Sanity check... These upside down?

[RenaissanceMan]

Okay, did my bumper conversion and aligned my brackets based off of a picture that was published online. On Second Glance I'm wondering if these things are upside down. Can one of you look at your brackets and confirm for me? Thanks-

[dang]

You mean upside down or left versus right?  I'm assuming you're talking about the different angle between the metal and rubber?  The rubber has a slight angle but not very much.

[RenaissanceMan]

14 minutes ago, dang said:

You mean upside down or left versus right?  I'm assuming you're talking about the different angle between the metal and rubber?  The rubber has a slight angle but not very much.

 

Upside down. My front bumper currently has a very slight forward rake. 

[Ensign]

If your bumper looks kinda like this, then I believe your brackets have to be swapped left and right and turned over.

[dang]

I misread your question.  I saw the rubber over-riders and the different angles caught my eye.  Sorry.

[Mike Self]

Those overriders are (at least for the US market) 73-only, and the bumper brackets are the 68-72 style.  The two brackets do interchange, but attach to the frame rails differently.  Early brackets are held in place with carriage bolts that fit into keyhole-shaped slots in the frame rails, while 73 brackets are fastened with through bolts that pass all the way through the frame rails, several inches ahead of the keyhole slots.  

 

And squarelights require drilling new holes altogether, as IIRC the keyhole slots are covered by the frame rail reinforcements used for the "crash bumpers" and the '73 only through holes don't exist on the later cars

 

Could you have used the wrong mounting holes?

 

mike

[RenaissanceMan]

Just now, mike said:

Those overriders are (at least for the US market) 73-only, and the bumper brackets are the 68-72 style.  The two brackets do interchange, but attach to the frame rails differently.  Early brackets are held in place with carriage bolts that fit into keyhole-shaped slots in the frame rails, while 73 brackets are fastened with through bolts that pass all the way through the frame rails, several inches ahead of the keyhole slots.  

 

And squarelights require drilling new holes altogether, as IIRC the keyhole slots are covered by the frame rail reinforcements used for the "crash bumpers" and the '73 only through holes don't exist on the later cars

 

Could you have used the wrong mounting holes?

 

mike

 

Hi Mike-

 

I purchased Rey's kit which required drilling new holes into the rails. I can adjust or drill as needed, but my main question is whether or not I have these brackets oriented right-side-up or not. Is it possible to tell from my pictures? Thanks for the info!

[RenaissanceMan]

FWIW, here is my current front bumper orientation, folks. Thanks again for the insights.

Edited June 7, 2018 by RenaissanceMan

[Stevenc22]

I do agree your bumper appears to have too much down angle.

[RenaissanceMan]

Ok, I'm going to swap the mounting brackets and see if that corrects. If that doesn't work I'm going to have to change the angle of the brackets. No biggie.

[RenaissanceMan]

So......

 

The good news: Swapped bumper brackets left to right and now bumper is properly tucked in even tighter and looks much better level with the rest of the trim. No more forward rake and a cooler (proper) aesthetic.  

 

The bad news: I have to now drill new holes into my freshly repainted fenders for the side bumper ends because they no longer line up due to the new mounting angle. ??? Only other solution I came up with would be to weld on little mount catch extensions on the inside of the bumper ends to allow for correct height/angle without drilling new holes. Oh well, either way it is worth it. Gonna finish this up and cross it off the project list. Thanks again for the insight. So mad at myself for not noticing this sooner before I drilled. 

 

 

[dang]

Very nice!

[RenaissanceMan]

3 hours ago, dang said:

Very nice!

Thanks!

[Stevenc22]

Lol during my bumper conversion I ended up drilling a couple extra holes after painting. It happens ?

Edited June 9, 2018 by Stevenc22