grey bumper filler

[sigmfsk]

Starting around here:
bluesmobiles.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=gotopost&board=police&thread=305&post=1852

TK826 pointed out that bumper fillers (circled in red):



police: came standard in grey - but could be special ordered to have it painted a different color
civilian : always painted to have a color that matches the main exterior paint

That car above is from
bluesmobiles.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=gotopost&board=sightings&thread=139&post=3086
It won a variety of awards for best restored emergency/police vehicle, and it got me thinking about TK's assessment.

Here's a police example (from CHiPs):

from
bluesmobiles.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=gotopost&board=police&thread=305&post=1852

Pics of the 75 ex-Arco ex-CHP:


from
bluesmobiles.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=gotopost&board=police&thread=305&post=1866

Ghostbluesman's 75:

from
bluesmobiles.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=gotopost&board=police&thread=305&post=1872

and here here:
bluesmobiles.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=gotopost&board=police&thread=305&post=1876
for front fender crop shots of various police cars with unpainted filler.

TK said "unpainted", but upon close examination of one of the pics of my car, it looks like I can see flaking, and the filler was white, and painted grey overtop.



Those pieces are at the panel beaters. It will be interesting to inspect further when I get back to that part in the rebuild.


It looks like all 74 and 75 CHP's were grey. I thought I found a counterexample with Ford Jockey's 1974 CHP:

but TK826 pointed out that it was previously a bluesmobile and had the fillers painted.
bluesmobiles.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=gotopost&board=police&thread=305&post=1866

your friend in filling info on the fillers,
arthur

[fordjockey]

In 1974 they were black...the 75 Chips tv car shows them gray...they could have been ordered either way but some of the early cars had problems with paint coming off. It was also an aesthetic thing. The following car has been restored also but it was an original unrestored car previously unrestored example.

www.flickr.com/photos/formerwmdriver/4974893287/in/photostream

another 74 CHP..
carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_images/1/1231/3821/3076910001_large.jpg

copcarsonline.com/vehicledetails.aspx?VID=146865690

copcarsonline.com/vehicledetails.aspx?VID=146865690

The movie cars were all CHP units and all had black. I've not seen any 74's that were not painted. 1975 well that a different matter.

[sigmfsk]

> In 1974 they were black...

Hi Ford, I think you're right. Since I wrote the post, I've spoken with some folks who's arguments are persuasive that the 74 Monaco CHP bumper fillers were black, while the 75 Monaco CHP bumper fillers were grey. But I don't have any solid evidence of 74 blackness this point. I'm still working on a pic of an unrestored car with black fillers.

You write:
> The following car has been restored also but it was an original
> unrestored car previously unrestored example.

www.flickr.com/photos/formerwmdriver/4974893287/in/photostream

But I don't think a restored car is a reliable reference for what something looked like originally. Here:
bluesmobiles.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=gotopost&board=sightings&thread=139&post=1849
I point out that the car is missing the upper alternator bracket.

And the same folks that are telling me that 74 CHP Monacos had black bumper fillers are the same folks that are telling me that 74 CHP Monacos always had the battery shield. And this car doesn't have the shield. So this car seems to be off one way or another. I updated the battery shield thread here:
bluesmobiles.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=police&action=display&thread=560

thanks,
arthur

[fordjockey]

That car in Florida came from the same location mine did...along with the 75 the Vovo Museum had....the push bar is the same. As fars as the alternator brackets things get lost a senior writer for Mopar magazine told me they had over 260 some combinations of brackets for alternators when I was lookign for mine. In any give week depending on the supply they used what would work at the factory. This car was built at the end of the model run in Dec 74
mine was built in Jan, as far as I know its the lowest sequence number one.

Have you explored the week to week Technical Service Bulletins thye give more insight into what was happening from the shop to the factory floor along with stuff that was out of stock of changed. The battery shields came in when it was found that heat was cooking them. The simple metal one gave way to the plastic Thermo-shield on the 75's once the catalytic convertors were installed. My 73 police Fury had a metal shield that attached by sliding on the edge of the battery tray. We have another 74 CHP spec Monaco in Conn. I'll check I think it had the same it only went on one edge. Both battery trays were the same design.

We had both 74 & 75's and they were brutally hot when idling. I recall several fires started by them and at least 2 cars burned to a crisp.

[Lord Vadus]

There's an original, NOS bumper filler on eBay for anyone interested and potential police replica needs.

www.ebay.com/itm/Mopar-1974-77-Dodge-Royal-Monaco-NOS-front-bumper-filler-assy-/300679868838?hash=item4601eab1a6&item=300679868838&pt=Vintage_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr#ht_500wt_1054

Otherwise, I don't recall that there was ever a scene in the Blues Brothers where the bumper fillers appeared as anything but black. That doesn't lend credence to either side of the argument, though, as there was painting, modifying, and re-coloring on the Bluesmobiles to make them "less CHP" and more "Mount Prospect" police cars.

[Mr Mercer]

Same guy has a 74 grill too , with a blues brothers reference .

[sigmfsk]

Feb 2, 2012 5:05:23 GMT -5 sigmfsk said:

> In 1974 they were black...

Hi Ford, I think you're right. Since I wrote the post, I've spoken with some folks who's arguments are persuasive that the 74 Monaco CHP bumper fillers were black, while the 75 Monaco CHP bumper fillers were grey. But I don't have any solid evidence of 74 blackness this point. I'm still working on a pic of an unrestored car with black fillers.

Here's the source car for my "1974 CHP bumper fillers were black" claim:

from
www.bluesmobiles.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=cars&action=display&thread=1341

[sigmfsk]

I think this is the summary so far:

All 74-77 c-body cop cars came from the factory with grey bumper fillers, except for 74 CHP, which had black.

The Buffalo Collection has a 77 c-body Fury for sale, and here:
bluesmobiles.proboards.com/post/11143

58HemiFury

points out that the although the car now has body-colored fillers, the B&W photo shown in the e-bay ad, described as:
> [from e-bay] I have personally been in contact with the National Border Patrol Museum
> in El Paso Texas regarding this car. While they could not confirm any of
> its history with the Border Patrol, they were able to provide a picture
> from 1979 of a similar Gran Fury "on duty" in San Ysidro California (see last photo).

are clearly non-body colored:


> [from 58HF] are obviously the gray/argent color.