Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2010 22:41:29 GMT -5
Warning: this is a super long post
So I decided to do my rear bumper build, and didn't really realize how much was involved in doing it right. This post should give anyone thinking about building a custom bumper, trailer hitch, and/or rear anti-sway bar an idea of the logistics involved. The main point of this post is really to illustrate a method of securely attaching a bracket to the rear of the vehicle, so you can mount whatever you feel like to the back.
To start off with, I removed the stock rear bumper, which exposes some strange sheet metal protrusions around the back of the rear wheels. I thought I had a picture before I cut them off, but apparently I didn't (maybe another member has a photo). After cutting the protrusions off, the hole that is left needs to be filled. I used a sheet metal patch and epoxy:
After that I made some brackets out of 3" angle iron for the main attachment points to the car. I attached them to the car with the three bolts that normally attach the bumper to the "frame" and I also drilled through the uni-body frame to the rear interior part of the car and made some tie-plates to put bolts through to the angle brackets. These are some photos from later in the process that show the tie-plate and bracket. Notice the flex in the tie-plate, this is desireable because it is less prone to tear the thin sheet metal of the Justy.
Here I have the initial installation of the angle brackets and have measured and aligned the first portion of the main bumper attachment bracket. I can't emphasize enough the importance of patient and repeated measuring during this phase. The Justy body dimensions are not very precise, so measure from several reference points.
This is how I transfer the bolt pattern from the square tube to the angle bracket. This could also be done from the bracket to the tube of course.
After the brackets were drilled and the square tube pieces attached, the main cross-member was welded on.
After that I welded on the mounting brackets for the bumper and trailer receiver hitch. I also welded the anti-sway bar mounting brackets to the main angle iron brackets. After getting to this point I realized the bumper stuck out too far from the car, so I slotted the holes in the square tube. I thought I had more intermediate pics, but in the following photo you can see the finished product. I coated the steel with POR-15 and painted the aluminum bumper with self-etching primer and semi-gloss black epoxy wheel paint.
This is what it looks like all put together:
Notice the "wings" on the ends where the bumper mounts and the bracket in the center of the cross-member that bolts into the stock tow eyelet anchor points.
As I have mentioned before in other posts, I am using some modular aluminum bumpers from a 1979 Fiat X19. When I say modular I mean they completely break down into parts and can be adjusted to fit any mounts within the entire length of the bumper.
Here is the rear bumper completely broken down
And here it is assembled next to the front bumper just to show the difference in condition.
Here it is mounted to the hitch
I customized the anti-sway bar system by removing the rubber bushing in the eyelets of the bar and replacing them with a steel spacer and bronze bushing that I bought at a basic hardware store. I cut off the small bracket on the little y-arm thingys and welded beefy ones on there and got some 1/2 inch spindle bolts from the hardware store.
Here it is installed. You can kind of see where I welded on reinforcements to the control arm, just to the right of where the sway bar y-arm connects to it.
Here are a couple pics of the tow-eyelet mounting bracket.
And here it is.
The bumper actually fits much tighter to the bottom of the hatch door and rear taillights, but it was binding on something and I didn't feel like monkeying with it anymore. It normally has about 1/4" spacing between the bottom of the taillights and the rubber bumpers, but you get the idea. I am very pleased with the final product, but it took way longer than I anticipated. This presentation is a little disjointed, so if something is totally unclear I can post some more explaination and/or pics. I figure the pics speak for themselves for the most part.
So I decided to do my rear bumper build, and didn't really realize how much was involved in doing it right. This post should give anyone thinking about building a custom bumper, trailer hitch, and/or rear anti-sway bar an idea of the logistics involved. The main point of this post is really to illustrate a method of securely attaching a bracket to the rear of the vehicle, so you can mount whatever you feel like to the back.
To start off with, I removed the stock rear bumper, which exposes some strange sheet metal protrusions around the back of the rear wheels. I thought I had a picture before I cut them off, but apparently I didn't (maybe another member has a photo). After cutting the protrusions off, the hole that is left needs to be filled. I used a sheet metal patch and epoxy:
After that I made some brackets out of 3" angle iron for the main attachment points to the car. I attached them to the car with the three bolts that normally attach the bumper to the "frame" and I also drilled through the uni-body frame to the rear interior part of the car and made some tie-plates to put bolts through to the angle brackets. These are some photos from later in the process that show the tie-plate and bracket. Notice the flex in the tie-plate, this is desireable because it is less prone to tear the thin sheet metal of the Justy.
Here I have the initial installation of the angle brackets and have measured and aligned the first portion of the main bumper attachment bracket. I can't emphasize enough the importance of patient and repeated measuring during this phase. The Justy body dimensions are not very precise, so measure from several reference points.
This is how I transfer the bolt pattern from the square tube to the angle bracket. This could also be done from the bracket to the tube of course.
After the brackets were drilled and the square tube pieces attached, the main cross-member was welded on.
After that I welded on the mounting brackets for the bumper and trailer receiver hitch. I also welded the anti-sway bar mounting brackets to the main angle iron brackets. After getting to this point I realized the bumper stuck out too far from the car, so I slotted the holes in the square tube. I thought I had more intermediate pics, but in the following photo you can see the finished product. I coated the steel with POR-15 and painted the aluminum bumper with self-etching primer and semi-gloss black epoxy wheel paint.
This is what it looks like all put together:
Notice the "wings" on the ends where the bumper mounts and the bracket in the center of the cross-member that bolts into the stock tow eyelet anchor points.
As I have mentioned before in other posts, I am using some modular aluminum bumpers from a 1979 Fiat X19. When I say modular I mean they completely break down into parts and can be adjusted to fit any mounts within the entire length of the bumper.
Here is the rear bumper completely broken down
And here it is assembled next to the front bumper just to show the difference in condition.
Here it is mounted to the hitch
I customized the anti-sway bar system by removing the rubber bushing in the eyelets of the bar and replacing them with a steel spacer and bronze bushing that I bought at a basic hardware store. I cut off the small bracket on the little y-arm thingys and welded beefy ones on there and got some 1/2 inch spindle bolts from the hardware store.
Here it is installed. You can kind of see where I welded on reinforcements to the control arm, just to the right of where the sway bar y-arm connects to it.
Here are a couple pics of the tow-eyelet mounting bracket.
And here it is.
The bumper actually fits much tighter to the bottom of the hatch door and rear taillights, but it was binding on something and I didn't feel like monkeying with it anymore. It normally has about 1/4" spacing between the bottom of the taillights and the rubber bumpers, but you get the idea. I am very pleased with the final product, but it took way longer than I anticipated. This presentation is a little disjointed, so if something is totally unclear I can post some more explaination and/or pics. I figure the pics speak for themselves for the most part.