Late series bumper rubbers repair

[Nigel]

A part of the repairs after the accident was to refurb the new-to-me bumpers,
specifically the rear, where one of the rubbers was hanging off.

I'm sure there are other ways, this is how I'm doing it.
The original steel inserts corrode and break/fall out. I removed all the old
bits and what's left is a circular slot with a flange within. I got some
stainless bolts and washers, mig'd them together, and with a little effort,
they push into the slot. Most of them are tight, and although would probably
work as is, I'll put some SikaFlex on top to make sure.

The other issue is that this centre section has shrunk in length by about 25mm.
This may be a challenge, not sure how to pull this yet.

Nigel

[Nigel]

Where the two rubbers meet at each side, there are
two bolts at the end position of the curved piece.
This meant something slightly more complex.

The principle is the same, there's a slot around the base of the hole.

[squiglyzigly]

Hi Nigel,
I recently stripped, cleaned, polished and rebuilt the bumpers on my HPE and encountered the same problems.
You seem to have it all sorted except the shrunken middle section. Mine was exactly the same.
My basic instinct was to warm the rubber in the bath (whilst the missus was at work) filled with warm/hot water and quickly fit the furthest bolts then working inwards. It worked but I didn’t have long to wrestle it in place before it started to shrink. But it did go on nicely in the end without pulling the rubber fixings out or any signs of rubber distortion.


Cheers
Ian

[Nigel]

Hi Ian,
Thanks, that's a great idea, I'll try that next weekend when the sealant has cured.

Cheers,
Nigel

[peteracs]

I would second Ian’s idea. I found hot water softens these rubbers significantly on various parts.

Peter

[Nigel]

Ian's plan worked.
All 3 rubbers are now installed.

Nigel

[squiglyzigly]

Glad that worked for you Nigel.
Mine are still sitting in the loft as the car is still some months away from paint but they still looked nice when I popped up there last week.

All the best
Ian

[Ferrit]

I guess mine need some tlc.  Thy had been 'glued' with some silicon.  Do these tabs go behind the metalwork?

[Nigel]

I think I know what you mean, the pic is not very clear.

But yes, the rubber tab goes behind a steel clamp which is secured
by an M6 nut. It all rusts so some fabrication is sometimes needed.

Not necessarily straightforward as previously mentioned, the rubber shrinks.

N

[lancialulu]

Some detail here. I had to repair the end attachments (missing on my new to me bumper). The rubber clamp had rotted away on one side. Luckily it is the same shape as a double brake line clamp that I happened to have on my shelf. The M6 nut that would have held the clamp was totally rusted and I carefully cut off the nut with an angle grinder as the M6 threaded post was embedded in the rubber face of the bumper so I could not use heat. With the nut off I used some superglue to rebond the stud base to the rubber. With the new clamp the rubber (which had not shrunk too much) pulled tight to the stainless steel on the outer face. Job done. Now the nightmare of fitting the bumper to a freshly painted car....

[Nigel]

Ideally, get some assistance to install, but in any case
several layers of low-tack masking tape will help prevent
any distress.

N

[Ferrit]

I will crack on as soon as some nice weather appears.  Thank you for all the photos