What I generally hear is that our E9s and E3s have front strut spacers in order to meet DOT bumper height requirements. I got to thinking about the other late 60s early 70s cars I've owned and the fact that some had pretty low bumpers. I looked up the history of US bumper height laws.
en.wikipedia.org
The first bumper requirements were implemented in the fall of 1972 for the 1973 model year cars. They did not deal with bumper height, only minimizing damage during a low speed impact...
"In October 1972, the U.S. Congress enacted the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Saving Act (MVICS), which required NHTSA to issue a bumper standard that yields the "maximum feasible reduction of cost to the public and to the consumer""
The first law that standardized bumper height applied to the 1974 model year cars...
"The standards were further tightened for the 1974 model year passenger cars, with standardized height front and rear bumpers..."
My conclusion is that the spacers in our cars produced through the 73 MY are not there to meet a US bumper height requirement. They are there for some other reason. Ideas?
Even after the 73 MY, my guess is that the prior bumper height of E9s and E3s would have likely met the new bumper height standard and would not have required additional strut spacing. Of course they would still need to be modified (diving boards/picnic tables) to comply with the other requirements of the 74 MY bumper standard.
Bumper (car) - Wikipedia
The first bumper requirements were implemented in the fall of 1972 for the 1973 model year cars. They did not deal with bumper height, only minimizing damage during a low speed impact...
"In October 1972, the U.S. Congress enacted the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Saving Act (MVICS), which required NHTSA to issue a bumper standard that yields the "maximum feasible reduction of cost to the public and to the consumer""
The first law that standardized bumper height applied to the 1974 model year cars...
"The standards were further tightened for the 1974 model year passenger cars, with standardized height front and rear bumpers..."
My conclusion is that the spacers in our cars produced through the 73 MY are not there to meet a US bumper height requirement. They are there for some other reason. Ideas?
Even after the 73 MY, my guess is that the prior bumper height of E9s and E3s would have likely met the new bumper height standard and would not have required additional strut spacing. Of course they would still need to be modified (diving boards/picnic tables) to comply with the other requirements of the 74 MY bumper standard.
