I'm not even sure what the actual bumper on that truck is from... but it's not stock. And Im not positive on what they added onto it. As for the "keep it original thing" I'm not for that at all. Safety plays a factor, looks, etc. If everyone kept the cars completely stock, there would be no fun or enjoyment in it. The maverick/comets weren't all that attractive in stock form... being small bumper or big. While changing even wheels can make a car look 1000% better.
I say do to your car what you want ! I like all mavs and comets, big and fat or small and slender who cares. I have one of each, and I will do to them as I please.... Some people say don't change the history of our cars, and some of those same people have took there historic 6 cyl. out and put a V8 in. The point is no matter what classic car you have you just can't leave it alone. We all want that special car that fits your personality. When I asked what should I do most all of you said make it your own......
I go back & forth on this.The Pea(my '75) is a driver.I have a REALLY nice set of small bumpers to convert it.But the general driving public are idiots,and my drive to work takes me through a 10 mile long construction zone(4-lane project,lots of blasting-stopped traffic & such).I think as long as I'm just using it as a "car" I'll leave the crash bars on it.At least if I do have a slight mishap,it might not total the car.If I get around to making it a nicer car(meaning I'd drive it less),I'll convert it to the small.Why?Because the car was designed with them.No changes were made to the cars after '74,except the U.S. govt. made 'em put Lincoln bumpers on a car never meant to have them.The small looks better to me,but they offer little to no protection.JMO
I agree, if you use the car as a daily driver the big bumpers may come in handy some day. I don't use mine daily and likely never will so I prefer and will take a chance with my small bumpers. All 9 of my Mavs are small bumper cars. I mean, what is insurance for anyway? I think the general consensus though is that more people like small bumpers than the large. Very seldom hear of anybody wanting to convert small to big although it has been discussed. That's not saying anything bad about large bumpers because there are people out there that like their big bumpers as much as I like my small ones. That is certainly their prerogative and no one should fault them for that. As stated many times on this forum, it's your car so build it like you want it. Modifying cars from the way the factory built them is most of the fun. When I go to a Mustang show (which is what I often put my car in) I spend little time looking at boring original cars and lots of time at the restomods. As long as you enjoy your car that's all that matters.
My big bumpers did approximately 0% of good when I wrecked my '74 Grabber. Got hit in the side. Even if I were hit in the front or rear, it still would have done serious body damage, mainly due to the rate of speed involved, but also because the other vehicle was a Lincoln Navigator. It would have went right over top of the big bumpers. By this time next year, my brother and I will have put a combined total of 100,000 miles on my '72. By no means are they easy miles, this car is driven in all sorts of traffic, all road and weather conditions, 7 days a week. Every thing from cruising the old country back roads in North GA, to sitting in grid lock traffic in downtown metro Atlanta. The car has had 2 extremely minor accidents thus far, once where I was sitting in a Mc Donalds drive through and the car in front of me was a stick shift with an inexperienced driver, and they rolled backwards into me. Second time was my brother bumping into the back of someone at about 5 mph in traffic. Both times I was able to simply pull the front bumper off and straighten it out with a block of wood and a rubber mallet.
I don't care for them. They just don't look right in my opinion. But, the Maverick/Comet was not the only car that fell prey to that federal bumper requirement. The Mustang II restyling in '74 was in part due to the new requirements, along with a host of other reasons. The ever popular Chevy Nova got an ugly remake as well. How about this beauty.....not!!! Wouldn't you rather have had this body style if you owned a Nova? The big '74 bumpers are the only thing that I ever hated on my Comet. They made the car look low, long and heavy. I hated the look in '84 when I got it. If I had not wanted to retain somewhat of a stock look, I would have swapped to the '72 and earlier bumpers. My '74 stripes are the same as '73 stripes, thus I bought a '73 parts car to do my bumper swap to be more 'correct' in appearance. So, I have the 'mid year' bumpers. Tuck 'em, slide 'em or toss 'em if you don't like them. If you do like them, good for you. Seth
i drive past this truck all the time!!!!!! the people that own B&H body shop live down the street from me. and my grandparents muffler shop is only a couple businesses down from B&H! where did you get the pic of it?
I guess if you wanna be you,,,,,,, You'll either have big bumpers, small bumpers, no bumpers, or a modified bumper! Now, if you want others to do your being,,, hard to say what day of week which bumper you'll have! Good Golly, some of this conversation reminds me of the election campaigning we just went through in the USA
How many people outside of the maverick crowd know what bumper is supposed to be on our cars anyhow. I drive a maverick to be different than the concors correct corvette, camaro and mustang crowd. I don't need anybody telling how my car should be built, what bumpers are on it which intake or anything else. its my car not theirs so they can take a long walk off a short pier. people who say what I should or should not do to MY car just irritae the heck out of me. Or as we like to say if you don't like it don't look just walk on. By the way I love the push bumper, that would have save the sprint car's fuel cell
i onestly agree, its the owners taste not yours. when its your car you do what "you" think looks best, not the crowd looking at it. just my two cents...
I can't believe this thread is as long as it is. This debate will go on as long as there are Mavericks and Comets to be had. It's all personal taste. I don't like Worcestershire sauce on my chocolate ice cream, but I'm sure someone in the world does. Totally useless thread. I'm sorry, but the older I'm gettin', the grumpier I'm gettin'.
