240 Rear Bumper From Futofab On '78 280

[rossiz]

merry xmas to me - a day off and some time to play w/my toy 

 

picked up a nice new rear bumper from futofab: http://www.futofab.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=131&Itemid=118#a_rb

and i'm quite happy w/the quality of the parts. nice chrome, good fit, speedy delivery. i pulled the stock '78 bumpers off a while ago and was going back and forth on whether to do the bodywork and have a shaved rear or install a 240 rear bumper. decided on the bumper.

 

i made some adaptor brackets out of aluminum flat bar that use the 2-bolt mounts on the bumper and bolt up to the threaded holes from the stock mounts. a little measuring, cutting, drilling, and a bending in the vice and all was good. that got the center section securely mounted.

 

the side return mounts on the bumper are way too far off from captive nuts in the '78 quarter panels, so i went a different route. decided to (gasp) drill a hole and mount to the body panel. first step was to pull a string across the side of the car to set the returns level, then cover the area with some painter's tape, mark the hole location and drill for the anchors.

 

the driver's side was pretty easy - i used a rubber grommet found at ace hardware in the plumbing section to isolate the bolt from the body, then pushed it through from the inside and cranked it up to the bumper return - hardest part was pulling all the interior panels out to get to it on the inside.

 

passenger side was a bit trickier, as the gas filler goes right by where the hole was (REALLY glad i checked that before drilling!!) and there's no way to get a bolt in there that would push thru from the inside, let alone get a wrench on it to tighten. so i took the easy way out and used a rubber well-nut and a 1/4-20 bolt w/fender washer to go thru the bumper mount. 

 

none of the above are particularly crash-worthy, but then again, neither is the bumper... it's basically a nice piece of trim. at any rate, i'm happy with how it looks. 

 

now, if only my newly re-built n47 head would show up, i might actually be able to get her running again!

 

locating the hole

 

drilled

 

driver's side grommet

 

driver's side - ready to bolt up

 

passenger side well-nut

 

bolt & fender washer for well-nut

 

all done

[siteunseen]

Congratulations! it looks good.  I had a similar day myself, merry Christmas to us. 

[Freez74]

Nice work!  Do you have a picture of the brackets you made?

[rossiz]

i'll have to dig up the pics of the brackets - they wound up on my work computer...

 

they're really simple, kind of a hat-channel shape with the two "ears" drilled to bolt up to the bumper and a single hole in the middle to take a bolt for the captive nut on the body. the "hat" shape sets the distance of the bumper to the body, i set it at about 1/4" from the paint and it looks nice. in retrospect i might have made it another 1/8" further because the sides sit about 3/8" away from the quarter panels, but i'm not getting too fussy at this point. just glad to have a bumper and sick of always hearing the same comment: "nice car - shame about the bumper" or "did you get hit?" or "that doesn't look safe"...  

[Freez74]

Thanks, I think I understand your concept.  I would like to do something similar on my car, but it is a 260.

[hr369]

That looks damn good. Personally I don't like 280's without bumpers they look unfinished to me. These give your car the classy factory finished look.

You know what would make that back end even  better looking is a 1 piece bre style spoiler.

[siteunseen]

i'll have to dig up the pics of the brackets - they wound up on my work computer...

 

they're really simple, kind of a hat-channel shape with the two "ears" drilled to bolt up to the bumper and a single hole in the middle to take a bolt for the captive nut on the body. the "hat" shape sets the distance of the bumper to the body, i set it at about 1/4" from the paint and it looks nice. in retrospect i might have made it another 1/8" further because the sides sit about 3/8" away from the quarter panels, but i'm not getting too fussy at this point. just glad to have a bumper and sick of always hearing the same comment: "nice car - shame about the bumper" or "did you get hit?" or "that doesn't look safe"...  

Are they similar to the 240 brackets?

 

[rossiz]

huh... those are almost exactly what i made - but i have just one hole in the middle section of each bracket. i probably could have just bought a pair of those and drilled a couple of new holes. woulda saved me some time... but mine are made from aluminum so i don't have to worry about them rusting ever. that's what i'll tell myself to feel better about re-inventing the wheel.

the 78 280 shock mounts are kinda wonky, bolt pattern is on a diagonal and they're not symmetrical each side, so i had to mark the centerline of the bumper middle section and the centerline of the car, then set the bumper height i wanted (dictated by catching the existing mounting holes and allowing the side bumper returns to hide the un-used existing side-return mount holes) and then transfer those locations to the brackets. it was tricky, and i'll admit i didn't get it perfect so had to use a ratstail file to slot the holes until the bumper sat just right.

i used rubber washers between the brackets and the bodywork at all locations, and big fender washers to spread the loads and avoid dimpling anything.

[HaZmatt]

Excellent Rossiz! I will be getting around to doing this with some fiberglass bumpers soon. Thanks for the write up

[TomoHawk]

That looks nice, but will it protect the body? 

 

You realize that even a 5MPH tap from the back will render the car totalled, unless you have a body man that can hammer it back into shape.  But, that's the risk you get with a custom or antique car, even though you say you may be driving yours almost daily.

[rossiz]

the oem bumper doesn't do much different - it's attached with similar clips in similar locations and i don't believe the actual bumper was any thicker than these repro ones. again, mainly ornamental.

 

i don't treat it as a truck - i have a 4runner for that...

 

and yes, i drive it every day - at least every day that it's running!

i hope i never get "tapped", but i bought the car to enjoy and would rather drive it than have it parked. 

like the man said: ya pays yer money and ya takes yer chances!