i have a bent front bumper on my 72 chevelle thats still on the car. i plan to take it off and put a new one on, no question there. but my question is, should i bend it back into the normal position before taking it off? would i need to do this to make sure the brackets are not bent? or would they not be bent at all? if i did bend it back to the original shape/position, would i risk bending the fenders, front valance, or dog house? what would you guys do? any info welcomed. thanks

nathaniel

If you are going to replace the bumper,what is the reason to attempt to straighten the old one?. You will most likely damage something in the surrounding area. By comparing the right side bracket and the left side bracket, you should be able to tell if something is bent. I just had my 68 bumpers straightened and rechromed, then I checked how the brackets fit the bumpers and found them to need alittle tweeking here and there. Good luck.

UMMM, I think i would take off the old bumper throw it in the thrash and install new bumper.
And how do you plan on bending it back?? that bumper is not some thin piece of sheetmetal

well the bumper is bent, bent to the extent that it cracked. im going to replace it no doubt. the mounts/brackers however, im not sure if they could be bent badly or are perfectly fine. my thoughts were i should straighten it so that any possible bends in the in them, or anywhere else would be straighten to original position, which i would kno by how straight the bumper is. from there id just take it off tho and pop on a new one. just thought id save myself some work? not sure, please, any ideas welcomed. thanks

nathaniel

sevt_chevelle
i thought i could use a winch and hook one end of it to something solid, a car perhaps and one end to the bumper and pull it back so its bent back to original alignment. i thought that if i did this it would solve any other bends in brackets or another area? i havent done this and wanted some opinions and info bout it before attempting bc im a little unsure bout it. thanks for replies. hope to get more insight

nathaniel

i accidentally, deleted some of the text out of my previous post. just seeing if you guys see it posted or not? thanks