I can't say that I've ever seen anyone paint their bumper tops and bumperettes before. It sounds like a simple way to add a little bit of flair. My bumpers are pretty gnarly under the bumperettes so removing them is a no-go. Replacing the bumpers is a little pricey unless I go the fiberglass route. I'd go with Bahia red to match the rest of the car. Pictures of the car at the link below. Curious about what you all think!

http://www.motoroso.com/531600026cae5/Gara...28843520/My+914

Please no!

That would be too much red and I think it would look bad.

I'm sure they are a little wavy here and there which will show up even more if painted.

Maybe wrap them in vinyl to test the look?
You can get fiberglass tops which should be nice and smooth, in fact there are some in the classifieds right now.

Good point, and nice idea on the vinyl. I'll give the fiberglass tops a look. It is a lot of red, and I'd rather not add any more red. But I really hate the bumperettes. I just can't spend $1500 or whatever a new set of stainless bumpers would cost.

I guess I could go full fiberglass bumpers and maybe paint them black.

Got new tits relatively inexpensive - $135 a set.
http://shop.914rubber.com/Rear-bumper-guar...-914RBGS-74.htm

I would look at the fiberglass if you want to paint as the waves will show.

You could remove the bumperette's and cap the hole with a chrome trim cap used for plumbing. Fast, easy and looks pretty good.

A search will turn up some pic's.

The closest I have seen is the GT-look where half the bumper and top is painted a contrasting color of some type, and the other half is black.

If your chrome bumpers are in good shape, I suggest leaving them chrome. In 74, the non-chrome bumpers were black' in 70-72 they were body-color. I'm not sure about 73. The rubber bits were always black (except some of the GTs as mentioned above).

The body colored bumpers do tend to make things somewhat monochromatic, but they might work if you keep the bumper tops and the valences and rocker panels black.

As Bob said, the "tits" can be replaced and the holes filled with plumber's plugs, or even with carriage-head bolts.

It's easiest to first try an approach that is easy to reverse, like photoshop or vinyl or even plasti-dip.

--DD

I think he was saying that the portion of his bumpers that's under the bumperettes is in bad shape, so he doesn't want to remove them.
At least that's what I thought he meant by "gnarly".

I personally wouldn't paint the bumperettes or the rubber top.

Yeah full on fiberglass bumpers are worth a try. You can do multi color. Paint what would be the top black. With the lower body color. They really look good that way

Yes, exactly. Leaning towards keeping them as-is for now since I like the chrome and the polished wheels (not sure black would look the best), but appreciate all the thoughts. Keep them coming if you have them!