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67 coupe, What is the deck lid to bumper distance?

johnpsz

Member
I'm slowly starting to get started on the restoration project of my 67 Coupe. In the prep I am noting down as many measurements that I can so when I put things back together I will have at least a starting point. However, although laying my level across the the bumper bolts are level/parallel with the shop floor, and the bumper doesn't appear bent. It seems way too high in the center, so much so that there is interference with the pop out fuel door. Anyone with a 67 Coupe able to tell me what the center distance between the deck lid and the bumper should be?



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You could get 10 guys to take that same measurement on their cars and probably get at least half a dozen if not 10 different answers. After 50 years stuff gets out of whack. Especially when things were never very consistent in the first place. The fit and quality of repop bumpers can be all over the map, for example. In my opinion you are overthinking things. Worry about panel alignment and such when you are doing the bodywork. Fit your gaps and such at that point. It's not uncommon for someone to fit more than one bumper (as bought) to find one that fits "good enough". That is if they don't fix the one they have and get it rechromed.

More important than measuring things is to get organized in terms of bagging and tagging every single part and piece of hardware. You will want to know where every bolt. screw, nut and washer was used. There are a lot of specialty bits of hardware holding these cars together. When you go to put the hood latch assembly back on the car its awesome to have the bag of old hardware to reference which size and length bolt went where. Some of the hardware kits that are bought alone or come with replacement parts are not right. You can't take too many pictures but you can take the wrong ones. Detailed pics of how stuff fit together and were fastened WILL pay off when you start the reassembly. Take the time to take those pics and then name and categorize them on your computer. I sometimes feel like half the time in a restoration is either looking for a part/bolt that gets misplaced or standing scratching your head trying to figure out where one went!

As far as the area you question in your post you need to worry more about things like door edge to quarter than the bumper. There is a lot of adjustment in mounting the bumper in terms of up/down, left/right, even angled in or out. Then you can even muscle a bit of change into its shape...but that comes much later in the process. Repeated word of warning, re-pop bumpers don't always fit very well. Be prepared for a fight.
 
You could get 10 guys to take that same measurement on their cars and probably get at least half a dozen if not 10 different answers. After 50 years stuff gets out of whack. Especially when things were never very consistent in the first place. The fit and quality of repop bumpers can be all over the map, for example. In my opinion you are overthinking things. Worry about panel alignment and such when you are doing the bodywork. Fit your gaps and such at that point. It's not uncommon for someone to fit more than one bumper (as bought) to find one that fits "good enough". That is if they don't fix the one they have and get it rechromed.

More important than measuring things is to get organized in terms of bagging and tagging every single part and piece of hardware. You will want to know where every bolt. screw, nut and washer was used. There are a lot of specialty bits of hardware holding these cars together. When you go to put the hood latch assembly back on the car its awesome to have the bag of old hardware to reference which size and length bolt went where. Some of the hardware kits that are bought alone or come with replacement parts are not right. You can't take too many pictures but you can take the wrong ones. Detailed pics of how stuff fit together and were fastened WILL pay off when you start the reassembly. Take the time to take those pics and then name and categorize them on your computer. I sometimes feel like half the time in a restoration is either looking for a part/bolt that gets misplaced or standing scratching your head trying to figure out where one went!

As far as the area you question in your post you need to worry more about things like door edge to quarter than the bumper. There is a lot of adjustment in mounting the bumper in terms of up/down, left/right, even angled in or out. Then you can even muscle a bit of change into its shape...but that comes much later in the process. Repeated word of warning, re-pop bumpers don't always fit very well. Be prepared for a fight.
Thanks for the helpful and well written response, it is greatly appreciated. I guess I get paralysis by analysis, and want to make sure I don't mess things up. That's probably why I have taken this long to get started. So my fist step should be hitting up Costco for a bunch of baggies and sharpies, I can do that.

Thanks again.

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I love the expression "paralysis by analysis". Fits me pretty well too. The more custom I do something the more of that seems to apply. After a lot of years I've finally gotten to where I can get an idea, map out the plan and start to work. What used to take days or even weeks now happens much faster. Likely a combination of increased confidence in my skill sets and also improved design/engineering talents. I guess what I would tell you is to go ahead and get after it. Mistakes will be made but they can be fixed. Better to do that than let things collect dust again. All the guys here are ready to help offer advice and guide you along as needed.
 
Since you have 6-5/8 at the center, did you check to see if that distance is the same or close along the lower edge of the decklid? Also, open the trunk and you should be able to access the 4 bolts that attached the bumper brackets to the valence. You can try loosening those to see if you can align it better. If you remove the bumper, there is also some slight adjusting you can do with the bumper to the brackets too. Don't sweat the gap between the bumper and the corners. On some cars, when it's too close, the lower curve of the bumper sometimes doesn't match the lines of the rear valence. It's a balancing act to make it all look right. My flip down gas cap also contacts the bumper. Not as bad as yours, but it does touch when fully open. I'd guess your bumper is tweaked in the center which might show up when you measure across the rear decklid to bumper distance.
 
Since you have 6-5/8 at the center, did you check to see if that distance is the same or close along the lower edge of the decklid? Also, open the trunk and you should be able to access the 4 bolts that attached the bumper brackets to the valence. You can try loosening those to see if you can align it better. If you remove the bumper, there is also some slight adjusting you can do with the bumper to the brackets too. Don't sweat the gap between the bumper and the corners. On some cars, when it's too close, the lower curve of the bumper sometimes doesn't match the lines of the rear valence. It's a balancing act to make it all look right. My flip down gas cap also contacts the bumper. Not as bad as yours, but it does touch when fully open. I'd guess your bumper is tweaked in the center which might show up when you measure across the rear decklid to bumper distance.
it is odd, I keep that same 6 5/8" the whole way across the deck lid, with a level across the bumper bolts, the bumper bolts are parallel with the shop floor. So I was seeing 2 issues, 1) with the bumper level with the floor there was a huge difference in the side gaps even with the same drop from the deck lid (within 1/16 from one side to the other, measured from the deck lid), and 2) the pop out gas cap is in a bind with it sitting where it is, bumper bolts never touched by me. Anyhow, with the responses I got above, I am a little more confident to just move on to pulling things apart, rather than writing everything down that I can think of, just in case...
 
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