TheSamba.com :: View topic - Putting older Bumpers/Fenders on a '74 Super

Sun May 30, 2010 6:28 pm

Can I do this? I want to put '66 or older front and rear fenders and front and rear bumpers on my Super Beetle to make it look like this:

If I can't do it without modifications, can you direct me to the modifications I need?

I am also aware that the bumpers have different slots, it shouldn't be hard to replace the tubes with the thin metal that the older bumpers use.

Sun May 30, 2010 6:30 pm

The front fenders will not fit.

Sun May 30, 2010 6:31 pm

Glenn wrote: The front fenders will not fit.

Okay, but what about the rear fenders and both bumpers?

Sun May 30, 2010 6:38 pm

You will have to change the front apron, get two new fenders and a new hood from that year. I am doing the same thing to my '74. Good luck.

Sun May 30, 2010 6:41 pm

draco24433 wrote: You will have to change the front apron, get two new fenders and a new hood from that year. I am doing the same thing to my '74. Good luck.

I needed to change the front apron anyway. Awesome.

Sun May 30, 2010 6:53 pm

It's a Super.... you can't just change the apron.

If you want a early car, sell your Super and buy a early car.

Sun May 30, 2010 7:11 pm

The problem would be the fact that supers have a different front suspention than a standard. By the time you make it work you could pick up a 66. If you just want to be different, hope your budget agrees.

Sun May 30, 2010 7:36 pm

Fill the holes in your existing fenders with steel. cut slots appropriate for the bumpers you want then attach the bumpers. Mods to the bumper mounting points may be needed.

Although not the same as a super, my 74 standard had the shock absorbing bumpers but I wanted the early model T bars. I can mount an early bumper on the front but the rears are too far apart for a stock bumper. This is not due to the original mount location but due to the way my engine cover has been widened.

Mon May 31, 2010 3:42 pm

dan macmillan wrote: This is not due to the original mount location but due to the way my engine cover has been widened.

So if it was not widened, you could mount a stock earlier model rear bumper on there?

Mon May 31, 2010 5:26 pm

Hello everyone, I just got on this site because I have a 74 Super myself. This is my first post. I searched for similiar topics, and found this one. I don't mean to hi-jack, as my question is VERY similiar:

I don't want to replace my fenders, as they are fine. But I would like to buy older Bumpers and put them on my 74 super. Will I have to just drill new holes to install? The 74 super bumpers are just so..... Boring!

http://www.jcwhitney.com/bumpers-and-parts-for-volkswagen/p2004761.jcwx#
(The top two)

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Bread

Mon May 31, 2010 7:29 pm

Lobotomy wrote: dan macmillan wrote: This is not due to the original mount location but due to the way my engine cover has been widened.

So if it was not widened, you could mount a stock earlier model rear bumper on there?

Yes as I filled and cut my fenders to locate the bumper brackets.

Tue Jun 01, 2010 5:22 am

I've looked into this myself. You may have some luck doing a search. I have a 74 STD. You have a Super. The rear mods would be the same. The front...not so much. I think that the big elephant foot tailights may look odd with an early bumper, so you may want to swap on 72-down rears fenders. You're front fenders and apron need to stay the same for a super as non-super fenders won't fit. You COULD cut the headlight buckets from an older fender and graft them onto your car.

The biggest thing to consider with adding older bumpers is the bumper height. Take a close look at where the bumpers land on an earlier body and where they land on yours.

I found a couple of threads for you to check out.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=407999&highlight=

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=383823&highlight=bumpers

Thu Jun 24, 2021 12:48 pm

breadmaster wrote: Hello everyone, I just got on this site because I have a 74 Super myself. This is my first post. I searched for similiar topics, and found this one. I don't mean to hi-jack, as my question is VERY similiar:

I don't want to replace my fenders, as they are fine. But I would like to buy older Bumpers and put them on my 74 super. Will I have to just drill new holes to install? The 74 super bumpers are just so..... Boring!

http://www.jcwhitney.com/bumpers-and-parts-for-volkswagen/p2004761.jcwx#
(The top two)

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Bread

Did you ever accomplish this? I have a 75 Super and I'd like to do the same thing (just the more interesting bumpers). Any insight would be appreciated!

Thu Jun 24, 2021 1:58 pm

dayTripper75 wrote: breadmaster wrote: Hello everyone, I just got on this site because I have a 74 Super myself. This is my first post. I searched for similiar topics, and found this one. I don't mean to hi-jack, as my question is VERY similiar:

I don't want to replace my fenders, as they are fine. But I would like to buy older Bumpers and put them on my 74 super. Will I have to just drill new holes to install? The 74 super bumpers are just so..... Boring!

http://www.jcwhitney.com/bumpers-and-parts-for-volkswagen/p2004761.jcwx#
(The top two)

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Bread

Did you ever accomplish this? I have a 75 Super and I'd like to do the same thing (just the more interesting bumpers). Any insight would be appreciated!

Dude made five posts and last time he logged on was 10 years ago. Probably not going ot get a reply.

Thu Jun 24, 2021 2:13 pm

Anything is possible if you get creative, but it won't be just a bolt-on affair. Super Beetles are about 3" wider in the front than their Standard Beetle brothers. So, the mounting location won't be correct, and the width of the bumper across the front of the car likely won't be correct. But, if you are determined, you can fab up some bumper brackets that will bolt to the car on one end, and the bumper on the other. Then, you'll have to decide if you want to fill the holes in the fender where the original hydraulic brackets used to live.

Just my own opinion, but I think late model cars look better with late model bumpers.

Fri Jun 25, 2021 4:13 am

Creative Car Craft makes fenders for the Supers that have the old style headlight buckets made into them. They offer them in various width's also. Look them up on FB, best business you will ever deal with.

Fri Jun 25, 2021 6:48 am

You really need to make drop brackets otherwise the bumpers end up too high, and a '75 with it's shock bumper mounts makes that a little harder 'cause you can't just do a slight mod to the commercially available '68 - '73 drop brackets.

Can message docswitzer, he did a nice job on his Super and has logged in recently; there's additional 'before' pictures and a couple of his first attempt brackets in his gallery, but none currently of the drop brackets.

Fri Jun 25, 2021 7:01 am

It's a lot of money and work,
I would just keep it stock, a super bug is a better driving car but uglier than a standard bug.
Add a set of aluminium tbars is what I would do and buy a nice Flat4 steering wheel with the money saved.
Remember you should be spending more time inside your Bug driving it than worrying about how it looks on the outside!
Good luck.

Fri Jun 25, 2021 7:01 am

dayTripper75 wrote: Did you ever accomplish this? I have a 75 Super and I'd like to do the same thing (just the more interesting bumpers). Any insight would be appreciated!
Just to add some context to this topic...

67-earlier Beetles mounted the front bumpers thru the front apron and mounted them inside the spare tire well (STD Beetle).

On '68-later Beetles, the bumper mounted thru the fenders to the fender wells on the outside of the trunk.

So mounting the early style bumpers to the later style Beetles using the later mounting points requires a custom mounting bracket that fits between the stock SB mounting points on the car and the bolt holes in the early bumper. Or you need to cut slots thru the front apron and fabricate custom mount points there behind the apron for the brackets to mount to. On the SB, I'm not sure there is much behind the apron to mount to.

Here is an adapter bracket to mount an early bumper to a later (up to '73) STD Beetle (not SB). I don't believe they will work with the wider SB front end or on '74-later Beetles that used shock absorbing front bumper brackets (tubes), but it may give you some ideas for creating your own.

https://www2.cip1.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=C13%2D15%2D2045

See this thread where they attempted to use the above brackets on a SB and the wider SB front didn't allow the brackets to work.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=680351
But there was a suggestions that cutting and moving the flats where the front bumper mounted might allow it to fit. Basically customizing the brackets. At which point, if you have the means to cut and re-weld the brackets, you have the tools to make your own brackets from flat steel.
Looking at the above pic, the early bumpers look much too narrow for the wide front of the SB. :shock:

EDIT: I found a thread where someone did it:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9440068
Read the feedback carefully... the early front and rear bumpers on the SB that looks like it fit used custom made brackets and the bumper blades appear to be custom made stainless steel blades that were wider than stock to fit the wider SB body.

Fri Jun 25, 2021 10:11 am

windfish wrote: You really need to make drop brackets otherwise the bumpers end up too high, and a '75 with it's shock bumper mounts makes that a little harder 'cause you can't just do a slight mod to the commercially available '68 - '73 drop brackets.

Can message docswitzer, he did a nice job on his Super and has logged in recently; there's additional 'before' pictures and a couple of his first attempt brackets in his gallery, but none currently of the drop brackets.

To each his own, but personally I think this looks awesome and would love to see the adapter brackets that allow this exact mounting(I have a '74 Super but want the early Euroblade bumpers for my outlaw style autocross car)

H20SB