Rear Bumper Mounting Brackets

[HappyZ]

Does anyone know how the rear bumper brackets are mounted?  I have two sets and both sets have one side taller that the other.  There's also a slight tilt from front to back.  The pic shows the taller side clearly, but the tilt is a bit harder to see.  The tilt is from section just below the DATSUN letters touching the manual toward the front of the pic.

I guess an answer could be stated something like - when mounted, the taller side outward (Or inward) and the bottom of the bracket tilted inward (Or outward).

 

[jpc3006]

I don't know what year your car is but on my '73 the taller side of the bracket is on the inside, towards the center of the car. 

[psdenno]

Interesting question.  I recently had my '71 rear bumper off to replace the rubber trim and didn't notice a tall and short leg when I reinstalled the brackets after I painted them.  I wonder which way they went on.  May have to look at them again.

[HappyZ]

I tried both directions,  but neither was obvious.  I'll look more closely as @jpc3006 stated.  I'll report back tomorrow.

[26th-Z]

58 minutes ago, jpc3006 said:

I don't know what year your car is but on my '73 the taller side of the bracket is on the inside, towards the center of the car. 

Yes, shorter side outboard.

[SteveJ]

The taller section goes toward the middle of the car.

To orient yourself, I took the photo from under the bumper on the passenger side.  You can see the angle on the mounting spot on the car.

[HappyZ]

Thanks @SteveJ!  Is there any sense of tilt to the bracket?  There doesn't seam to be any in your pic.

[HappyZ]

Looking at the pic again, it appears the bottom is tilting outward.  Meaning the bottom is further away from the body than the top is.

Any thoughts?

[HappyZ]

The reason for my question is mainly that the bumper, when installed, slightly touches the body in the middle (dead center) of the car.  I thought before I add shims, I'd like to be sure it's installed correctly.

[SteveJ]

Take photos from the same angle I did and post them here.

[HappyZ]

I don't have any pics from that angle.  I have the bumper off the car.

[cgsheen1]

The tabs on the mounting bracket can be bent and may give you the clearance you need. The center bumper section should have a slight curve to it but I've seen them come back from the chrome plater straighter than they should be. (and some people like to get those bumpers really tucked in tight...) I align all the parts and panels to get the best visual out of parts and panels that were never perfect to begin with and after all these years are even less so.

From your pics I think the bumper is too high on the left corner and needs to come off the body in the back generally, but that's just me.

Leave the bracket bolted to the car, bend the "arms" of the brackets in a bit and then square off the tabs to be parallel to the bumper tabs (you may have some "adjustment" on the bumper mounts too). It may take an adjustment or two or three.

Edited March 15, 2022 by cgsheen1