Belina Front Valance Question

[gprocket]

I'm in the middle of restoring my '71 Berlina and when I pulled the front bumper off I found that around the bumper brackets there are large rectangular cut outs. For the longest time I just assumed that someone hacked them out and so I added that to the list of stuff to fix.

But the other day I stood there staring at them for a while an realized that they look as though they were originally formed that way. The cut outs are straight and the corners are neatly radiused. And without measuring them they both look far too identical to be done by some guy with a sawzall or cutoff wheel.

So was this the way that they came from the factory? Did they weld in the patch after the fact? I see no purpose for them other than additional cooling but that seems extreme.

Anyway, if anyone can shed light on this it would be much appreciated.

[Andrew]

Is this a 74 that originally had rubber bumpers and was back-dated by a PO? What's the VIN? The two types of bumpers fit on different mounts, at different points.

Andrew

[Damo105]

My '70 Berlina certainly doesn't have those.

[Super1600]

Neither did my '73 2L nor any other 1750 or 2L I have ever seen. So unless this is a peculiarity for the US market, I would suggest that for some weird reason this is most definitely likely to have not been a factory item and done therefore later by a PO.

As you say there is no logical purpose for such holes given they are above the bumper mounting support bracket and if anything could even have been detrimental to the strength of the mounting of the bumper bar. Personally, I would weld them up, given the car is stripped.

[Andrew]

Only late 73/early US cars got the rubber bumpers. They were mounted on hydraulic shock rams to meet the 5 MPH bumper standard. GTVs and Spiders got a waiver that year, but look at a 75 US Spider to see how they met the standard, and GTVs faded away from the US market.

Andrew

[Super1600]

ok, well as I mentioned this must have been a US only version. And I can't imagine why anyone would wish to put the ugly rubber bumpers back on a Berlina, especially when you can install the stainless steel (euro, rest of the world version), and so hence if it were my car (which it isnt), I still would weld up the holes. Just my opinion.

[gprocket]

Ahhh, I'll bet I know. Andrew, this is a '71 ( AR 1557345) but I'll bet the front valance was replaced at some point with a later model. Those holes would be the right size and position for the bumper shocks I would guess. Amazingly, I never noticed them until I removed the stainless steel bumpers.

If I end up putting the bumpers back on I will probably just leave the holes. But I was originally planning on deleting the bumpers in which case I will definitely need to weld them up.

Just out of curiosity, does anyone have a picture of a '73 + Berlina with the bumper off?

Thanks for the input.

[Super1600]

Rich, check out the seriously worked Navy blue 2L Berlina (I can't recall which year it is) of Manuelalfaholic's on the Berlina fever thread, it doesnt have these holes and is bumperless. I think it is the one which was worked on by Italcarguy (Anthony R). It should give you a good idea what your car's front valance could look like. Dave

[Andrew]

Bet you're right re late nose panel on early car. I've seen 1750 noses on 2000s and vice versa, and a couple late Super noses on early cars. Whatever was at hand.
Andrew