Hi all,

I recently purchased a bumper from a 61 beetle to fit my 66. figuring that they would be the same.

I put it on, using the bumper supports from my old bumper (Which admittedly had been dinged in an accident before I bought the car) and the new bumper doesn't seem to fit.

The tips at the edges of the bumper turn into the wings and would scratch it if I attempted to line up the mounting holes on the brackets.

So, my real question is, are the 61 and 66 bumpers different?

Cheers

PS - I put the socks on to stop the bumper damaging the car. That's not weird is it?

the bumpers are the same except for over riders

Did u purchase an after market new bar ??? if so then the shape wont be the same reproduction parts are different

may be you could have one of the brackets on upside down check that

The bar was a second hand genuine part, some scratches on the bottom and one or two little dints - bargain for $40!

I went out to pick up some new bumper supports, and the VW guy thought the bar looked like it was meant for the rear.

Got it home, minus the new bumper brackets (but plus a sports steering wheel!) and thought I'd have another crack. I lined it up with the one that came with the car, and it was the same size and shape.

It turns out the passenger side bracket was bent a bit out of shape. It didn't look that bad by itself, but when compared to the rear bumper supports it was pretty dodgy. I hammered it into shape and the bumper fits and looks pretty decent now. I'll have to get a new pair down the track, as the passenger side tip of the bumper is only 1mm away from the guard. The drivers side has about 10mm clearance, so it has to be that passenger side bracket.

Thanks for the suggestions though! It was a bit of a head scratcher at first.

fit it up loose then give it a good yank to increase the guard clearance

also u can push the guard back as welll they always take a bit of pushing to n frow to get aligned correctly

also put car on flat surface and have same tyers on front the usea tape measure to alin the height at front and rear sometimes i usea garage jack to lift a bit

nuthing worse than a crooked bar

I had a crooked bar once and I put a sock on it, nothing wrong with that!

This is probably a good place to ask, who and where one can acquire good quality NEW bumpers of this era, and how much?

Anyone running a book on how long before Birchall chimes in with his usual ???



Can't help if it has to be a newie DB, but pretty sure I have a nice straight front bumper from an Aus 67 kicking around somewhere...

Birchall needs a sock placed somewhere and it aint his bumper

suck eum up

Not sure what shipping would cost you Dave, or what the initial price is, but Classic Vee Dubs have 60s bumpers listed on their site as for sale

http://www.classicveedub.com.au/SpareParts/Parts_Results.asp?NAV=2&Item_C...

I think they wanted $700 odd for a blade alone, not certain but that figure rings a bell.


Dave Birchall, do you home brew as in at home in a fermenter, or at a microbrew place? I've made the switch to the micro breweries as I was getting jack of scrubbing bottles every time. Canning is a heap easier, though it does make the entire process nearly as expensive as buying beer in the first place.

yeah in a fermenter aint done any fora year or so been too lazy

the after market staino blades are crap better off getting origionals repaired n re chromed but will prob cost $600 or so these days

I like straight n shiny bars try vintage lol

ROSE

YOU R NAUGHTIE

its not a rear bumper is it? Sorry...had to ask.

No, it is actually a front bar. Had the correct holes for the towel rail at the ends, and not in the middle as it would be on the rear.

I've got it fitted now, thanks to Birchall's fit and push method. It was just the front brackets - they were bent sideways and compressed, opening them up and twisting them in the process, so the clearance wasn't as great between the bumper and the guards.

There is still a 15mm discrepancy between the height of the bumper on the drivers and passengers side, but a bit more fiddling will sort that out. The clearance from the guards was the one I was really concerned about, and it seems fine now, uniform on both sides at roughly 10mm.

Thanks for the input though. I think I was being too gentle with it.

also check the guards with the tape center axle to a point as there most prob out of shape as well


glad to see you wernt too gentel the mount brackets are sometimes put on upside down the bit that goes between bracket n bar they can also be bent lay eum flat n straight with hammer till tehre even

The gap between the bar ends and guards was designed to be big enough for your fingers to fit, but close enough to tear the skin off your knuckles, when polishing the car!

It's pretty obvious when a front bumper is mounted on the back and viceversa as theyre totally different shape and look out of place

the front bumpers are fairly flat just with a curve on the ends so look really stupid on the back




The back bumpers have a pretty big arc and dont usually fit the front
Anyway deluxe bumpers like that would have the extra mounting holes for the 2 piece towel racks

Your problem looks as though the bumper brackets are either too short or bent
6 volt bumpers may have different length brackets for front and back so they could have just been swapped around

Dunnit ever, especially when you keep doing it. Years ago - when I was really keen - I used to to remove both bars to polish the car. It's only 4 bolts per bar, and saves heaps on bandaids