Monte Carlo 240z Front Bumper

[Tweeds]

     Some of the coolest looking z's I've ever seen are the old Rally z's, and the coolest among these was the one from Monte Carlo, in my opinion. I've been looking into getting some driving lights if not now, then somewhere down the road. However, there is one big problem - fitment. I've seen two other ways of fitting driving lights: 

A.) Putting them on the hood of the car like from the Safari Rally.

B.) Similar to Monte Carlo by fitting them past the radiator, except mounting them on or behind what is best described as a brush guard.

(I've also seen a third way where the lights are fixed on the roof of the car, or else a roof rack.)

     There is a certain sacrifice that needs to be made to get proper driving lights to fit - either you add something to mount them on (like the brush guard or a roof rack), or else you slap them somewhere on the body (like the Safari Rally). Now, I do like the way these two look, however they aren't something I'd want to do to my own z because they alter the basic silhouette of the car more than I would be willing to. The Monte Carlo Rally Z seems to be a perfect medium in my mind. It has the practicality of extra driving lights without changing the basic lines of the car too much.

     How the balance was struck by the Monte Carlo Rally Z is, from my understanding, owing to the front bumper - it's basically cut lower from OEM to allow driving lights while still allowing room for the hood to be opened fully. As far as I know, this was basically a one off thing for and only for rally z's (you couldn't get it at a Datsun dealership). Now, If I only wanted extra light, I could maybe put a lightbar across the stock bumper to not effect the hood's opening, but a light bar just doesn't have the same aesthetic as circular driving lights - in fact, a light bar would just be too contrasting to the old look of a z to me. To put it plain and blunt - the Monte Carlo Z looks badass as all Hell to me.

     So, my question is how one (me) could go about finding such a bumper, and/or what else ought to be kept in mind when installing that bumper, or installing/fitting the driving lights as well. I haven't found much information online surrounding this topic besides this thread, as well as a few one offs that mention the bumper or fitment. At the end of the day, I could probably get a replica fabricated (which I'm not above), but that's no good if I don't know precisely what ought to be fabricated.

Edited August 12, 2021 by Tweeds
Forgot the last tidbit.

[HS30-H]

2 hours ago, Tweeds said:

 How the balance was struck by the Monte Carlo Rally Z is, from my understanding, owing to the front bumper - it's basically cut lower from OEM to allow driving lights while still allowing room for the hood to be opened fully. As far as I know, this was basically a one off thing for and only for rally z's (you couldn't get it at a Datsun dealership). Now, If I only wanted extra light, I could maybe put a lightbar across the stock bumper to not effect the hood's opening, but a light bar just doesn't have the same aesthetic as circular driving lights - in fact, a light bar would just be too contrasting to the old look of a z to me. To put it plain and blunt - the Monte Carlo Z looks badass as all Hell to me.

     So, my question is how one (me) could go about finding such a bumper, and/or what else ought to be kept in mind when installing that bumper, or installing/fitting the driving lights as well. I haven't found much information online surrounding this topic besides this thread, as well as a few one offs that mention the bumper or fitment. At the end of the day, I could probably get a replica fabricated (which I'm not above), but that's no good if I don't know precisely what ought to be fabricated.

As part of the homologation process, the 'Drop Bumper' was in fact given a factory part number and made available to the general public. Part number was 62650-E8700. 

In Works rally team use there was a fairly complex arrangement of braces and supports for the lamp units themselves; the lamp mounting brackets were braced to the front valance as well as the centre part of the bumper, and the whole affair was linked to the sump guard and the sump guard mounts. Little of that would be relevant to, or necessary on, a road car but care in bracing the lamps is quite important in order to avoid 'beam shake'/flicker, as well as stress fractures. 

You'd struggle (to put it mildly) to find an original E8700 bumper in live captivity, but you could make your own version and this has been done quite successfully by others.

Photos save a thousand words:

 

[HS30-H]

Here's an example of a self-built replica 'Drop Bumper' and lights, on one of the VZ Program cars which went to Japan. I've seen the car in person and it is very well done:

 

[Patcon]

Great pictures!

[Tweeds]

@HS30-H Great info, thanks! You seem to be an expert on these bumpers. Those pictures are extremely useful - amongst all the wishy-washy things I've read or seen, your pictures are by far the most concrete. The replica car even has some of the old rally rims, too! Nice touch!

I was kinda unclear when I originally said something about 'where could I get one' because I said that meaning 'where could I get a replica' as finding an original would be, as you pointed out, very difficult (not to mention expensive if it was intact). That being said, from my understanding, to make a replica I'd be modifying a bumper more than making an entire new one from scratch, correct? Also, now that I am suspect of everything I thought I knew, it is true that the Monte Carlo bumper allows the hood to be opened regularly, right?

[HS30-H]

45 minutes ago, Tweeds said:

I was kinda unclear when I originally said something about 'where could I get one' because I said that meaning 'where could I get a replica' as finding an original would be, as you pointed out, very difficult (not to mention expensive if it was intact). That being said, from my understanding, to make a replica I'd be modifying a bumper more than making an entire new one from scratch, correct?

Yes, the way to do it is to cut an original bumper into three pieces and 'drop' the centre section by welding on some flat stock and/or (preferably) finding some nice period over-riders from a suitable sedan and using them as the vertical elements.

 

47 minutes ago, Tweeds said:

Also, now that I am suspect of everything I thought I knew, it is true that the Monte Carlo bumper allows the hood to be opened regularly, right?

 

Yes again. The design allowed the bonnet to pivot open normally on stock hinges, with the front edge swinging over the lamp units. Again, easier to illustrate than to describe: 

 

 

 

[Tweeds]

6 minutes ago, HS30-H said:

Yes, the way to do it is to cut an original bumper into three pieces and 'drop' the centre section by welding on some flat stock and/or (preferably) finding some nice period over-riders from a suitable sedan and using them as the vertical elements.

 

 

Yes again. The design allowed the bonnet to pivot open normally on stock hinges, with the front edge swinging over the lamp units. Again, easier to illustrate than to describe: 

 

 

 

Right on, thanks again! Where you get these great pictures is beyond me!

[HS30-H]

Here's an example of the simplest - non-Works - solution, on my good friend Kevin Bristow's historic 'OMT 868K' car at the Goodwood Festival of Speed Forest Rally Stage back in 2011.

The bumper is cut into three and the centre section 'dropped' via the addition of vertical brackets. Fairly easy to do, and this style was used by privateers in period so there's an historic link which satisfies certain regulations when necessary:

 

Edited August 13, 2021 by HS30-H

[Tweeds]

@HS30-H A clever and simple alternative. I'll keep this route in mind whenever the day comes to make one - thanks!

[Patcon]

Love the airborne pic!

[HS30-H]

57 minutes ago, Patcon said:

Love the airborne pic!

Here's a great shot - by pro photographer Dan Redrup - at the same event. Kevin is a past British Historic Rally Championship winner in this car:
 

[Patcon]

The car must be putting down some power to get the wheel lift like that...