thegreatfalcon5
New member
Some days ago I picked up a rear bumper at the junk yard because mine was broken. As always, the metal clip that you screw the fender liner into came loose and broke as soon as I touched them. Thus I thought would be a good time to make a beefier, more rust-resistant setup. Just thought I'd share what I did with you guys in case it inspires somebody.
I have some pictures but I'm not too sure at the moment on how to share them efficiently so I created a shared google photos album for now:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/FCrbGzVJWBB6z7dJ6
So, as for the solution I cam up with, it goes like this:
Bumper clips replacements
As always, the steel clips either rust through or tear into the plastic when screwed in.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/p...dzZoTgnU0nE4GaSQDGg=w1359-h1169-no?authuser=0
I decided to go with an aluminium angle that I cut in 6 roughly 40mm sections.
Drilled two holes for rivets each side then a hole in the middle for the screw. Then taped the center hole.
Since the bumper is kind of two pieces, the bracket that goes near the junction needs a bit of trimming to fit in the bumper's hole location.
All in all, making these brackets is pretty straight forward. Riveting to the plastic bumper is fairly easy too, just make sure to use washers on the plastic side. I'm a bit OCD so I decided to add two rivets on the exterior part of the bumper since this is an angle.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/p...7Be9MVIqrKze87ez7pgg=w894-h1192-no?authuser=0
Note that this project can be done using flat bar too, I just thought that using an angle would add a bit of strength to the bumper. I recommend using the thicker aluminium stock or welding a nut to the angle if possible for best thread engagement when screwing the inner fenders.
M6 screws fit well in the factory inner fenders holes so I went with that. Used stainless M6x20mm button allen head with a fender washer to secure the inner fender to the bumper:
Lower bumper brackets
So on my car, two of the four M6 cone-head T30 (or T25) obviously broke when I tried to unscrew them so I had to at least 3 working... (the remaining broken on being on the top bumper bracket-support-thingy that is rather easy to find at the junkyard)
I don't have many photos of the fabricating but it's pretty much the same as the smaller brackets I made for the bumper. I had some thick and big aluminium angle on hand so this was handy. Pretty much the perfect size to mimic the factory bracket.
New bracket:
Bolts on the back:
General view:
That was for the driver (left) side bracket (the tiny flimsy one). On the passenger side, I used the factory hole next to the nutted one and riveted in an aluminium flatbar:
Both lower holes were drilled and taped to M8 size because since these are exposed to the elements, they'd be easier to unscrew in the future being a 13mm head. Stainless once again.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/p...9yYY0LOif6fddynEK_Q=w1359-h1020-no?authuser=0
Final thoughts
It's kinda hard to take detailed pictures of everything so if you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Everything feels very solid now and there very little panel deviation over the earlier installation. Fluid film is your friend and a good amount of it everywhere goes a long way.
Cheers
I have some pictures but I'm not too sure at the moment on how to share them efficiently so I created a shared google photos album for now:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/FCrbGzVJWBB6z7dJ6
So, as for the solution I cam up with, it goes like this:
Bumper clips replacements
As always, the steel clips either rust through or tear into the plastic when screwed in.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/p...dzZoTgnU0nE4GaSQDGg=w1359-h1169-no?authuser=0
I decided to go with an aluminium angle that I cut in 6 roughly 40mm sections.
Drilled two holes for rivets each side then a hole in the middle for the screw. Then taped the center hole.
Since the bumper is kind of two pieces, the bracket that goes near the junction needs a bit of trimming to fit in the bumper's hole location.
All in all, making these brackets is pretty straight forward. Riveting to the plastic bumper is fairly easy too, just make sure to use washers on the plastic side. I'm a bit OCD so I decided to add two rivets on the exterior part of the bumper since this is an angle.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/p...7Be9MVIqrKze87ez7pgg=w894-h1192-no?authuser=0
Note that this project can be done using flat bar too, I just thought that using an angle would add a bit of strength to the bumper. I recommend using the thicker aluminium stock or welding a nut to the angle if possible for best thread engagement when screwing the inner fenders.
M6 screws fit well in the factory inner fenders holes so I went with that. Used stainless M6x20mm button allen head with a fender washer to secure the inner fender to the bumper:
Lower bumper brackets
So on my car, two of the four M6 cone-head T30 (or T25) obviously broke when I tried to unscrew them so I had to at least 3 working... (the remaining broken on being on the top bumper bracket-support-thingy that is rather easy to find at the junkyard)
I don't have many photos of the fabricating but it's pretty much the same as the smaller brackets I made for the bumper. I had some thick and big aluminium angle on hand so this was handy. Pretty much the perfect size to mimic the factory bracket.
New bracket:
Bolts on the back:
General view:
That was for the driver (left) side bracket (the tiny flimsy one). On the passenger side, I used the factory hole next to the nutted one and riveted in an aluminium flatbar:
Both lower holes were drilled and taped to M8 size because since these are exposed to the elements, they'd be easier to unscrew in the future being a 13mm head. Stainless once again.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/p...9yYY0LOif6fddynEK_Q=w1359-h1020-no?authuser=0
Final thoughts
It's kinda hard to take detailed pictures of everything so if you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Everything feels very solid now and there very little panel deviation over the earlier installation. Fluid film is your friend and a good amount of it everywhere goes a long way.
Cheers