Euro bumper conversion question - rear drilling

[Dug Nichols]

Hi there

I picked up a set of chrome bumpers for my '74 yesterday (thanks Brian!!) and am in the process of the doing the rear. I'm curious as to whether I should be drilling a 2" hole in the interior trunk space so I can fit a socket in and make the outer body the main support, or whether I should be drilling a small hole in the interior space and running long bolts so that two different surfaces support the weight.

Is there re-inforcement on the body (like in the earlier cars?) - if so it would make most sense for this to be the only attachment point and I'll drill the big holes. If no, am I wrong in thinking that having a long bolt will provide better support for the bumper?

Thanks!

d

[napa02]

i just did the same conversion, the early cars have the bumper mounted right to the body. drill your 2 inch holes for the socket and you are set. it is a pretty solid set up.

[frank]

I went with the long bolt method. I'm not sure if this the reccommended method, just the way I did it.

[esty]

I went with the long bolt method.

i also did mine this way....the long bolt seems more secure in that it's passing thru the outter and inner sheetmetal

[Guest Anonymous]

i got the short bolts and various hole filling supplies today, but haven't yet done the install, so the jury's out on whether i go for the dual support method or drill it out.... hmmmm... 2 to 1 here on the long bolt vs short bolt method... hmmmm

[Dug Nichols]

Following up on my install in case someone else searches and is looking for info..

Today I completed the rear bumper install!

Basic prep:

The rear side molding that I pulled off revealed a little bit of surface rust in a couple places, so I sanded it all out and painted it with rust inhibiting primer, and then a coat of matching color paint (mintgrun), which I got from San Leandro Color, in San Leandro, CA. I was wishing I had POR 15 for the base coat, but I don't and figure that if I run into trouble I'll go at it again.

Drilling:

I opted to drill out 1" diameter access holes on the spare tire side (driver) side as was done on Stella (http://www.my2002tii.com/spring_2005/rearbumper.htm), but went with long bolts and smaller drill holes on the gas tank side, because it would have been pretty difficult to get my keyhole bit in there with the tank in.

Once these were complete I put the new '73 bumper on and loosely tightened the 4 mounting bolts, so I could measure where to mark the new holes for the wrap-around part of the old style bumpers. Once marked I drilled them out, then coated the hole with anti-rust primer and finish paint. I had spray cans and found it easiest to spray a bunch of paint on some cardboard and then handpaint it in.

Holes from the old big bumpers:

I used plastic hole plugs to fill all the smaller holes in. I figure I'll do it right with body work when the time comes for a repaint. I found the plugs at OSH and purchased 12 small @ 3/16", and 6 large @ 5/16". I painted all the tops in the matching finish paint. I secured them in place with silicon adhesive, applied liberally and then wiped off the excess. Hopefully this will work well keeping the water out, but I'll be monitoring it.

Bolting it up:

This was fairly straightforward, though one thing to note is you want to have your 2 side bolts in and setup with washers and nuts so you can slide the bumper on these first, then position the main 4 bolts. (learned the hard way that in the reverse order it's impossible to get the 2 small bolts in;).

Will post some pix tomorrow of the final result. I love it!

[tiny2002]

Hey Otto,

I'm trying to figure out the rear bumper bracket drilling and would be grateful if you had photos or if we could meet up and talk. I'm in San Francisco and could drive out to see how you did it. Thanks in advance.

Tim

[madjurgen]

Its really not that complicated

http://www.my2002tii.com/spring_2005/rearbumper.htm