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Removing Avanti "cow catcher" bumpers

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  • Body / Glass: Removing Avanti "cow catcher" bumpers


  • #2
    Not gonna debate the interpretation of 30+ year-old Federal regs that are no longer applicable anyway, but the cowcatcher bumpers were adopted in 1972 because the original Avanti bumpers were determined to NOT meet the "no functional damage" standard. I believe the original 1972 reg actually called for no functional damage in a 2.5 mph front-end collision, though the latter speed provision may have been deleted later. It is also true that low production vehicles were later exempted from these provisions anyway -- though the bumper requirements DID apply at the time that the mid-1970s Avantis were built.

    It is also true that the Feds exempt vehicles 25 years old from many safety and emissions standards on the grounds that they are presumed to be collector's items. However, many states have interpreted that exemption to apply only to those vehicles that have antique/historical license plates. In many states, all vehicles registered with regular passenger car plates, regardless of age, are expected to comply with all safety and emissions standards that were applicable when they were built. Converting to antique/historic plates removes that burden, but usually also restricts the use of the vehicle.

    My congrats on finessing the situation, but I'm not sure it would necessarily apply to those living in other states.
    Skip Lackie

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    • #3

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      • #4
        Can someone post a picture of these cowcatcher bumpers? Thanks, Tom

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        • #5
          with or without cow

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          • #6
            Don't look directly at them, hard on the eyes!!

            Click image for larger version

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            Bob

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            • #7
              You can always do what lots of rodders do. Register the car with the bumpers and then take them off.
              RadioRoy, specializing in AM/FM conversions with auxiliary inputs for iPod/satellite/CD player. In the old car radio business since 1985.


              10G-C1 - 51 Champion starlight coupe
              4H-K5 - 53 Commander starliner hardtop
              5H-D5 - 54 Commander Conestoga wagon

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              • #8
                Originally posted by RadioRoy View Post
                You can always do what lots of rodders do. Register the car with the bumpers and then take them off.
                Or move to a state that doesn't care or ever inspect that stuff. Most inspectors don't even know about current regulations, they assume if it has a sticker, it must be so, except when it comes to a smog test. It's funny to see a state inspector try to find the CO2 limits for a 1963 car. Other than Avanti' IIs most of us never get involved with this stuff, because our cars predated the government.

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by RadioRoy View Post
                  You can always do what lots of rodders do. Register the car with the bumpers and then take them off.
                  I used to do that with loud mufflers, and also did it for many years with (then-illegal) Halogen headlights. But it gets old after a while, especially if you have several cars so equipped. Every time you turn around, one of them is due for inspection and something has to be swapped out.
                  Skip Lackie

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by karterfred88 View Post
                    Most of us never get involved with this stuff, because our cars predated the government.
                    Studebaker built cars in 1775??!!

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Skip Lackie View Post
                      I used to do that with loud mufflers, and also did it for many years with (then-illegal) Halogen headlights. But it gets old after a while, especially if you have several cars so equipped. Every time you turn around, one of them is due for inspection and something has to be swapped out.
                      We don't have those type of inspections in California, thankfully. Would the OP's state inspector catch something like a non-standard or missing add-on bumper?
                      RadioRoy, specializing in AM/FM conversions with auxiliary inputs for iPod/satellite/CD player. In the old car radio business since 1985.


                      10G-C1 - 51 Champion starlight coupe
                      4H-K5 - 53 Commander starliner hardtop
                      5H-D5 - 54 Commander Conestoga wagon

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by RadioRoy View Post
                        We don't have those type of inspections in California, thankfully. Would the OP's state inspector catch something like a non-standard or missing add-on bumper?
                        Not trying to respond for the OP, but the answer is "it depends". It depends on both the knowledge of the inspector and whether he is a self-important bozo who wants to demonstrate his power.

                        In states where a local garage does the inspection, inspectors can be accommodating over minor infractions. My parents lived in the same town in New York state for most of their lives, and had all their car repairs done by the same garage. When it came time for inspection, the "inspector" just put a new sticker on the car without checking anything -- they already knew the car intimately.

                        But in DC and a few Eastern states, the inspection stations are run by the state/DC govt, which is both good and bad. Good, because they presumably should know the rules, but bad, because a failing grade can ground your car -- and you have no recourse. I have had plenty of fights with the DC vehicle inspectors, and they usually won -- even when they were wrong. In one case, they were wrong, but I chose not to fight. I had added some fog lights to a 70 Camaro. The standard for auxiliary lamps that was in effect in 1970 was that the tail lamps and parking lights had to be illuminated every time they were turned on. But some time in the 1980s, the standards were changed, and now stated that auxiliary lamps had to be wired though the low beam headlight circuit, so they could not be used while the high beams were on. Around 1990, the inspectors flunked the car because the fog lights didn't go out when I switched to high beams. I argued for a long time that that standard did not apply to vehicles built before it became effective, but in that pre-Internet age, getting a copy of the FMVSS, including all its amendments, would have required going to the central library and making copies of a bunch of documents. So I just removed the fog lights and got my sticker.
                        Skip Lackie

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Skip Lackie View Post
                          Not trying to respond for the OP, but the answer is "it depends". It depends on both the knowledge of the inspector and whether he is a self-important bozo who wants to demonstrate his power.

                          In states where a local garage does the inspection, inspectors can be accommodating over minor infractions. My parents lived in the same town in New York state for most of their lives, and had all their car repairs done by the same garage. When it came time for inspection, the "inspector" just put a new sticker on the car without checking anything -- they already knew the car intimately.
                          I remember the good old days in NYS, re inspections. Now, at least for cars slightly newer than Studebakers, the car has to be hooked up to a computer with a tie-in to the Albany DMV.
                          Gary L.
                          Wappinger, NY

                          SDC member since 1968
                          Studebaker enthusiast much longer

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