'59 Plymouth Forum

Here's a new one on me:

Ken Jacob wrote:I have a front rubber bumper guard for the '59 Plymouth that needs repair. Both the rubber and the stainless backing needs help. The opposite one is pretty decent. Would you know of anyone who might have a useable one or who could repair mine? I think they are quite rare so repair is probably what it'll need...

I have seen these rubber bumper guards in some '59 Plymouth promotional material. The bumper itself has about 6 holes drilled through for attaching each guard so the bumper is no good without the guard unless you weld all those holes shut but it would be easier to find a regular bumper.

Were these special to Canadian models? Might they have been a JC Whitney aftermarket? I've never seen them before...

Any one have any help for Ken?

Dan

Dan, never saw these before either. Bumper nerf strips??? I will check the 59 parts manual tonight to see if there is any reference to these strips...maybe the Chryco (Chrysler of Canada) parts book might have a few parts that are different then the US parts book.
Will advise...

John Q.

My white 59SF (see Larry Flynn's webpage) had these strips, and I believe they were factory. The rubber was good enough to use after I straightened the stainless. I think replacements would be hard to find. If you haven't already rechromed your bumper I would have them weld the holes full and be done with it.

Tom

These were an option from the factory.

Rubber inserts were also mounted on the rear bumper guards

I've also had a few cars here with those rubber bumper strips.

Personally, I never thought they added to the looks of the car, and appeared more like a seventies issue part.
Due to their location on the bumper, they are almost always damaged, and the fact that the studs get some rust on the threads causes the heads to turn, leaving them tough to remove without destroying them. ---John

Take a look at my Green 59 SF, it has both front and back rubber guards, It's a california car. I saw a replacement front rubber strip show up one time on ebay.
Dick.

tomf wrote:My white 59SF (see Larry Flynn's webpage) had these strips, and I believe they were factory. The rubber was good enough to use after I straightened the stainless. I think replacements would be hard to find. If you haven't already rechromed your bumper I would have them weld the holes full and be done with it.

Tom

I agree with Tom that these would be hard to find, replace or repair so welding up the holes seems reasonable.

One word of caution - I had an excellent welder - weld my bumper bolts to the bumper and shave the heads off them for a custom look. The welding was excellent but his grinding work was poor.

The bumpers were plated by a small firm that did not attempt to make corrections and I was left with expensive bumpers that need additional work and also need replating.

Just be sure your welder is competent in welding and grinding! Next find a good chrome plating shop (North Star was mentioned to me to make my corrections).

Just my two cents...

Curt

I agree with all. I once had a front bumper (off a parts car) which had these strips. They are not available anywhere "as new", unless you can find them from an NOS supplier.
I can look for parts numbers if you want to pursue the NOS folks.
Who is the fellow listmember in Massachusetts with the SF cvt in longtime storage? He too is looking for these strips.