meets the headlight panel.

The Drivers side is A-OK

Thanks

Bruce

The pictures don't show enough to make a good guess at the cause of the misalignment. If the bumper appears to be aligned correctly from the left side over to the right side of the grill and the misalignment begins there, then I could guess that the bumper has been repaired and rechromed at some point in its life. It is a common ailment of repaired bumpers to have a slight twist near the end. Yours would appear to be twisted slightly upward. To check if that's the case, look at the end of the bumper from the right side of the car. Is the end of the bumper straight up and down? If not, you have a twist in the bumper. A good old time bodyman can usually correct a slight twist fairly easily.

To check for previous repairs to the bumper, look on the back side. You will be able to see machine hammer marks and possibly welds or grinder marks.

If the bumper is properly aligned on the left side and the misalignment gradually increases to what is shown in the picture, then the problem could be bent brackets or the right frame horn is bent upward.

Thanks Vettefella,

There are some hammer type marks on the inside of the bumper. They are located towards the middle area.

They look to be machine hammer marks. Sorta like when you draw a flat tip screw driver over some soft wood and the tip leaves a groove impression.

Ok, at least I know now what may be the problem.


After doing what you mentioned I actually saw while squatting on the passenger side (rt side) a slight bend or twist. At least thats what I think I see.

After I finish detailing the bay and buttoning up the engine I'll let a good body man take a look at it.

Glad to hear it's a fairly easy job to fix.

Thanks again.

All the Best
Bruce

Just another thought. Hows the radiator support cushions? If they are worn the front end will sit a little low. Have you tried loosening the brackets then aligning the bumper? Just my 2 cents.

muscle car kid,

I sure did try to loosen the bolts and align the bumper. didn't help at all. Any correction I made affected the whole bumper. In other words, if I tried to lower the right front corner of the bumper the gap would remain proportional to the adjustment. Virtually no change.

It's got to be what Vetta Fella said. A twist seems the likely culprit.

Thanks for the response though.

Regards
Bruce