pictures of 1971-1974 spider grilles and bumpers

[conedriver]

infanterene,

I did the same modification to my '76 Spider 20 years ago, but recently converted to Stainless bumpers. You're correct regarding the black bumper modification, the bumper shock absorbers must be collapsed, and a big section cut from the bumper to allow a '71 / '74 grille to be mounted. The picture of the silver Spider shows the original top plastic/chrome trim bit left in place, but I removed this and filled the mounting holes. If you look under this little trim piece, there is actually a circular indentation in the body that matches the contour of the top of the grille.

Quote:

Originally Posted by infanterene Captcraig- are those the factory bumpers cut and pushed back to show of the grill? If so please give me the details on this.

[infanterene]

I cant believe there arent more Spiders modified like this. Please give me a breakdown of instructions.

Heres the deal- On April 3rd i will be recieving my Spider when the owner gets in town. It is a 1981 silver with red interior. I am buying it from the second owner who had owned it since 1984. 50,000 original miles. Original paint that is slighltly faded on the hood. Absolutely no rust. Garage kept its whole life and never driven in the rain.

This is the description the owner gave me. I have not actually seen the car or even pictures of the car. I live in Miami and there are no nice Alfas for sale within 500 miles. This car is located very close. I have been looking for about a month and now to wait for 3 more weeks is killing me but hopefully the car will be as described. I am looking foward to becoming a member of the Alfa family.

[capt.craig]

my bumper is actually in 2 pieces no middle black section. Good luck with your new Alfa, mine is almost the same story. No rust 55,000 miles I had to repaint it because the clear coat was scratching off and a few minor door dings. I repainted it in 2005 with 2005 Alfa silver . It really turned out nice deep silver with metallic in it. I can you the paint codes if you like. I will take better front bumpers in a week or so as the car is still in storage. Craig

[spider4me]

[Vivace]

It looks clear to me that the 71 and the 74 bumpers are mounted differently - Key's rear is away from the body with a filler trim piece similar to the black bumpers. The fronts are out farther compared to a 71.

Is the mounting system completely different, or does it have more distance and give to it for fed bumper rules?

I have a 71 NOS belly pan, a 74 grill, and a 74 rear bumper ready to go on to the 78 spider. Does Alfa-of-course's bracket system mount the bumpers in tight like the 71?

And what is this bracket posted recently? If you have the front SS pieces and A-O-C's bracket, do you skip this steel backing altogether?

Thanks.

[chpopel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vivace It looks clear to me that the 71 and the 74 bumpers are mounted differently - Key's rear is away from the body with a filler trim piece similar to the black bumpers. The fronts are out farther compared to a 71. Is the mounting system completely different, or does it have more distance and give to it for fed bumper rules? I have a 71 NOS belly pan, a 74 grill, and a 74 rear bumper ready to go on to the 78 spider. Does Alfa-of-course's bracket system mount the bumpers in tight like the 71? And what is this bracket posted recently? If you have the front SS pieces and A-O-C's bracket, do you skip this steel backing altogether? Thanks.

[infanterene]

Spider4me- It looks like someone could install a grill and some kind mesh for the sides. That might look nice as a less expensive option. Since you have your car open and can really get a look, do you think this would be easily accomplished?

[spider4me]

Infanterene

Thanks for your thoughts. I too have thought about mesh, that brings other issues like turn signals parking lights etc., but I have a full set of stainless bumpers that are in great shape and a good grill too. I'll probably go back to stock once its painted

I do not make brackets, I will not make brackets, consider them a casaulty of the vendors policy, and the fact that I can not post more than a few lines, without being denied access, some compatabilty problem

I do have a set of prints and plans with instructions, and full sized templates 1 set only, who wants it, its in a tube, I'll pay the shipping, you also get some extras.

extras include, the chance to make money selling brackets,( won't happen, to time consuming,) and of course, answering all the questions and don't underestimate the time you can spend doing that, some over and over, not the same member, just the same question. offering advice etc. this is for the series 2 brackets, duetto and s3 conversions stay with me.

you still have no vendor's policy and you need one, I can see blocking sales of items sold by the Store but why the total ban I'll never understand, or the lack of dicussion about those items the store didn't sell, and that includes brackets doesn't it, strange the number of members who supported the ban while at the same time trying to buy from DiFinzio's stock or asking for brackets. the vendor's ban forced me to EBay which was a time consuming disaster, which is why I have no time to build brackets, simply business , nothing to do with how I felt about postings like universible's or the email from members who were not happy that I could not sell them the NOS part they wanted, got a lot of requests, only 2 jerks found it necessary to email back, they should have taken their complaints to Simon. the boards dicision to set a vendor's policy caused me alot of financial and logistical problems that are just now being resolved, this is business and I dont understand the need for people to make it personal, what ever universible's problem is I don't need it, given a choice between time at the flowbench or time spent making brackets I'm at the flow bench, if that is a problem for people who want brackets, sorry, it's business, don't get personal. the plans can go to what ever member is willing to take over.

[infanterene]

Conedriver or Captcraig can I please have some pics of the side view and 1/4 side view of your cars. Actually all around pics would be nice. Those cars are inspirational.

Do you guys think I should practice first on a junk bumper?

[infanterene]

Quote:

Originally Posted by alfa of-corse I do not make brackets, I will not make brackets, consider them a casaulty of the vendors policy, and the fact that I can not post more than a few lines, without being denied access, some compatabilty problem

[conedriver]

Intaferene,

Are you talking about the "rubber" bumpers used with the old style grille?. My only electronic images are shown earlier in this thread and were taken after I had removed the front bumper and was trying to see if anyone wanted to buy it. This modification was done in two steps; first, collapsing the bumper shock absorbers to retract the bumper closer to the body, and second, to cut the big notch in the middle to make a space for the grille. This "notching" took some effort since the bumpers are not rubber at all, rather a thin rubber coating over three overlapping thicknesses of "U" shaped #8 or #10 guage steel.

Captcraig said his car had the original bumper cut into two pieces when he bought it. I wanted to keep the two halves together but didn't realize the amount of material required to be removed to make space for the grille. I placed the bumper in a big vise, and began sawing. I was surprised to hear the blade "strike steel" so soon after beginning sawing. At this point, I had already made the initial cuts, so had nothing to loose. When finished, the connecting part was around 1 1/4 inches square. It would be nice to practice on a junk bumper, but these things weigh a lot and it wouldn't be worth your time to go too far to get one.

For the bumper shocks, I cut mine in half, removed the internal spring, and used spacer washers and nuts to hold the shock shaft in collapsed position. Original mounting points were used, the shock just had a much shorter effective length. I did the same thing at the rear, and the retracted bumpers really improved the appearance of the car.

Quote:

Originally Posted by infanterene Conedriver or Captcraig can I please have some pics of the side view and 1/4 side view of your cars. Actually all around pics would be nice. Those cars are inspirational. Do you guys think I should practice first on a junk bumper?