Painted my car a couple months ago. Thanks to all on this site for helping me do it myself.
I opened my new bumper to body seals and was about to install them, but they look so BIG and somewhat ugly. Are they covered up when the bumper is installed? Does anyone have pics of what they look like installed? I am considering not putting them in for appearance sake, but I assume they serve a purpose. Do they really work to keep the back end clean? I do intend to drive my car, but was striving to keep it as original as possible. Your comment and experience with them are need. thanks to all.

The seals are almost entirely covered by the bumper. They keep dust from being collected by the bumper and thrown up on the tail panel of the car. They do serve a good purpose and do not show when installed properly. You can visit my website in my signature line to view photos to see how they don't show up on an assembled car.

thanks Rich, that's what I was wanting to know.
Also, did you attach them with the six staples that the factory did? The fastener won't show, I don't think, and I don't know where to get staples. So I'm thinking of some other way to fasten them. Any ideas.

I didn't use the staples. When I restored it the first time I tried gluing them on but that didn't really work too well. This time around I found that the two outer pieces will stay in place when simply wedged on. The bumper seems to hold them in place just fine. The center piece is held on by three plastic push clips so the trick there is finding a set of the push clips.

thanks Rich, I'll try that also. Anyone got ideas where you get those push clips?

thanks Rich, I'll try that also. Anyone got ideas where you get those push clips?

Visit your local hardware store's weird fasteners isle.

To complete this thread, I put the bumper on last nite with seals. It looks great. The seals look huge and ugly without the bumper on, but after it gets in place it covers alot of the seals. I used push pins that were left over from new weatherstrip I put on my 69 cutlass to hold that seal in the center.
A tip for those installing the bumper, put the brackets on the bumper first, with all 8 bolts quite loose, then hang the bumper with brackets onto the frame. Don't forget those 4 octagon shaped washers that fit into the special tabs punched into the frame. They hold the bumper to whatever angle you want and will never allow it to move again from that position. Thanks to all especially Rich.

Just a point of clarification, you only need 4 of those octagon washers for the whole car. Use two on the front bumper brackets and two on the rear bumper brackets.

Good job, I was about to give you my phone number since I did (and still own) a 65 restoration, but I saw you completed the project. I liked the guys advice about going to the hardware store because that is exactly what I did and it turned out great. I could have provided you with photos. I feel the cover looks cool and I'm glad you decided to do it!!!