1976 Corvette Stingray: Restore, Repair, Detail: Getting the Front Bumper Professionally Aligned

The fact that the ill-fitting front bumper color does not perfectly match the rest of the body, has bugged me to no end since day one.

So although the price tag to have it removed, reworked, and reinstalled properly—not to mentioned repainted the right shade of red—is significant, sometimes you just have to get things done.

A few days ago I had an auto body shop in Longwood, FL, repaint the T-tops after eliminating the chrome trim moldings. They did a pretty decent job and, while I had the car there when I picked up the T-tops, they gave me a quote to take care of the bumper issue.

The truth of the matter is that it is only noticeable once you get close to it. From 10-feet away—to the untrained eye—it's hard to see any problems.

The owner of the shop and I also discussed having him try to align the headlight doors. I say "try" since adjustments are limited but I am sure he will be able to deliver.

And while he's at it, he is also going to align the hood and fix some lousy old bodywork that the previous owner had done on the car years ago.

I have to admit that I almost asked them to go ahead and shave the side marker lights, but I bit my tongue thinking that sometime in the future I'd like to have him replace those ugly rectangles with C6 marker lights instead, which I think would fit the shape of my Vette quite nicely. If I decide to go that route, I will have to choose between clear and amber side lights, but I have time to decide.

One last thing I asked him to do is to eliminate the round nose emblem, even though it is almost new. I think it looks like a big knob sitting there and I can always drill the two holes needed and reinstall it, but I really think that a cleaner look works better for the C3 body.

I like the emblem itself. I just don't really care for how high it sits, especially when you catch a glimpse of it while looking at the front of the car from one of the sides.

It really sticks out like a sore thumb. But again, I can always reinstall it at a later date if I change my mind.

So my Vette is going to spend a couple of weeks in Longwood, while the guys at the shop do their thing. Cannot wait to have it back looking pretty, so stay tuned for more photos.

Thanks for reading.

UPDATE 6/3/2016

I stopped by the shop this morning since the photos I had did not really show how bad the front bumper really is, so I shot a few closeups just before they got busy removing the bumper.