license plate light replacement

[martidj]

License plate light replacement is going to be more work than I expected. After removing the light socket, I discovered rust inside the bumper pad, u-nuts have turned to rust.

[schumicat]

not sure what you're asking. if it is how to take off the bumperette, it is held on by 3 nuts on the back.

[martidj]

I think I can repair without removing the bumperette. I was going to use a stop rust product and epoxy, so the screws have something to bite into. Removing the bumperette looks like a real pain to me. Any suggestions are appreciated.

[nesslar]

It ain't tough. Three nuts back there between the muffler and the rear end, on the inside of the valance. Just jack up the car, put a jack stand under the torsion bar end and reach in there. I have done it, so must be easy.

[martidj]

Remove and replace?

[Justin@Athens]

If your internals inside the bumperettes are rusted, the chances of easily removing the whole thing from the car without a bunch of trouble are small---i would not advise taking them off.

[martidj]

Thanks Justin for the advice. I will try using epoxy and see how that works.

[nesslar]

I think it would be a good idea to get in there and take care of the rust on the bolts, etc. Why just leave it there? The bolts holding the bumper pads on are not that small, should still be fairly solid; clean 'em up? As for the light, you may very well have to 'epoxy' it back into place. No biggee, but I'd still see if you can't fairly easily get the pads off and clean things up in there. $.02.

[jlcinga]

Mine was also rusted....used longer ss screws...on my list to remove bumperettes and replace the metal in them at a later time.

[Winter]

On my '75 removing the entire bumper assembly was amazingly easy, not sure what the panic is here?

Remove the entire thing, soak offending studs with the liquid wrench of your choice, clean up everything (addressing the other rust you will find, repair and replace the problems) and then reinstall.

Mebbe a couple of hours over the weekend?

This isn't a big deal. . . Nesslar speaks the truth.

Open it all up and deal with it.

Look at your current issue as an "opportunity".

[DRACO A5OG]

My passenger side rusted.

I removed from the bumper with out raising her and just stuck a 13MM socket under the bumper.

I removed all the rusted metal and sealed it with weather strip sealant.

I did notice that it lost its form a bit so I used a heat gun to pre-bend the lower section to fit snuggly on the rear valance. If I did not do this it would have a large gap.



It still droops a bit, I just need to re-heat it again to stay up.

[martidj]

Thanks all, for the info.