"Foosed" Front BumperI

I'm not sure the term is widely known or used, but you get a few points if you guessed that it's a reference to a styling improvement employed on multiple "Overhaulin" projects by Chip Foose…..
It involves tucking the ends of the bumpers inward so they look like part of the body styling (as intended by the original designers) rather than looking like "wind anchors", hanging out to catch wind, protection poles, and whatever else you might have otherwise squeaked past...
Quite often, "Foosing" a bumper includes ridding the center section of a license plate pocket and often also includes welding the bumper bolts inside and smoothing over the holes.....

Our vans, in case you hadn't noticed, have a front bumper that sticks out far enough to use as a door stop if your limit straps are gone..... These bumpers are nicely styled, but in serious need of "Foosing"....
The front bumper on my 69 has original chrome on it and was pretty gnarled in the center, but the outer 18 inches are undamaged even though the chrome isn't great... 18 inches includes the outer hole of the three-bolt triangle on each side....
My decision was to cut these ends off, use the outer (three bolt triangle) hole as the inner hole, which moves the end pieces in 4.5 inches and re-drill the other two holes..... I will post pictures of my new split bumpers when I get them processed onto my computer....



Couple of pictures showing how far the ends of a stock bumper stick out...

I've been wanting to "Foose" my front bumper as well. The 61-64 E-vans stick way out.

its a small detail that really works,yours have now been foosed.great work

What van do you have that bumper bolted to? You have a 2nd gen.

samsvan wrote:What van do you have that bumper bolted to? You have a 2nd gen.

It's a 2nd gen bumper on my first gen. The van came with them.

Oh, my mistake! I thought AzDon posted the pic's. Nice work though Buddy.

I didn't post pics of what I ended up with yet......Mine is a left and right split with space for lights in the center...

Nice work, Buddy. I notice you cut a big "slot" in the middle of the bumper. A lot of 60s cars had a slot like that and the license plate would go in the middle. Is the goal to get more air to the radiator? If so, did you also cut into the pan behind it?

And what's up with the cut out mounting areas for the turn signal lights?

I think valance on that van has been eliminated or trimmed extensively, as I'm seeing more of his jack-stand than I should.....A lot more air can be stuffed in like that, but the valance is a structural crossmember.....

The valance on the van was completly rotted so after removing it to repair the damage I thought about how much more air I could get if I left it open. The back of the bumper has been stiffened with angle iron and a length of 1/4x1 steel. The bottom of the grill is stiffened up with 3/4 square stock welded to the frame on both sides. I also added a 2 1/2 inch pipe across the two frame rails just behind the bumper as a replacement for the valance. as for the light pockets they too were rotted and I have since gone a totally new direction there. If anyone does Facebook
search for @Buddys van. I have over 5000 pictures of the build so far. What a long strange trip it's been.

Lookin good Buddy! Keep the pic's coming. Love to see how this looks when finished!

AZDon... Looks like Buddy answered the question...

That's Beautiful Work!........When I see such nice work being performed on some of these vans, it inspires me to try my best to fab every piece of my van as if it will be seen and judged by my peers....
I love this setup because it:
1) honors the structure that was removed with a new round crossmember
2) Finishes and stiffens the cut bottom of the grille
3) It's stealthy!... One of those deals that will be missed by most, but examined carefully by other fab
guys....

It's 118 degrees outside right now........ I went out and got a couple of pics before my camera died....







The inner top hole of the three had previously been  the outer hole...

Well, I finally got around to "Foose"ing my front bumper. Bare in mind my bumper is a dented twisted POS. I think it turned out well. I took 2 5/8" out of either side narrowing it 5 1/4".

Here's a pic of what my early long bumper looked like before compared to my friends 65:




I laid out mine lines and cut out the sections with a fiber saw.






Test Fit:




Ground the outer welds, painted and reinstalled

Looks so much better. Nice work.

You did a very nice job on that bumper, yet still it sticks out a bit.......
I've never understood why the OEMs dedicated so much extra metal to the length of the bumpers..... It's not like they offered much protection anyway....