Educate me - '79 to '85 bumper fillers

[BadgerRivFan]

I'm now the proud owner of an '85 with several cracked bumper fillers. The two rear corners are cracked and broken, and the front center piece directly below the grill is broken. I understand this is a common problem with this generation of Rivs, as it is with many circa 1980's cars that have body filler pieces made out of rubber.

It appears that NOS replacement parts are very difficult to find, and that the remaining option is to consider after-market reproduction parts. I'm also wondering whether obtaining some decent fillers from a scrap yard car is an option (can they be repainted?).

So, here's where I need your help. The two repro options seem to be made of either fiberglass or plastic. What has your experience been with either one of these? Is one better than the other? Why? There are several advertisers for these products in the Riview - has anybody purchased replacement fillers from any of them or elsewhere? Good experiences? Bad ones? I found these while surfing the net..

Link

I just sent for the archived Riview articles regarding these fillers, so I hope to learn more about them. Thanks in advance for your comments. They may also help others who are in my same situation.

Regards,

[RivNut]

Al,

I've installed two set over the past three year period. I've got a tech article ready to send to the Riview but I'm waiting for Bobby Ward at North Yale Auto to finish the R&D on some new ones he's coming out with. He's been looking for some decent ones for a long time, any that he (you and I) can get hands on are not very good. 1) The holes are not drilled in the correct places, 2) the thickness is wrong 3) the aftermarket pieces now available supply you with two pieces instead of one for each corner - looks really bad. 4) you have to do a lot of grinding, cutting, and sanding to get them to come close to fitting, 5) you need to modify the brackets to fit the two piece corners.

According to Bobby, there's only one manufacturer of the urethane bumpers, and many distributors. So, buying from one over another is just a matter of price.

The 'glass set I put on at least were one piece per corner, but at the time I did them, the 'glass was only available for the fronts. The two piece urethane fronts have ample clearance between them and the bumper. The rears are so close that the my new paint job has already been scratch where the bumper sits. I also had to enlarge the holes in the bracket that mounts the grill. The center piece for the front rode too high (with the bumper as low as it would sit) and wouldn't allow the grill to come all the way forward.

That said, I preferred the set of 'glass ones to the urethane ones. The glass takes more work, but they look better once installed. I've got another car that needs them now, but I'm waiting on Bobby to see what he comes up with.

If you'd like to see what I written up so far, send me a PM with an email address and I'll send it and some photos to you.

Ed

[Guest pfloro]

Hello Al:

As part of the restoration of my '84 Toronado, I have just replaced both front

& rear fillers with ones made from ABS plastic. The fit was decent but not great.

At least for the Toronado, the corner pieces are one piece. Of course, the holes

were not in the right places. I bought mine from AUTORIFIX. They offer to replace a piece

ONCE if it is damaged during the installation. I was very pleased with their service even if the parts aren't perfect.

Good Luck with your new '85 Riv...

Paul

[sosuzguy]

I wonder why a company would manufacture a part that didn't fit right?

[RivNut]

It's the only thing available and the consumer has to deal with it because there are no alternatives. This is what Bobby is working on now, a good alternative. Do you remember about a year ago I was looking for some NOS fillers for him to use as a template for making his own molds? Hopefully there will be something soon. The more Riv owners that call him and ask him when they'll be ready, the more we can make sure this project will stay on a front burner. Right now the Cadillac owners are beating a path to his door, so they're getting what they want first. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

[dship]

Ed,

I'll jump on the wagon to "hound" Bob about making better Riviera bumper fillers available as the fiberglass ones I just put on my '85 are ill-fitting at best (they didn't even have holes never mind ones in the wrong place!). I'll even promise to buy more than one complete pair. Do you have an email address for Bob that we may contact him?

[RivNut]

Dave,

Here's the home page to his website. It might jump to his ebay store, but all the contact information is there. If for some reason this link doesn't attach properly, you can find a link to North Yale on the ROA's website under restorations resources.

http://stores.ebay.com/northyaleautoparts_W0QQsspagenameZL2222QQtZkm

Ed

[BadgerRivFan]

Thanks to all for your comments. I will also jump on the band wagon and contact Bobby.

[sosuzguy]

I just sent Bobby an email too, I need 4 sets!