1975 Laguna Face Bar - Need Help

by dwgardner1 Mon Nov 19, 2012 10:35 pm

I have a 1975 Laguna that I am prepping for paint. A friend of mine suggested that I need to remove the front bumper/face bar to do better paint job. It appears to be major undertaking, I can't seem to be able to find any help on the removal procedure. I was wondering if anyone had any experience on the removal and could give me some advice if possible. Or is the suggestion to remove the face bar for painting is a bad idea. Thanks for the help in advance.
Danny Gardner

by 77mali Mon Nov 19, 2012 11:30 pm

What part of that nose is the face bar?

I'd go to a good auto parts place and get some thin 3M Green masking tape if it looks as difficult as you are describing. You can get in real tight with a 1/4 or 3/16" tape then just use a lager size tape over it to bond whatever your using to cover the face bar.

by Brainstain Tue Nov 20, 2012 12:03 am

The actual nose itself? That is like 3-4 bolts on each fender, the 4 bolts per side either at the shock to frame or shock to bumper and the 8 or so on the core support. It's not bad. I did it by myself in an hour or so.

by Mcarlo77 Tue Nov 20, 2012 12:36 am

I think Danny is talking about removing the rub strip and stainless backing plates. I pulled one of those off a salvage car several years ago (still have the stainless backing) and only remember there being maybe 8-10 nuts that had to come off from the backside that held the rub strip against the stainless backings. Once those were removed, they both pulled away from the nose. I do remember it was a bit of a challenge getting at some of them, but not particularly difficult. Seems I vaguely remember some brackets had to be removed to gain access to a few of them. Unfortunately, my Laguna is sitting at my daughter's house, so I can't run outside and take a look to confirm.

As for needing to remove this in order to properly paint...I can't offer an opinion on that.

by jerry46765 Tue Nov 20, 2012 12:38 am

If you are referring to the bumper strip and chrome (bumper area) on the nose, yes it's a pain.
I took it apart to paint mine, and none of the studs were broken but it took lots of wd-40 and grumbling.
I have been using Wurth Rost-Off to remove rusted bolts/nuts and this stuff is pretty good.
I was able to remove 34 year old exhaust manifold stud nuts from my 1978 Blazer without an issue after bathing them in Rost-off.

If the nose is heavily rusted and the bumper strip is in good shape, I am not sure I would attempt it.
If you snap off one of the studs on the bumper strip is worthless and probably impossible to replace.

Thanks -

by Mcarlo77 Tue Nov 20, 2012 12:52 pm

Yeah, jerry46765 brings up a good point...you sure want to avoid snapping off a stud (especially one of the corner/side ones).

That Wurth Rost-Off sounds interesting. I've been wondering how to remove the rear bumper rub strip on a '75 Laguna spare bumper I picked up without snapping off the studs. Not sure anything is going to help...but, Wurth a try!

by dwgardner1 Tue Nov 20, 2012 1:48 pm

Very good advice, but it is probably a little too late for me. I was attempting to remove the bumper strip and chrome backing area. I got all the bolts out except the two in the area located inside bumper mounting bracket and one of the studs on the corner broke off. My mistake, so my original question pertains to removing the entire front nose so I can get to the two remaining nuts for the rubber strip. Based on info from Brainstain, the nose can be removed without too much diffuculty. Then I can remove the strip and hopefully repair the damaged stud. So, any detailed info on the complete nose removal will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for all the replys. I guess it is live and learn on some of this restoration work. I guess I learned a big lesson.
Thanks,

by Brainstain Tue Nov 20, 2012 1:57 pm

I would personally remove all the bolts in the fenders and the radiator support first, then the 2 bolts at the back of the bumper shock that ride sideways through the frame. Theeen take out the 4 shock to frame bolts. Much easier that way.

by dwgardner1 Tue Nov 20, 2012 2:02 pm

Thanks, for the information. So the four bolts that need to removed are from the shock mount to the frame. That is the shocks are removed with the nose. Then I can remove what brackets off the nose to get to the rubber strip nuts.

by Mcarlo77 Tue Nov 20, 2012 2:11 pm

I often wondered if there was such a thing as a threaded coupler so you could join two studs together to repair a broken stud. Another thought might be to dig out the base of the stud from the rub strip and bond a new one in there.

by dwgardner1 Tue Nov 20, 2012 2:18 pm

I will clean the area and attempt to weld a new stud on.

by Brainstain Tue Nov 20, 2012 7:04 pm

Yes. But you have to remove a bolt at the rear of the shock that connects through the outer side of the frame rail also.

by dwgardner1 Wed Nov 21, 2012 8:15 am

Thanks, your information has been a great help. I may need some more advice as I move forward.
Danny

by Mcarlo77 Wed Nov 28, 2012 8:38 pm

Mcarlo77 wrote:I often wondered if there was such a thing as a threaded coupler so you could join two studs together to repair a broken stud. Another thought might be to dig out the base of the stud from the rub strip and bond a new one in there.

Just finished wrestling with removing the last of 13 rear bumper rub strip nuts off a '75 Laguna bumper and was pretty happy that I only snapped 2 bolts...as rusty as they were. Tried everything I could think of, but these two weren't budging. And, I couldn't get at them with my Dremel/cutting disc setup to cut and chisel the nuts off. Anyway, I used the nuts from the broken studs and made couplers of my own to bond the two broken ends of each stud by threading the pieces into each end of the coupler and spot welding them. I'll need to enlarge the hole in the bumper to accomodate the larger diameter of the couplers, but no big deal. Just thought I'd share my idea if you were wondering how to weld two studs together to repair that broken stud on the front.

by 77mali Wed Nov 28, 2012 9:30 pm

13 eh? That must have been a pain. Can these studs be replaced after the unit is apart with stainless hardware? scratch

by Mcarlo77 Wed Nov 28, 2012 10:32 pm

P.i.t.a. is putting it mildly. Of the eleven I did get off without snapping the studs, I had to use the Dremel/cut-off discs on eight of them. Access is difficult and required the flexible attachment to reach in through the small access holes. Would cut the nut in a couple places as best I could and use a chisel and hammer to split them and knock them away from the stud. I removed one of these from a CA car a couple summers ago and it was zip...zip and they were all out. Oh, the joys of working on Rust Belt cars!

As for replacing the hardware with stainless, the head of the studs are molded into the rub strip. Don't think I want to dig those out and then try and figure out how to bond replacements in it.

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1975 Laguna Face Bar - Need Help

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