front bumper WTF!!!!!

[hobbiniho]

 right iv had to remove the front bumper from my driver as the bumper iron was well non existent, and i was looking at the removal instructions in the haynes but it didnt seem to make sense here are some pics to show you what i mean






why the hell are my brackets sitting at different heights? surely the bumper would be sitting at an angle??? and where can i get a new bumper iron from? gsf or eurocarparts any good

[hobbiniho]

hmmm looking through other peoples build threads it looks like these "brackets" are homemade  am i right and if so what the hell does the bumper mount to

[Mew]

Ghetto 

Yeah you're right, they are homemade. Ebay or on here is probably your best bet for the irons i'd imagine.

[DarnPB]

You need a replacement bumper complete. If at the moment you have the small bumpers fitted, now is the time to choose if you want to cross grade to big bumpers or stay small.

[hobbiniho]

no its big bumpers, this is what it looked like notice the left there is a slight gap so if i bought a new (second hand) big bumper how the hell does it mount because the bumper iron was no where near the chassis legs ansd there is no holes for bolts 

[takethefifth]

Whoever mounted that's been watching too much ChopShop!

This is the Bentley explanation - http://www.iol.ie/~kilkennyhockey/BentleyManual/BD01/ch6.4.3.html

Essentially bumper irons mounted on the bumper slide back into the chassis bits and are secured by a vertical bolt going up into them.

Bentley says remove the two outer bolts in figure 6.16, not sure if i am going mad but i thought it was just the centre bolt on each side. Also i have no idea what figure 6.17 is referring to, small bumper only maybe?

Edit: Just had a thought that it might have been done to cover up a nastier problem such as a threaded captive nut or something.... 

[hobbiniho]

yeh all the captive nuts are well...... emm donald ducked so to speak and theres no chance of getting them off without taking a grinder to them although i dont want to do that because it holds on the front subframe so im just going to use the same method as before with the ghetto style brackets cos i aint touchin them front cross member mounts with a barge pole 

[DarnPB]

Do not remove the makeshift bumper brackets without supporting your engine. Otherwise..oh..oh

[hobbiniho]

its ok there bolted throught the side of the chassis like in the second pic you can see two big bolts sticking out 

[rubjonny]

Oh dear you've got a big problem there!  Drill off the heads of the old bolts and then you'll be able to rip out the old knackered bumper supports and slot in a nice shiny new bumper.
If you're going to fix it, do it properly unlike the last guy who tried