1930 Front Bumpers.

RHD

RHD

Well-known member
The 1930 front bumper has a slight curve to it. Mine is flat and will have to go to a spring resetting shop to be heated and a curve put back on. Does any body know the curvature or free length from eyelet to eyelet of each bar?
 
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I had to true some of my bars. I did them cold using a vise. Don't do it hot unless they are re-tempered afterward.

bumper_curve-2.jpg
 
You can do them cold with a big hammer and anvil , oh yeah ear protection. Place the bumper flat on the anvil and hit it with the hammer. Lay it on the floor first and draw a line the shape of the bumper. Keep comparing it the the line as you shape it
 
Wait, wait, wait! On my car all I had to do was change the bumper brackets. If your bumper brackets aren't shaped right it wont do any good to recurve the bumper.
 
I removed the wrong center curve on my 28-9 bumper by placing the bars, one at a time, on a couple of 6 x 6 boards and jumping in the center. It took a few jumps, but I got them straight in the center again. COLD, no heat
 
I had a set of bumpers made by a spring company. The stock material had to much arch so they had to reduce it with a press. Treat it the same as rearching a spring. Do it without heating it as heating it will take out the temper. They do heat the end to make that rolled end.
 
Geo. H said:
Wait, wait, wait! On my car all I had to do was change the bumper brackets. If your bumper brackets aren't shaped right it wont do any good to recurve the bumper.
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Same here, why beat up a perfectly good bumper?:( If the bumpers are plated it would be a shame to crack the chrome.:mad: Mine are stainless steel.:D
 
Geo. H said:
Wait, wait, wait! On my car all I had to do was change the bumper brackets. If your bumper brackets aren't shaped right it wont do any good to recurve the bumper.
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Geo. H. is right, the end tips on the bumper brackets will govern wheather the bars are flat or curved. When I put my new bumpers on they were flat but I bent the ends of the brackets to the proper angle and now they curve.
 
Re Barry B.s comments.
With the bumper bracket ends being slightly curved, were the front bumpers ever curved in the first place, when off the car. Would Ford have relied on the curve on the ends of the bumper brackets to put the curve in the bumper when mounted? Would save on production costs. Just a thought.
 
Les, mine were new bumper bars and they were straight. After bending the brackets they bow out slightly but not as much as Marco shows. Don't know what the factory did. Interesting question.
Barry B.
 
RHD said:
Re Barry B.s comments.
With the bumper bracket ends being slightly curved, were the front bumpers ever curved in the first place, when off the car. Would Ford have relied on the curve on the ends of the bumper brackets to put the curve in the bumper when mounted? Would save on production costs. Just a thought.
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Good thought, but not in '30-31. The bumper bars are far to strong to flex that much. I can tell you with certainly that with all new parts there is absolutely zero tension on the front bumper.

On '28-29 models the story is slightly different. Ford's engineering info shows the bars alone perfectly straight across the center section. However when mounted on the car the center section was intended to bow forward forming a 1/4" crown.
 
Just found an old set of 30/31 bumper bars that were originally on my town sedan, saw them laying on a bench outside and they definately have about a 4" curve in the relaxed position similar to Marco's so I would assume they came from the factory that way.
I think the bumper clamps will have an affect if they are bent wrong but wouldn't be strong enough to produce the 4" bend. You would probably snap off the oval clamps first.
 
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