VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 38 Coupe Bumper Question

Say, I need someone who has a similar Chevy as mine to take a look under the rear bumper bracket to see which way it needs to go. The brackets could go up 3/4 inch or down 3/4 inch from the frame. I have replaced all the sheet metal in this rear bumper area so there is no slots to guide me and since the car was completely disassembled when I got it I wasn’t able to take any measurements.

The car is a 1938 Chevy AH series Master Coupe.

Regards; Everyone

If it's a Master it's an HB. The HA is the Master Deluxe. I guess I don't understand the question. The brackets only work one way. If the left bracket is put on the right it won't fit the bumper and vise versa. Once the brackets are mounted to the bumper they match the holes on the frame. There's enough play to allow some adjustment. Maybe a photo or two will make it clearer.

All 1938 ad 1939 rear bumper brackets for a trunk sedans or coupe are the same.
I believe his question is do the brakckes slope down a little when attached to the frame or do the go up making the bumper slightly higher.

I understand the higher or lower part Gene but it only fits one way & keeps the bumper perpendicular to the ground. If it's not on right the bumper would be at an angle wouldn't it? Maybe I'm missing something but when we put mine back on it was obvious how they mounted. I might have a photo or two of the brackets on the other computer but it's off so it'll be tomorrow before I can access them. If I have anything that will make it clearer I'll post them tomorrow.

If I remember correctly they go down towards the rear. They have quite a downward curve to them.

As it turns out I don't have any pics that would help. I have pics that show the the brackets but not how they mount to the frame.

Perhaps some clarification is in order. The rear bumper brackets are made with a slight vertical offset on this car, a master 1938 Coupe. When the brackets are bolted to the frame they can go up 3/4 inch or down 3/4 inch depending on which side of the car that they are mounted on. I have no means of telling which way that they go because I replaced all the body sheet metal in this area of the car and I need to re-cut the slots for the brackets to go through and if I do it wrong, the bumper will be to high or low by 3/4 inch. So what I need is to have someone look under their car at the rear bumper bracket where it is bolted onto the frame and notice which way the bracket is bent up or down?

Not sure if this is relevant. On my '37 Master Coupe (GB) the curve goes up so the mounting faces of the brackets are perpendicular to the ground.

This is the point that Tiny is making when he talks about making sure that the rear face of bumper is not at an angle.

I agree that the brackets will fit either way. However if you mount them with the curve going down the bumper will "look" at the ground.

Hope this helps.

And if the sheetmetal is in the way of holding the bracket against the frame all you have to do is place the mounting holes of the bracket horizontal and see if the bumper mounting surface is vertical or on an angle. If it's on an angle turn it over.

I just went out and checked my 38 Master 4 door. The brackets are mounted on the outside of the frame. Where the mounting holes are, the brackets are horizontal. The brackets then curve down going through the sheet metal and then curve back to the horizontal so that the bumper mounting surface is vertical. You could mount them switched side for side and they would incorrectly curve upwards. This is the same as the 38 Master 2 door that I used to have.

My parts book shows a set of rear brackets for 1937 and a different set for 1938 and 39.

The brackets on my coupe turn down slightly just as the bracket extends past the rear frame end. The bracket then stays parallel to the frame.

Another way to describe it: The 5" piece of the bumper bracket that mounts to the outside of the frame is slightly higher than the rest of the bracket.

When you cut the holes in the rear panel for the brackets, they will be slightly LOWER than the mounting holes in the frame.

Thanks everyone; The rear bumper bracket drops a little as it leaves the frame rail. Now for the sawing of the body sheet metal.

Hi Thor38,

I have been thinking more about your inquiry and how you can better determine exactly where to cut the rectangular openings for the bumper brackets.

I am not sure but I expect that the '38 coupe has similar body construction to the '37 in the rear pan area. If that is the case then there are 2 sets of openings for each bracket. One is in the vertical piece that forms the front face of the tool tray. The other opening is the one in the rear of the body. The rubber grommet that slides over the bracket covers that opening.

I am not sure how much of the rear of the body you replaced. If you only had to replace the rear body part you should be able to see the forward opening if you look to the rear from under the car.

Otherwise you will need to cut both openings. I wonder if you should make a cardboard template of the portion of the mounting bracket that attaches to the frame. Make it long enough that it touches the body when you have the mounting holes lined up. The should giving you a target area to start cutting.

The other items you might want to look at are the formed metal cover pieces that fill the space between the two panels. The brackets actually pass through the "tunnel" made by these pieces. It's hard to get a decent picture of these and they are pretty difficult to fabricate. They are essentially u-shaped sheet metal parts that fit against the bottom of the tool tray and match the contours of the front edge of the tool tray (fairly straight) and the inside rear surface of the body (very curved).

The function of these pieces is to keep dirt and dust out of the trunk. There is clearance where the bumper bracket passes through the body. It has to be large enough to allow adjustment of the brackets so there is space for dust, dirt, and small stones to pass in the trunk.

There might be an easier way to seal that area such as putting a grommet on the front of the bracket or using some type of caulk or sealer.

Hope all this makes sense. I can try to get you some decent pictures if it will help. Plus I will gladly defer to the '38 experts if there are differences compared to '37.

Like Rusty said, I'd be tempted to make a thick cardboard template of the bracket portion that attaches to the frame - make it as long as you can. Even as thick as the actual bracket metal.

Trim the template so that it will just bolt in place to the flame and be touching the sheetmetal. Mark and drill small corner holes where the template meets the body.

drill/cut the openings from the middle out keeping it small and enlarging it so that you can adjust the openings as necessary.

It is possible the 1937 is different from the 1938. The rear floor was changed as was the rear of the frame rails and bumper brackes them selves.

It sounds like the 37 is different. My 38 tool tray has a hump on each side to clear the bumper brackets so they never pass through the trunk.

There appears to be 2 layers of metal on mine maybe 1/8-1/4" apart but looks fairly straightforward to cut holes if you're careful. Buy the rubber cushions first so you can see how much "leeway" you have around the actual holes.

So I had to deal with this problem when I had my 38 project. One of the questions I had was how wide the slot for the strap was. I thought that the rubber cover would snap into the slot. Well the rubber covers that I bought mount on the outside of the body.