Bumper Length

It seems to me that there are too different types of stock bumpers from Econolines. A shorter cool one and a longer dorky one. I happen to have the dorky one on my van...lol.
You can even see it on my small avatar picture!

Anyone know what's up with this? Are the shorter ones after '63 and were swapped out? Or am I just seeing things at funny angles?

Examples

Cool, Short in width



Dorky, Long in width

I would bet that the shorter one has been narrowed. That one is a touch too narrow imo. If my bumper was in better shape I'd have it narrowed. Mine was clipped overnight by a presumed drunk when the previous owner had it and was living down in Seattle at the time. It bent back ok but is less than prime. And I'm sure it got clipped partly b/c the damned thing sticks out like it does.

The one in the pic was narrowed and the bolts were removed. The reason the bumper is so much wider that the truck is the early ICC lights stuck out of the side below the headlights. Latter they were moved above the headlights. The bumper was wide to protect them.



Duane.

Ok I see that the bumper in the first picture was modified with the thru bolts removed...bad picture example I suppose.

However, in the pictures here you can see there are quite a few shorter bumpers with only two bolts and of course a lot of longer bumpers with 4 bolts. Are you suggesting that all these "2 Bolters" have be modified and shortened all the same way? I could grab tons of pictures of the shorter bumpers with only 2 bolts if I were to try...seems too common not to be production.  


And Duane, you mean in later generations the turn signals were moved?

2 Bolters


4 Bolters

I see what you're saying, They have 2 bolts on the front and 2 on the top. I don't know, mines like yours. I thought they were all like that. I have a friend in town with a 65, I'll look at his tomorrow.

In 65 the bumpers were redesigned. Vans got narrower, taller, and thicker steel bumpers on both front and rear. Pickups got the new bumper on the front but retained the same rear bumper as 61-64 Econolines mostly for a place to mount the license plate. On vans the license plate was moved to the door.

Brent, The ICC lights moved to above the headlights I believe midyear 62 but I'm not sure. When the ICC lights were installed the normal turn signals became parking lights with the single element bulbs.

Duane.

So I need a 65-67 bumper for the shorter width look and probably the brackets as well

yep.

You need to use the right brackets with the right bumper. The holes in the frame are all the same, so either set of brackets will bolt up to any Econoline.

Well Brent, I guess you've solved another mystery for me. I had seen the difference and suspected people had gotten a bumper off of something else.(Like maybe Fred Flintsone's car.) Or maybe just a bad repop. They just don't look right. I learned something today! Now I can go to bed.

Jim

Yeah Jim it was bugging me for a while, couldn't quite put my finger on what was making some vans and pickups bumpers look more tight and fitted. Now I know.

Some of the guys with 73 Torinos with the larger front bumper would drill into the bumper shocks and then after removing the plastic gap covers, press the bumpers in and they would stay. Of course that makes the bumper less functional, but also make the car look more sleek. I was thinking maybe people were doing something like that with the vans, but I couldn't figure out what.

Well...after reading this I had to go outside and check mine...lol. My bumpers on the 66 and 67 seem to be the same. The outer tip of my bumpers are flush with the outer most point on the front door hinges. does this make them the short one's or dork one's..haha. here's what I have.

Guess I can see the difference now that I go over the previous pics. The longer ones stick out passed the hinges a fair bit. Either way, I'm happy that I have bumpers at all..lol. How hard is it to cut and shorten the longer ones?

I don't think it's to hard, but it does require 2 cuts, one either end to keep the bolt holes in the same place. The early dorky bumper does get some merit for having a bit more shape at the ends, if only it wasn't so dorky and long

Maybe I should have used a different adjective besides "Dorky" for the long ones! Wouldn't want anyone with pre-65 bumpers to get a complex...it's just looking at mine sometimes from certain angles reminds me of a kid whose ears stick out too far.

Well truth be told...I never notice the bumpers. It's the whole package that makes all these vans and trucks look sharp. Same problem with mirrors...lol. Lots of different style to choose from.

Well, "Dufusy" ain't a word.

My 67 had the wider "dorky" bumpers.  I couldn't stand them any longer so I shortened them.  Approx 3 inches on each side.  

Vic,
I think you started with the "cool" bumper and made it look even cooler! So, that just made the "dorky" bumpers that already had self esteem problems feel even worse. I think everything is dependent on the overall way it works with everything else(wheels, tires, mirrors, bumpers or lack thereof, paint, chrome, ride height, etc.) It looks to me like you have your "overall look" working together. Great job!

Jim

Nice Job, looks Good! But those weren't even the long ones! You'd probably would of had to shorten the before 65 bumpers twice that much.

Lol. Thanks fellas. They were sticking out way too much for me. Now maybe a tad too short but I'm gonna roll with it.

The early (1961-1964) bumpers were wider (longer) and thinner steel. Four bolts across the front.

The late (1965-1967) bumpers were narrower and thicker steel. Two bolts on the front and two on top.