240z Front and Rear Bumer onto 260z

[mattymatmat]

Will the front and rear bumber be able to bolt onto a 260z? Or would I have to make some modifications? Or is it not really worth it? I only ask because I have a 240z with decent chrome bumpers and my 260z with shall we say less then imaculate bumpers (RUST!). Thanks!!!

[Mike]

Hmm... good question. Have you considered just removing the bumpers and trying them out for a test fit? It might be your best option.

I think there are either 2 or 3 bolts per side (2 sides total). So, you're only looking at up to 6 bolts.

I think the bumpers on some of the later 260z's (or maybe it's 280z's) had the 5-mph bumpers with the shock absorbers.

Do you have a copy of the Zcar Microfiche CD? You could look up the diagrams yourself.

[mattymatmat]

Nope sorry no fiche But yah I do have those bumper shocks on the 260... I wasn't going to bother taking it off the 240z unless I could get a reasonable educated guess from the forums, but yah maybe I should just try take it off and fitting it.

[Mike]

Buy the CD! I'm tellin' ya... you can find out this stuff just by looking at the diagrams and part numbers.

I'm not trying to sell it... I just think everybody with a classic Z should have this resource.

If you can't afford it, let me know and I'll figure out how you can do other things around the site to 'earn' one. Wash dishes?

[m]

[Royce]

My late 260 (12/74) originally came with 280Z style bumpers and was converted to '73 240 bumpers by the previous owner. They looked very good on the car!

The front bumper looked like it was an easy swap, although I believe the '73 bumper requires early, pre-'72 mounting brackets. If you have that braket it looks like it will bolt into existing holes.

The back is a little more difficult. The big issue is the shocks from the big bumpers. From what I hear you need to drop the gas tank to get them out. Once they are out you have a large hole that is visible from behind. The holes probably extend 1" below the 240 bumpers. I don't know about a '77 - '78 280Z but the 260 and up to '76 280Z still have and use the 240 style mounting location. In other words the 240 bumpers mount up to the rear valance just like on a 240. The difference is on the quarter panels where you will have to drill a small hole for the bolt for the side bumper mounts.

Hope that makes sense! Corrections, comments, questions are welcome!

[Royce]

Oh, almost forgot! You should buy the CD too! May not be big help for this project but always and handle tool for reference!

Have fun!

[2ManyZs]

Well Royce, I'm not sure about the later 280's but my 75 has the holes in the quarters where the rubber bumper ends mount. The bumpr ends are a little different than the later 77-78's.

I guess if you wanted to cut the flange off the bumper shock absorber where the bumper mounts you might be able to wiggle it through the hole without dropping the tank. You can access the mounting bolts without too much trouble, it's getting the shock to pull through the hole in the body where you will run into trouble. The gas tank is in the way to pull them straight back through the hole. I wouldn't cut into the shock itself, but if you cut off the mounting flange you might have enough room to slip it through. I think the passengers side will be the worst as the shock mount is close to the tank, on the drivers side it is close to the muffler so you will have a little more room on that side.

[Royce]

Howdy 2manyZ,

Actually the rear quarter panel bumper mounts are different on the 240 than the late 260 through '76 280Z (haven't checked a '77 or '78). I went out and checked the cars before answering this time. I'm learning!

The 240 bumpers wrap further forward on the quarter panels. Your '75 280 will have a bolt that is installed from the outside through the rubber side bumper and into a nut that is welded to the quarter below the side marker light. The 240 is held by a bolt that goes through a hole, you have to take off the interior quarter panels and hold a wrench on one end from inside the car, about 3 inches in front of the rear marker light on the rear quarter.

Good tips on the large bumper struts!

Have a good one!

[Royce]

Okay one correction to make on my last post!

In regards to the rear bumper, on the 240 you can reach the bolts inside the quarter panel from underneath the car. When you adapt to a late 260 or early 280Z (still don't have a '77 or '78 to check!) you will need go in through the interior to get to that same bolt. That means removing the interior quarters like I described above because although the hole is in the same location the late 260 and early 280Z has deep pockets on the inside quarter panels. Also, it looks like you could not use the 240 rubber spacer, that goes between the quarter panel mount on the bumper and the body. On mine a thin piece of rubber was cut into a square.

That's all folks!

[mattymatmat]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I checked out the front bumper swap but I think there are some complications. I think I see the bolt holes in the front on the 260z that the 240z. The 240z isn't using a shock for the bumper and bolts directly to the frame. But on the 260z it looks like they welded on this extra bracket for the shock mounts. If you don't know what I'm talking about I'll try and post some pics or at least a drawing later... but it seems like in order for me to mount the 240z front bumper I'd have to cut that bracket off the 260z. The front frame looks pretty much the same with the exception of that extra metal. Would it be structually unsafe if I cut that off??? Would I be able to pass recon?

[Rags]

I've done this swap to my early 260. What I did was to use a 240 bumper with 70-72 mounting brackets. I removed the shock absorbers for the 260 bumper and just mounted the 240 brackets where the shock absorbers used to be. The back was a little trickier. I used the center section of the 260 bumper with ends of a 240 bumper. I collapsed the shock absorbers for the rear bumper by removing the screw in the middle of the mounting flange and hitting them in with a sledge hammer. If they come back out, I had to drill a small hole in the side of the shock and put a sheet metal screw in the hole with the shock compressed to keep it from coming out again. The reason I used the 260 center section is the mounts for the 240 center section don't line up with anything on the 260. I hope you can understand what I did here. If you have any questions please ask me.

Joe

[mattymatmat]

Joe! Thanks for the reply. In the beginning you were talking about how you did the conversion for the "front" bumper right??? You just used the two metal arm brackets for the 70-72 240z and mounted it where the 5mph shocks on the 260z go? Is that correct? Did you have to bend the two metal arms to get them to mount on the chasis while still being able to meet up properly with the bumber? I was kinda eye-balling it, and it seemed the holes for the 5mph shocks were closer together on my 260z then the mounting holes for a 240z 70-72 front.