Front Bumper Brackets

Y-Blockhead

Y-Blockhead

Well-known member
A good friend's husband recently passed away and I have been teaching her to drive their '30 Tudor so she can continue to participate in our Club's functions.

The other day I noticed the left front bumper bracket was bent and the bumper was very close to the tire. I replaced it with one I had but now her right one appears to be bent different from the one I installed on the left (or the one I installed is incorrect).

I want to try and bent these bumper brackets back into original shape (or close to it). I do see Snyder's has them for ~$90.

I believe the brackets are spring steel. Can I heat the brackets or should I try to cold bend them in my press? I have a 20 Ton press and torches, just not sure which would be best.

Thanks.
 
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...do as John suggests above or you can even bend them cold in a press.

I don't have a picture at the moment but we also have a long bar (-maybe 48"??) with two perpendicular bars welded to the one with about ½" between them that we use to bend the front or rear bumper arms on the vehicle. Makes quick work of it.
 
I have a tool like that.We were set to demo an old garage at a junkyard that closed in the mid 60's.That tool was leaning on the wall,so I grabbed it.It was originally for rassling leaf springs into position to hook up the shackles.I've used it a lot in the last 30 years,but never once on a spring.
 
I bent the front bumper arms on my Model "A". Big mistake because the frame horns bent also. I put both arms back-to-back on the ground and bent them so they were equal but opposite of each other.
 
Thanks guys. When I get a chance I think I will try bending them in my press. If that doesn't work then I will break out the torch. I'll keep y'all posted.

Right now I am switching out my transmission for my Mitchell Trans. Working by myself so I am taking my time cleaning and painting as I go along.

I'd forgotten how heavy a rear end with a Mitchell O/D attached is.
 
Y-Blockhead said:
Thanks guys. When I get a chance I think I will try bending them in my press. If that doesn't work then I will break out the torch. I'll keep y'all posted.

Right now I am switching out my transmission for my Mitchell Trans. Working by myself so I am taking my time cleaning and painting as I go along.

I'd forgotten how heavy a rear end with a Mitchell O/D attached is.
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You probably know this, but when you are rasslin’ a rear end by yourself a couple sets of wheel dollies go a long way.
 
JayJay said:
You probably know this, but when you are rasslin’ a rear end by yourself a couple sets of wheel dollies go a long way.
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Thanks Jay-Jay. Last time I had the rear out to install to Mitchell O/D, I actually used Snow Mobile Dollies similar to these.

This time, since I was only moving the rear back and I wanted the car a low as possible, I just set the brake drums on a pair of 2"x6"s and rolled it straight back.

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Update this morning... probably not a good idea to try to straighten the bumper brackets cold in my press :eek:

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I guess I never thought anybody would try to bend a piece of spring steel in an expanse with a hole in the middle.But,if nobody ever told you,or you didn't spend a lifetime learning it the hard way,you just wouldn't know not to do that.I can never get it through my head the people that are,lawyers,doctors,office workers,or a thousand other things where they never did this kind of stuff until they went into a hobby playing with mechanical things.You would need to support that thing to the side of the hole.and squash down on it on the meat away from the hole and support.That didn't break because of the quality of the steel,that broke because you crushed it down at it's weakest point.I've done dozens of those things for most all makes of cars and trucks,never broke any.
 
Keith True said:
I guess I never thought anybody would try to bend a piece of spring steel in an expanse with a hole in the middle.But,if nobody ever told you,or you didn't spend a lifetime learning it the hard way,you just wouldn't know not to do that.I can never get it through my head the people that are,lawyers,doctors,office workers,or a thousand other things where they never did this kind of stuff until they went into a hobby playing with mechanical things.You would need to support that thing to the side of the hole.and squash down on it on the meat away from the hole and support.That didn't break because of the quality of the steel,that broke because you crushed it down at it's weakest point.I've done dozens of those things for most all makes of cars and trucks,never broke any.
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Well, EXCUSE ME...

I was not pressing where the hole is, just north a couple of inches. I don't see how I could have supported the hole with the bend being that close.

I should have taken the time to heat it.

At any rate, maybe someone can learn from my "mistake".
 
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John Hash is spot on with his advice. I too have bent several front bumper arms using heat from a torch. Bend a little at a time, reinstall to check distance from the front tires. Sometimes it takes several times to get this right. Be patient, do not bend very much at a time and you will be successful.
 
It seems like you would need a pretty big torch and heat a large area so the bend is not concentrated in one place, otherwise the bend would seem to look odd.
Rusty Nelson
 
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