VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 Straighten a 1929 Bumper Mounting Bracket

Looking at the Bumper Mounting Brackets on my 1929 and noticed they have been wacked a few times. they are no longer in shape.

was wondering what is the best way to straighten them back out to original or as close as possible ?? i know they are NOT literally Straight.

Also understand they are Spring steel so heating them with a torch or flame would lose the Spring.

Rear Bumper Assembly
Rear Bumper 01
Rear Bumper 02
Rear Bumper 03

Front Bumper Assembly
Front Bumper 01
Front Bumper Close Up

I straightened mine using a hydraulic press with blocks placed to support either side of the bend I was correcting. You could also use a manual arbor press but a simple 10 or 20 ton press that uses a bottle jack works easier.

I took my front bumper bracket to a spring shop and they put it back in shape in about a minute . They had an air operated foot controlled press for forming spring leafs and the operator was very talented. I took the face bar with me and explained how it should fit and in literally a minute he had it back in shape.

Talked to a local Spring shop here, and he said that is not something they do, but was willing to entertain the offer if i brought the stuff by.
said he had a few 'old guys' that would love to look at it and see if they could fix them
so will pack them up and visit them next chance i get.

At age 66 maybe I'm one of the "old guys" who isn't afraid of his own shadow and willing to take on such things.
Too many are afraid to do anything they haven't done before.
If you never do anything you haven't done before you never learn anything.

When I asked this question a few years ago one of the guys suggested I run it over with my car at the bend. I tried it and it took most of the bend out and I finished it with my press. No heat.

Dave

You can also straighten spring steel with an anvil and a ball peen hammer. I re-arched my leaf springs this way.

I still advocate one of those cheap bottle jack presses as you can then also use it for kingpins, pressing in/out bearings etc...

If the spring shop repairs and re-arches springs they will have the equipment needed. Whether they will have the talent and experience or not is another thing.

fellow AACA member her has a press and willing to help me reshape my bumpers, but need a few pictures/ dimensions:

Can anyone tell me:
1-what the standard dimensions are from cl of bolt to cl of bolt (left to right width) is ?!?
2-should the left & right arm be bent outwards like mine or should they be straight / parallel ??

Any pictures of the true shape top down would be appreciative so that we can get this reshaped back to the true shape. pictures of complete bumper assembly on a car ifs fine :)

I am not home now so if no one answers by the time I do get home I will send photos.

Do these help?

I don't have the same rear bumper brackets as you as I have a trunk back there... I can get you measurements from front mounting bolt to mounting bolt if that's what you're looking for?

Lahti35 Thanks for the photos, those are great !!

those should help a lot with the pattern/ template we are trying to make for the shape.

cabboy... would greatly appreciate the photos and the physical dimensions, looking for:

1- end bolt to end bolt of the front bumper, basically overall width of front bumper bolt to bolt :)
2- depth from center of bumper to end of frame rail (perpendicular)

Hi when I get home (next couple of days) I will get measurements for you.
Regards

OK, Made me a wood template, and now to get a press and start working it into shape...

been around the block to many shops and places, no one wants to work on it :(

will be a learning curve and experience for me

You can put a chain under your floor jack and attach the ends to your bracket unless you really want a press. I think you will be surprised how easily you will be able to form it yourself.

well bought a new tool this past week
HF 20 Ton Shop Press
unpacked and put it all together in a day. Bought the Bolt together version :)

YES I put it on Casters, Rated to support more that the weight of the press !! makes it easier to maneuver it around to work with it, since i have a small garage and the car is in the garage.

I decided to design and 3d print me a custom handle for the Release Valve vs fighting with the jack handle. man does it make a difference and a hole lot easier to work !!

Started learning HOW to use the press and what it does based on where you PRESS.

got one side pretty close to what i am working on against my template

an hour or so of work and learning :)

Good investment.
For the bumpers, I used a couple of hardwood 4 X 4s (from an old skid) for dies. You can spread them out and run the bumpers diagonally to get a deep smooth bend. The spring steel will bend a long ways before changing shape.
Good luck.

another hour or two last night on the press
getting the front bracket closer to net shape

also messed around with the starting crank, since it had a bend in it two directions...

a few before and a few after

Photos look like you are dangerous and deadly to bends and twists. Good job.

I am impressed! I like your profile gauge.

We did the same thing with the front bumper brackets on my '37. Like you we discovered that there is a learning curve with where to push and how much. It is not always as obvious as you would think.

thanks guys, i use a china marker to mark the center of a high spot, and then plan my attach to lower it flat.

try to do a little pushing, a lot of checking, then some more pushing. once i get the bracket close, i will make a jig , similar to Bare Feet discussed above, trying to get them in a smooth tangential arc. that should be loads of fun and pushing, checking, pushing checking...

also once i get it close then will have to work them as a team to get the cross bars to mate and bolt up correctly to the bracket.