Bumper iron anomaly

dmblbit

Active Member
I am in the process of replacing my bent and droopy front bumper with another (better, but not perfect). On the passenger side the bumper iron doesn't reach the bumper. Short by about 3/4". I'm assuming the iron was bent when the bumper was damaged, but just wanted to check before attempting to force it.

The iron itself doesn't look like it's going to bend that easily.

The irons are different each side. Driver side is longer and has captive nut welded to it. Passenger side has no welded nut. Has somebody been improvising perhaps?
 
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The irons are different each side. Driver side is longer and has captive nut welded to it. Passenger side has no welded nut. Has somebody been improvising perhaps?

The irons are handed, but they should be mirror images of each other.
 
Mine has a captive nut which the bolt coming through from the wheel arch screws into, i.e. holding the bracket to the body. The other end, which holds the bumper, doesn't have a nut as the captive nut is in the bumper.

Saying that, I have seen some with no captive nuts. They may be from an older model, or just a different one, e.g. a 2000? Seems you may have one of each

Richard
 
I'm not home right now, so can't check, but from memory, the passenger side is definitely shorter. Are the irons off the 2 litre car different to the v8 ones? Maybe I've got one of each?
 
Hi, I had a similar situation on one of my cars, the car had had an accident and the impact had pushed the bumper and its iron back. After getting the necessary parts to repair it the iron wouldn't fit, the same as yours, it turned out the box type outrigger it bolts to was crushed either from the accident or because some gorilla had tightened up the bolt too much. So something to check.

Colin
 
Colin: I really hope it’s not that, although it must be a possibility, as the bumper had clearly taken quite a wallop on that side. Will check when I get home.
 
Hmmm. So with one end lined up, the other ends look like this, so the one on the right which was fitted on the passenger side is noticeably shorter.
IMG_5489.jpg

I called Wins to purchase a replacement today, and apparently right and left are not identical, and should have either R or L stamped on them - sure enough the one that was fitted on the drivers side has an L on it so should be on the passenger side. The other one has nothing stamped, and according to Wins is probably off a 2 litre car.

Replacement is ordered.

I am now wondering whether the reason the bumper was bent was because someone tried to tighten the bolts up using the wrong bumper iron, and actually pulled it out of shape.

I tried the one with the L stamp on the passenger side with the bumper located using the two 1/2" AF bolts in the middle, and it fits, not perfectly, but well enough.

Replacement will be delivered tomorrow. I'll update when fitted.
 
Let me have a look in my stash later - i may be able to assist!
Thanks so much for the kind offer Rockdemon, but Colin Gould (who is emotionally involved with the car having spent a good part of last summer welding it up), is sending me a matching pair.
 
Colin Gould sent me this today - he didn't have a pair, but this is actually a new one. Lucky me!!

You can see the R stamped on the first image.

I'm absolutely delighted - thanks Colin.


IMG_5507.jpg IMG_5504.jpg

Thanks again Rockdemon for offering to rummage through your personal inventory. . . .
 
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