FC front bumper

[Paul In Ireland]

On the front bumper of my FC there are 2 holes in the centre section. I first thought it was from after market spot/driving lights but I think I may have been mistaken. I saw something today that tells me there is a piece of, sort of "over-riding" chrome that sits on the bumper.

I went looking and see most FC's I could find did not have this piece but a hanful did - is it a hard piece to find or was it an option?

Thanks,
Paul

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

FE Sedans had the number plate surround front and rear from the factory, FC's only had the rear.
So you either have an FE front centre section or an FE or FC rear centre section, comparatively they are not that hard to come by.

[Paul In Ireland]

So it would look out of place as an original item?

My thought that I could use the holes for driving lights is coming back to me. Was this done back then? And if it was , what sort of lights would have been used?

Thanks.

[RET]

Paul,

Just to expand a bit on what Glenn wrote, the centre section of the bumper bar is the same for front and rear bumpers. But because you've got a ute, you've got bumperettes at the back and hence no number plate surround at either end. Interestingly enough, only FE Special Sedans and Special Station Sedans actually had the surround fitted on the front. FE utes, panel vans and "Standard" sedans and wagons had holes where one might have been just like you've got.

When the FC was introduced with its lower and heavier grille, the number plate surround on the front was deleted across the entire body range. At that point it presumably became cost-effective to make two different centre sections - one with holes and one without.

So these days, when you're trying to get a good centre section of bumper bar, the ones without holes are significantly harder to find, since so many more were made with holes.

This is getting a bit long-winded, isn't it?  ::)

In answer to your question about driving lights, yes it was quite common practice to fit them on the front, and the period accessories (although never made or sold by Holden/Nasco) were often a combination of one driving light and one fog light.

Here's a picture that clearly shows both period driving lights and the number plate surround.



The winged NRMA badge fitted on top of it is not standard, of course.

Hope that's all some help to you.

cheers
RET

[Paul In Ireland]

Very helpful RET. Thanks.

I think I will look out for period style driving/fog lights and utilise the holes. I have another car (a '56 hhmmmpphhh) with the sort of lights I would put on - in fact it was this car that reminded me of the idea.

Cheers.