'53-'55 rear bumper

[Charles C.]

Can anyone assist with these questions on the installation of the '53-'54 Vette rear bumper:

1) the bumper has four bolts extending from the bumper that go into the body; on the inside of the trunk, are the bolts attached to the body using a flat washer and nut or is there a bar or other support that the bolts go through before applying a nut?

2) is the bumper simply drawn tight directly against the painted body with no rubber or other cushion between the bumper and body

3) on my bumper, its curve does not match the curve of the body and the center contacts the body before the ends, leaving the ends of the bumper separated from the body by 3/4 of an inch exposing the underlying fiberglass joint and rivets - is this correct?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Charles

[Brett H.]

Re: '53-'55 rear bumper

You should have rear bumper brackets. One for each side. The bumper bracket will be shaped like a dogleg and will also bolt to the crossmember on the frame. The studs from the bumper go through the brackets. I'll post a picture for you.



This 53 is on a boddy dolly but it shows the dogleg bracket coming through the body to where the rame crossmember would be.

[Brett H.]

Re: '53-'55 rear bumper

It also sounds like your bumper may be tweaked in the center section, if it does not meet up to the body properly. These bumpers can be found fairly reasonable OR yours can most likely be heated and pressed back into the proper arch and re-chromed.

[Troy P.]

Re: '53-'55 rear bumper

The other issue raised is if the bumper is supposed to fit against the fiberglass on the outside. Answer is no. There should be 5 rubber blocks, one for each bolt and one in the center, that fit inside the bumper and separate it from the fiberglass. It seems to me that sometimes the bumpers did not match the curvature of the fiberglass and this was corrected by cutting the rubber block in the center to make is shorter (less stand off) than the rest.

[Brett H.]

Re: '53-'55 rear bumper

The center bumper should match the body from side to side. It should never touch the body. The spacers should look even once the bumper is bolted in place.

[Troy P.]

Re: '53-'55 rear bumper

You might see the bumper bend and match better as the bolts are drawn up tight. Once the center bottoms out on the bumper and fiberglass the bumper will bend somewhat around this center point.

Also there should be an insulator pad that fits over each bolt between the bumper braces and the inner fiberglass.