Bumpers are one of the most utilitarian parts of a car: They're there to take a beating and protect the more aesthetically appealing components between them. But like any part of an automobile, customizers have found a number of ways to modify, swap, and even eliminate the dutiful bumper.
Keeping with this tradition, Paul Bonderson, longtime customer of Roy Brizio Street Rods, wanted to change the look of his '36 roadster. He'd already chosen to replace the stock '36 grille with a handmade stainless '37-style piece from Grille Art, so he wanted a bumper that would look smooth and updated while still retaining the vintage theme. The rear bumper from a '40 Ford pickup seemed the obvious choice for both ends.
The swap was fairly straightforward; besides bending and slightly modifying the brackets, we filled the stock bumper bolt holes and made some mounting plates for the bumper brackets. Most customizers simply weld bolts to the backs of the bumpers when shaving them, but a freshly chromed bumper may dimple if you torque the nut too hard, so we chose to be extra cautious.
We used '40 Ford brackets up front, since the outer brackets are so much different between '36 and '40. For the rear, however, '36 brackets don't mount directly to the frame the way '40 brackets do, so we opted to use the stock-style '36 brackets.
The result is a perfect example of Brizio's typical style: a subtle and elegant improvement on Ford's original design. With a coat of paint and a little bit of chrome, these '40 bumpers are going to look right at home on Paul's '36 roadster.
We started up front with a...
We started up front with a rear '40 Ford pickup bumper and a reproduction set of '40 Ford bumper brackets from All Ford Parts. The brackets are made out of mild steel rather than the original spring steel so, while they aren't as sturdy, they're easy to bend and work. We also made sure to get the new pieces in bare steel (not chromed) so that we could cut and weld on them.
In order to get an idea of...
In order to get an idea of how the '40 brackets fit the '36 frontend, we clamped the center brackets to the frame. The stock inner and outer brackets sandwich the frame, so we followed suit. We then clamped the bumper to the brackets to determine how far out to mount the brackets. We had to relocate the bumper bracket opening in the left fender to fit the bracket properly.
In order to fit the '40 truck...
In order to fit the '40 truck rear bumper to the '36 frontend, we had to heat and bend the bumper bracket. At this point, we just eyeballed the bend to get the bracket in the ballpark.
After a few attempts, the...
After a few attempts, the bracket matched the angle of the bumper. We had to flatten out the outer end of the bracket as well as tweak the main radius for a perfect fit.
In order to mount the bumper...
In order to mount the bumper to the brackets, we machined some steel pads that will be welded to the back of the bumper. We drilled and chamfered the plates so that we could weld 7/16-inch countersunk bolts into the pads. The head is flush with the surface of the pad so that they'll sit flat against the back side of the bumper.
With the center brackets aligned...
With the center brackets aligned on the frame and the bumper centered on the car, we marked the bracket holes on the back side of the bumper. We then clamped the pads in place and tacked them onto the bumper.
We then checked the fit of...
We then checked the fit of the brackets and bumper using just the center brackets. Since the bumper brackets were only clamped in place at this point, we measured the distance between the bumper ends and the front fenders in order to position the brackets on the frame.
Once the bumper was aligned...
Once the bumper was aligned properly on the car, we marked the bracket mount holes on the frame horns. We drilled -inch holes on our center marks and bolted the center brackets in place on the frame. The mounting holes on the brackets can be slotted later to provide for adjustment.
With the inner brackets mounted,...
With the inner brackets mounted, we clamped the outer brackets in place and tacked the outer bolt pad in place on the bumper. Since we bent and tweaked them so much to fit the car, you can see here that the outer brackets are no longer as long as the inners. We had to add on to the frame end of each outer bracket by welding on plate steel.
Once the outer brackets were...
Once the outer brackets were lengthened, we simply transferred the bracket mount holes from the inner brackets to the outers and drilled -inch holes. We rechecked one more time to make sure that the brackets fit the notches in the fenders. These notches don't always line up with the frame horns after years of fender benders. Once we were happy with the fit of the brackets, we slotted the frame mount holes for adjustment, and rounded all of the corners and edges.
The rear brackets on a '36...
The rear brackets on a '36 Ford are completely different from a '40, so we started with a reproduction pair of mild steel '36 brackets.
Since the '36 bracket ends...
Since the '36 bracket ends didn't match the radius of the '40 bumper and were too wide as well, we cut them off.
At this point, the brackets...
At this point, the brackets fit the shape of the bumper well enough to clamp it in place and determine what needed tweaking.
The outer part of each bracket...
The outer part of each bracket needed to be bent to meet the bumper, so we measured the gap at 1 inches before removing the brackets for some tweaking.
Before making any changes,...
Before making any changes, we traced an outline of the original bracket shape on our welding table. This gave us a relative starting point to measure off of. We then marked the 1-inch bend we needed.
Since we essentially needed...
Since we essentially needed to unbend the bracket, we used a press to flatten the radius of the outer arm of the bracket. After a few presses, the bracket matched our mark.
We decided to go ahead and...
We decided to go ahead and punch our bumper bolt hole in the outer arm of the bracket, so we marked our center. We wanted the outer holes to match the stock slotted inner holes, so we punched two holes side by side.
We then used a burr bit to...
We then used a burr bit to remove the excess material.
Once the bolt hole was drilled,...
Once the bolt hole was drilled, we needed to add a slight angle to the end of our bracket in order to line it up perfectly with the angle of the outer bumper. We used the hydraulic press to put a quick bend in the outer leg of the bracket.
Once we were happy with the...
Once we were happy with the fit of the brackets, we double-checked that they were identical. We then rounded the ends and filed all of the edges to prepare the brackets for chrome.
We made up a set of bolt pads...
We made up a set of bolt pads identical to those we used for the front bumper. We then clamped the bumper in place and aligned both the brackets and the bumper to the car before marking the centerline at each bolt location.
We then removed the bumper...
We then removed the bumper and tacked all four pads in place.
One last check for fit and...
One last check for fit and our bumpers and brackets were ready for chrome.