rear bumperette

[Eldorado]

one of the bolts holding my pass. side rear bumperette on has rusted right through and broke off... what would you suggest? the bumperette is still attached, it's just lifted at one of the ends with a big ugly rusted out spot underneath...

[Razorback1980]

Hey Eldorado, If it were mine, I would remove it the rest of the way and find out what I had to do to get the rusted out bolt piece out and put it back on correctly. You also probably want to remove any rust and coat with some sort of rust preventitive so the rust doesn't run on the paint later. Make sure you remove all rust or it will just come right back.

[ae1969]

Those things are horrible........ the only way I fixed mine properly was with a 3M epoxy. Pretty much like seam weld used to stick car panels together........PERMANENTLY. So I cleaned out the rusted out segment.......inserted a metal piece with a bolt and epoxied the bolt in place.

When you pull the bumperette out you will see the sad state that it is in.

[Eldorado]

do they just unscrew from underneath? or...?

[ae1969]

You will find a rusted out bolt on the other side.....that will turn until the stud pulls out of the bumperette.

Now both sides will be broken.

[Eldorado]

actually, there's part in the bumperette, and there's part in the bumper.. it split right where the rubber meets the bumper... so i'll have to dig a piece out of that rubber...

any idea on bolt size? is this just a hardware store item? or would i have to order it from somewhere?

[Slam]

Which side? I probably have a spare bumperette.

Next time I get my car touched up I'm gonna lose those warts for good. I'm thinking black trim strip like you'd get at Bumper to Bumper for truck doors might look better if run right across the length of the rear bumper. A bit of a European look.

Sorry - just noticed it was the pass side. I'll see if I've got one.

[Eldorado]

I dont think i need the whole bumperette.. just whatever attaches it (didn't got a chance to go out there today to look to see exactly what that is.....)

i'm gonna take a look at the pet and see if it's listed there..

[Razorback1980]

You should be able to use a bolt from the hardware store...try to get stainless steel and it will not rust as bad. Cost a little more but probably worth it.

[Slam]

The bolts are actually embedded in the rubber. That's why Alex was recommending epoxying them. I'd give that a try. Or yank the bumper off and have the mounting holes welded over and it painted.

[Eldorado]

..the *bolt* is embedded in the rubber? how on earth does it thread into the bumper then?

or is there a nut in the bumper?

i like the look of the bumperette... for now.. mainly because I dont have the cash to do anything different. lol

besides, I've got the plate mounted between the bumperettes on the front... i think it'd look silly if it was just the plate on the bumper, with nothing to frame it.

[Slam]

You got a good point about framing the plate.

The "bolt" embedded in the wart goes through a hole in the bumper and is retained by a washer/plate and a nut. You gotta drop the bumper to make a good repair. But that's easy.

Dud, if it's broken and I've got one you can have it for free.

[Eldorado]

i'll check it out... thanks for the offer - i'll keep it in mind