VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 38-39 bumper identification

Recently bought some bumpers for my 38. They were advertised as such, but I think they are for a 40. Can anyone share with me some measurements, mounting hole locations etc.? They seem to be good cores to rechrome but don't want to go to that trouble if they don't fit my 38.

I don't have exact dimentions but they're "about" 5" wide, have holes for five bumper bolts (two for each bracket & one in the center and a recessed area in the center running the length of the bumper that gets painted black. On the ends where they are rounded the edge is quite rough. The front and rear bumpers are identical. If no body has posed exact measurement by tomorrow I'll get my tape out & post them. THIS WILL GIVE YOU SOME REFERENCE.

is there a solid stripe running down the middle of the bumper or is there two lines running threw the middle? 39s will have a solid line running threw it and 1940s will have two stripes ? hope this helps

These dimensions are approximate because I measured over the bumper guards, but they are fairly close. The bumper is 68" long overall. It has a holes 3" and 15 1/2" in from each end as well as a center hole. It is just a tad over 4" wide. There is a 7/8" groove from end-to-end that is painted black. Hope this helps. Beamer

The 1938 front bumper should be 63 in. overall length, 4 in. high and 7 & 17/32 front to rear width of bent and should have a single stripe in the middle. The rear bumper for 38-39 (coupes, trunk jobs HA,HB,JA,JB) should be 62 & 3/4 in. overall length, 4 in. high. and 5 & 35/64 front to back width. the rear bumper for the 38-39 HA sedan, coach, spt.cpe, HB Sedan, Coach, Cabl., JA, JB Seadan & Coach should be 62 & 11/16 in overall length, 4 in. high and 9 & 21/32 in. front to rear width. Both have a single stripe. The numbers are from the 29-40 parts book and they don't list any bumper with an overall length of 64 ion. except for one truck (39-40 COE)

I have an original, unmolested '38 HB 2 dr sedan. The front bumper measures 67" from tip to tip while the rear measures 68" as measured down the grove in the center of the bumpers. Perhaps, as with many other parts, the bumpers were manufactured at different plants. However, these are the actual measurements from my car. I can't state posivively that either of these bumpers were not replaced sometime in the past but the man I got the car from had it for many years and he claimed it was all original. It does appear to be all original. Beamer

The bumper chart in the parts book shows bumpers at 63" for the front and 62 3/4" for the rear for 1938 - AND THEY ARE THE SAME PART NUMBERS???? This would be the overall length, tip to tip. straight across.

Chevgene, You added a new wrinkle. You state the length of the bumper is from tip to tip. I have been measuring the length of the bumper itself. In remeasuring mine tip to tip, the front measures 64" and the rear 63". I guess the front one has been sprung out some. Anyhow, this would put their lengths more in line with what the parts book says. Inasmuch as bumpers can get sprung a little without noticing it, it would seem to me the better way to measure one would be to measure the piece of metal itself but I guess Chevrolet has their reason(s) for measuring bumpers the way they did. No matter. The gentleman who started this thread should now have enough information to determine whether or not his bumpers are for a '38 or something else. Beamer

I should mention another demension listed. It would be the amount of bow. For the front its 7 17/32" and the rear its 5 35/64"....The increased amount of bow would actually make the bumper shorter. This dosen't add up.
A side note. The 1939 front bumper is the same but has a much deeper bow, rear same as 1938.