Any advice on getting new 280Z rubber bumper fillers to stay down??

[RPM Resto & Custom]

Hey guys I recently bought all new rubber fillers for my 280 and I was trying to button everything up tonight now that my bumpers are back from chrome. The center filler piece in the rear is sitting quite a bit above the bumper and I can't get it to lay flat with the adjustments in it. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to achieve this? I tried a little heat with a heat gun while holding the rubber down with a board and some heavy steel blocks but it popped right back up. Do they need some sort of adhesive? The originals didn't have any from what I can tell so I'm assuming that's not my answer.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Trying to get my personal car ready for show season. Thanks!

[cygnusx1]

I think they tend to warp with age but first make sure you have the bumper as high as it can go by using the slop in all the mount points; including the shock mounts. Then you may be able to file the holes in the rubber strip to lower it even more. You may also try to bend the internal metal structure of it.

[Zed Head]

Pretty sure that the original rubber is not thermoformable. In other words, you can't heat it up and get it to take a new shape. It's what is called a thermoset material.

And you can't glue it to the bumper because the 5 mph bumpers are designed to move back and forth on their shocks when bumped.

Maybe you can shim the mounting points.

Do the pieces have a metal structure inside or just metal mounting hardware? My saggy 76 original pieces don't seem to have a bendable structure inside.

RPM, where did you get the replacements? I have not seen them for sale anywhere.

[cygnusx1]

I sold all the rubber from my 76 last year. It was in excellent shape. I seem to remember that there was overmolded metal in the parts. Judging from the metal that was visible and the stiffness of the part, I assumed there was metal structure in it. Could be wrong.

[RPM Resto & Custom]

Yes there is a metal structure that runs through the mounting edge and I believe bends into the "flat" portion on top but not throughout the entire piece of rubber. I'll have to mess with it some more today. The original sat perfectly flat at the same level that this new one is mounted at.

Fillers came from Motorsport. Here's the link for the rear fillers....they also have the fronts.

http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/CTGY/SBUC01B08