Rear Bumper Mounting Problems

[matt63]

 :dontknow:

I had the rear bumper rechromed on my '73 Cuda.  Since I bought the car disassembled I don't know if the brackets and bumpers were ever bolted onto this particular car although they were assembled together.  The problem is that the bumper tilts upwards at a noticeable angle and sits too far from the brackets.  Nothing looks bent and all of the holes line up fine.  I think I can make it fit with some tapered shim behind the brackets but I am baffled as to why this is .  The bracket and bumper part numbers are believed to be correct.  Any ideas?

[hotrod98]

I bought my '73 disassembled, but I installed '72 style bumpers and brackets. Make sure that the brackets are not upside down...there is a slight angle to all of the rear bumper brackets.
Did you put the rear filler in place? The '73 and '74 bumpers use a rear filler since they stick out so far to meet the 5 mph impact standard. I've been tucking a lot of '73 and '74 bumpers in for guys around here. The easiest way is to find '72 style rear bumpers and brackets and eliminate the filler. It's sort of difficult to alter the '73 and '74 style rear brackets. The front bumper brackets can be slotted and the bumper slid in once you've removed the extra filler piece attached to the lower edge of the grille.

[matt63]

The brackets aren't even close to fitting upside down and I do have the rear filler in place.  I decided not to go the '72 bumper route as I had the bumper rechromed already and am not sure how easy it is to find the brackets and bumper..  I had brand new bumper guards and fillers for the '72 but traded them to a friend.

[hotrod98]

Man...I'm out of ideas.
Last time I checked, those 70-72 bumper guards were no longer available. Year One is looking for someone to start reproducing them again. I need a couple of sets myself for upcoming projects.
A few months ago, I altered a set of '74 bumper brackets to tuck in the rear bumper for a friend. Turned out pretty good, but wouldn't want to do that every day. Unless you're doing a resto, I would eliminate that filler panel and tuck the bumper in for a cleaner look.
Good luck, hope you figure it out.

[matt63]

Can you get a valence without the bumper guard cutouts?

[hotrod98]

Only in the fiberglass version. It still has the humps on each side to clear the end of the spring hangers. I've seen some f/g ones that looked pretty good. I think that I would weld in some filler pieces to the steel one and finish it out with filler if you're going for the custom look. Troy Trepanier does that type of stuff at Rad Rides By Troy and pulls it off, but the trick is for the rest of the car to fit the character of the build. I have one barracuda set back to do a full blown radical build like the sick fish that troy built. Everything I've built up to this point has been stock appearing. Sorta.

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[matt63]

Problem solved.  I used aluminum tapered shims (2 and 4 degree) to get the bumper sitting right.  I would still like to know what was wrong.  Perhaps the brackets were bent from a previous incident???

[hotrod98]

Hey Matt63,
We do what we have to do sometimes.  Few people realize how often something like this has to be done just to get a car assembled.
It doesn't matter what make or model, all manufacturers used shims somewhere in the car.
Now we need pics showing how great it looks.

Later,
hotrod98

[Wrencher]

Perhaps the brackets were bent from a previous incident???

Most likely.