To my other GT6 pages
December 18, 2023
Rear Bumpers
The GT6 Mk1, Mk2 and GT6+ cars, along with Spitfires of the same years
had a split rear bumper that really just protected the rear corners of
the car. While I find it pretty stylish, the US government
apparently found fault with it for safety reasons, and the later cars
changed to a full rear bumper.
My car had some crash damage to the center rear which might have been
prevented by a full bumper, but as an example of form over function, I
still prefer the older design.
My bumpers were certainly grimy, and had some rust on the backsides, but didn't appear to be dented or bent.
Other than the rust on the inside, most of the chrome looked to be
intact. There were the obligatory broken fasteners. Some
forensic analysis proved that this was actually a double broken
fastener. The original 5/16 bolt broke off, probably when I did a
minor restore back in the 80s, and rather than removing it, I apparently
just drilled into it and tapped for a 1/4-28 bolt. Then that bolt
broke off on this go 'round.
The 80s "repair" was a little off center, so after removing the remains
of both bolts, I was left with an egg shaped hole. I fixed it by
installing a threaded insert. It had a 7/16-14 OD, which just
covered the oval hole I had. I don't seem to have a picture of it,
though.
There are a couple of U brackets that mount the bumpers through the rear
valance to the internal bumper brackets inside the boot. A quick
blast removed all the paint and rust.
The bumpers themselves cleaned up pretty well. There are some
scuffs and a few scratches, but in general they look OK. A light
blast on the backside made them a lot more pleasant to look at.
It wasn't until this point that I noticed that one of the welded-on
mounting nuts was missing. There didn't seem to be any way to do
any weldin on the backside of that bracket, so I had to improvised
something else.
Then powder coated the brackets and inside surfaces of the bumpers for extra protection.
Ready to go.
This was a quick little project, and though I like the bumpers and think
they look good enough to use, I'm not sure I'll put them on the
car. I like the bumperless look too. I'll have to think
about it. If I don't use them, they will stay with the car in case
some future owners wants them.
Cost of this project was essentially zero.
Comments to Ed at elhollin1@yahoo.com
To my other GT6 pages