This forum is for all years of the Ford Galaxie and all other Full-size Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury cars. This is a place to share information, skills, pictures, and stories for the purpose of building friendships and furthering the enjoyment and restoration of these cars |
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I bought a 65 galaxie ltd that came with a rear bumper, unattached. I believe I am missing 4 bumper "arms" that attach the bumper to the frame, two on each side, or two "inners" and two "outters". Please correct me if I'm wrong, though.
My problem is that I can't seem to find bumper arms. I've tried contacting the companies that re-chrome and sell galaxie bumpers, I've been looking on ebay, craigslist, and yes I have a wanted ad posted on here and another galaxie forum. I've been looking for whole parts cars as well, but the ones I have found do not have bumpers or arms. I am wondering... does anyone know if the 65 bumper arms fit on 65 models only? Is there any cross compatibility when it comes to ford bumper arms? Does anyone have any, lets say unconventional methods, that could work as a solution to attaching the bumper? I thought about making my own arms, but don't even know where to begin, especially without having at least one arm available as a template. One thing for sure: that bumper is one heavy chunk of steal, so however its attached, it has to be done so securely! Any ideas or thoughts are welcome. There's a lot of things I want to address with this car, but this is by far the silliest problem of them all...
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first thought is fabricate them. Get someone to send you pics and measurements of their brackets so you have some idea of how it looks. I would use cardboard to make templates. Put the bolt holes in the cardboard, make the bends and tape them so the tape holds the bend. Take them off. Get some steel put it in a big vise. Get a big f'n hammer and bend to same angle. Drill your holes, paint it get some bolts. It may be more expensive in steel and drill bits (you will go through some) than buying used.
Alternately you could just keep watching ebay. also try search tempest.com this site searches all of craiglist at once. The downside is you will have to convince them to ship which they may not.
Another idea is search for a parts car or search "parting out 65 galaxie" Lots of cars sitting in junk yards and since the bumper brackets are not a "rare" part shouldn't be too much trouble to find.
Look for junkyard in the southwest from Texas to Arizona and New Mexico.. There are several with antique cars with online sites. Best to call them as they are sometimes too busy to keep up with emails.
Last edited by g-man (February 1, 2016 4:49 am)
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I would keep checking with salvage guys. Another option would be to try and find another 65 and take pictures of the brackets you need. I would then hit the salvage yard and try and find something similar. You may have to "tweek" the donors a bit to work. If you have access to a torch and welder, you could modify a set to work. I would think any old Ford into the early seventies would be similar and would not require a lot of modification? Otherwise, the first option and some patience might be your best bet.
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Call Bob at Owens Auto Salvage in Texas. They have a site and they're good to deal with... got a zillion cars in their stash.
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If you can find the part numbers in a service manual you should then be able to get those checked in a cross reference manual and find out what cars should have the same parts.
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