rear bumper brackets

[viking]

Hi folks new member here, got an Aussie import P6 i call Margot, rolling restoration, am currently fitting a new rear silencer, and have met a problem.
Margot has a tow bar, and from what i can gather its a Bruce and Sheila and a few tinnies job, its unlike any i've seen on the forum (i may have missed a few posts)
the problem is when they fitted it they made new brackets for the bumper, and then bolted it in, but and here's the bad thing, they made it all one piece with dog leg brackets so i can't get the back valence off.....

why do you ask? well in their wisdom they over did it, and what i assume is the captive nuts in the chassis rails are loose inside the body.

i intend to take out the captives and replace them with a stainless plate with a pair of welded on UNF nuts to prevent it ever happening again and then modify the towing bracket to make it straight, so i can get under the valance and clean/derust/preserve the area to prevent Margot's bum falling off.
so, i'm looking for the following, original back bumper legs to body, and hopefully new/ good second hand panels to replace the ones i'm going to have to butcher off in order to do the job properly.

this all spawned as all good jobs do when i wanted to remove the exhaust bracket and replace it with a stainless one as it was another bodged job

obviously i want to do this right, and make it look as original as possible, as i don't want to turn what is actually a very good car into a Frankenrover.

any help would be appreciated, i'm in Stoke on Trent and am a competent welder so i'm confident that i can make it look like its not been messed with, and give Margot the love she deserves.;

 

[quattro]

Need some pictures if you could.

The bumper brackets should be held on with some long 7/16 high tensile bolts which go right through the chassis rail with a nut. There shouldn't be any captives nuts.

The bolts which hold the left hand side dog leg bracket, also holds the exhaust bracket.

 

[quattro]

Found a picture of what the towbar should look like, and its fittings.

 

[SydneyRoverP6B]

Found a picture of what the towbar should look like, and its fittings.

View attachment 24645

Hi Richard,

Rovers that were CKD for the Australian market when fitted with a toe bar, were locally sourced items. I have never seen any two P6Bs locally that had the same toe bar. The toe bar on my Rover looks nothing like the one in your photo.

Ron

 

[jp928]

Ron, is your tow bar the type that has a boomerang shaped flat plate that bolts up to the tow bar, and has a hole for the ball ? Cant find a pic ...
Mine P6B came with such a bar, without the boomerang, and its taken me a while to locate one - found last week in NSW. Back in the day, before there was the factory external spare mount, Ron and George (of Crebell fame) made an external mount - Bottom 18" of a p3/4 steering column casing with a 4 hole flange on the end; outer half of a front hub welded to a stub tube, which was then welded to the aforementioned column casing at righ angle. Drill 4 holes in the bommerang towing plate to match column casing flange. I wonder what happened to mine?
Here is a view of the mounting on off-side.

The straight strap is so the bumper can be mounted, and then it bolts to same bolts as original bumper mounts; the bent strap meets the tubular tow bar part.

Sideways view off-side to near side - the missing boomerang plate bolts to the 4 bolt holes visible. Undoing the bolts to the chassis for the bumper will allow removal of complete unit, and then the valance will come off as usual. I have a boomerang bar on the way, will post pic when it arrives.

 

[viking]

Found a picture of what the towbar should look like, and its fittings.

View attachment 24645

yeah mines nothing like this its tube in the center a piece of bent quarter plate with a drop in ball on, and there is no center piece. its welded on the ends to two bumper brackets that are bolted straight to the frame, they have salvaged the original bumper brackets and welded them to the ends to get the bumper on.
i can see how this one fits, and its a lot better than the one i have.

 

[viking]

Need some pictures if you could.

The bumper brackets should be held on with some long 7/16 high tensile bolts which go right through the chassis rail with a nut. There shouldn't be any captives nuts.

The bolts which hold the left hand side dog leg bracket, also holds the exhaust bracket.

yup thats the problem i have i can't get the bracket off at the moment, because the bolts are just spinning, i cant see the other end of the bolts in the frame, and am assuming they are captive, unless the access to them is revealed when the valance is off the rear, which can't come off because of the home made brackets.

i will take some shots tomorrow and show you the problem thanks for the help. I may be making an error of some sort as this is my first Rover, so that's why i'm here before i start chopping and screaming lol

 

[Bernd]

Hello, the screws for the bumper brackets are located on the inside of the boot under the rubber mat. If you like, I'll take pictures of my towbar tomorrow. Let me know it
Greetings Bernd

 

[SydneyRoverP6B]

Ron, is your tow bar the type that has a boomerang shaped flat plate that bolts up to the tow bar, and has a hole for the ball ? Cant find a pic ...
Mine P6B came with such a bar, without the boomerang, and its taken me a while to locate one - found last week in NSW. Back in the day, before there was the factory external spare mount, Ron and George (of Crebell fame) made an external mount - Bottom 18" of a p3/4 steering column casing with a 4 hole flange on the end; outer half of a front hub welded to a stub tube, which was then welded to the aforementioned column casing at righ angle. Drill 4 holes in the bommerang towing plate to match column casing flange. I wonder what happened to mine?
Here is a view of the mounting on off-side.

The straight strap is so the bumper can be mounted, and then it bolts to same bolts as original bumper mounts; the bent strap meets the tubular tow bar part.

Sideways view off-side to near side - the missing boomerang plate bolts to the 4 bolt holes visible. Undoing the bolts to the chassis for the bumper will allow removal of complete unit, and then the valance will come off as usual. I have a boomerang bar on the way, will post pic when it arrives.

Hi John,

Your toe bar is very different to mine. Surprising to think that there are so many variations. I will take some photos and post them tomorrow.

Ron

 

[quattro]

yup thats the problem i have i can't get the bracket off at the moment, because the bolts are just spinning, i cant see the other end of the bolts in the frame, and am assuming they are captive, unless the access to them is revealed when the valance is off the rear, which can't come off because of the home made brackets.

i will take some shots tomorrow and show you the problem thanks for the help. I may be making an error of some sort as this is my first Rover, so that's why i'm here before i start chopping and screaming lol

The other end of the bolts is up under the rear wing, and they're a right pain to get to with the rear box in place, but it is possible. Have a look at the other side where the silencer isn't in the way.

When I rebuilt mine I used these bolts to attach the spinner, as in the pic below.

If you take the battery out and lift out the battery box, it is possible to get a spanner on the nuts from there, but only on the right hand side obviously. If they're as rusted on as mine were, you can give up your gym membership for a day or two

The pic is at a funny angle but the bodywork at the bottom of the pic is the side of the boot, and the bit at the top with the triangular pressings is the flat bit behind the spare wheel.



This is what it looks like if you remove the rear wing, bumper bracket bolts arrowed.

 

[viking]

The other end of the bolts is up under the rear wing, and they're a right pain to get to with the rear box in place, but it is possible. Have a look at the other side where the silencer isn't in the way.

When I rebuilt mine I used these bolts to attach the spinner, as in the pic below.

If you take the battery out and lift out the battery box, it is possible to get a spanner on the nuts from there, but only on the right hand side obviously. If they're as rusted on as mine were, you can give up your gym membership for a day or two

The pic is at a funny angle but the bodywork at the bottom of the pic is the side of the boot, and the bit at the top with the triangular pressings is the flat bit behind the spare wheel.

View attachment 24649

This is what it looks like if you remove the rear wing, bumper bracket bolts arrowed.

View attachment 24650

ok thats very helpful thank you, i assumed that those two bolts were for the wing... the problem i have is the bolts go the other way with the bolt heads on the outside and i can't find the nuts... thats the bit you see i can't locate the nuts and when i look in the boot i can't see whats been spinning...... anyway will have a bash today when i'm derusting and painting and post some photos later at what i'm looking at. thanks a lot

 

[viking]

Hi folks

Thanks to quattro i was able to remove the back bumper without any real fuss, but as promised here are the photos of my setup

 

[jp928]

Here is the tongue for my bar...It has a bracket for an electrical socket, and point for attaching chains. The one I had long ago was chromed. Will have to clean this up a bit and paint it before fitting.

Its 1/2" plate, secured to the plates on the bar with 7/16 UNC bolts. These are visibly corroded (behind the bar) so I will replace them.

 

[viking]

i like that that looks a good setup

 

[SydneyRoverP6B]

I am not sure if my Rover's toe bar was fitted in 1974 or in 1978 after my father purchased the car. Like door mirrors, no two Rovers in Australia seemed to have the same arrangement. The bar is attached into the boot floor and at each bumper bar support bracket. The chrome features no rust which is a testamount to the quality of Australian chroming practice some 50 years ago.

Ron

 

[rovers in aus]

mine is the same towing setup as that, and the chroming in south aus is perfect too.

I am not sure if my Rover's toe bar was fitted in 1974 or in 1978 after my father purchased the car. Like door mirrors, no two Rovers in Australia seemed to have the same arrangement. The bar is attached into the boot floor and at each bumper bar support bracket. The chrome features no rust which is a testamount to the quality of Australian chroming practice some 50 years ago.

Ron

 

[jp928]

I got the tongue part from a guy in Canberra who still has the same bar as mine for sale......do a search on the Rover owners club NSW. He was asking $40 for the whole thing!

 

[viking]

I am not sure if my Rover's toe bar was fitted in 1974 or in 1978 after my father purchased the car. Like door mirrors, no two Rovers in Australia seemed to have the same arrangement. The bar is attached into the boot floor and at each bumper bar support bracket. The chrome features no rust which is a testamount to the quality of Australian chroming practice some 50 years ago.

Ron

thats close to what i have the hitch is the same, but i have a feeling it was originally that type but they modified it to fit behind the bumper. I'd love to get it back to original Oz spec but the problem is i think it was owned by some 10 pound poms because it was imported to the UK in 2013 and its been here ever since, i still have the Aussie paperwork for it and it was knocking about on Queensland plates

 

[jp928]

Here is the semi finished article fitted - might look into cost of plating at least the top face - just silver painted for now.

Chased the threads first, and used some anti-seize. Lang do a very good thread chaser set for imperials - UNF and UNC taps and dies -

https://www.amazon.com.au/Tools-2581-26-Piece-Thread-Restorer/dp/B00DTEFSWY/ref=sr_1_13?keywords=thread+chaser+set&qid=1707274210&sr=8-13

Along the way I noticed the second-from-left valance screw is broken off.