Taking 73 front bumper assembly apart

[Vinnie]

Hey folks,

I'm taking apart the front bumper assembly. Right now my car looks more like a train...

It looks like the beam that the bumper attaches to is just pushed in the "box" and held in place with rubber pads. Is this the case?

If the above is true, are those pads available?

Thanks,

Vincent.

 

[timachone]

Vincent, 

that looks all quite normal as it should be. The pads aren't available nor any other parts of it. If they don't have any slack in them remove 'em, paint 'em and bolt 'em back into their location. That's what I will do, too. Since 6 years...  :whistling:

 

[Vinnie]

So how were these things put together in the factory? Were the pads put in last? How did they set the correct length for the bumper to fit?

 

[Hemikiller]

The outer housings are welded together IIRC. I've never tried to take one apart, but my guess is the pads are vulcanized to the housing and the beam. There's a little slop in the mounting holes for height adjustment, I have seen shims behind the bumper itself to adjust the depth on the fender.