Hello All,
As I was attempting to put my gas tank back into my 70 coupe, I noticed that my rear passenger side bumper was missing a support bracket. CRAP! So I started inspecting both my rear bumpers and the passenger side bumper was only held on by two of the four bolts and the drivers side by three of the four bolts. Double CRAP! Then I started inspecting EVERYTHING and I see that there seems to be a incorrect orientation of mounting brackets on the frame to bumper configuration. Triple CRAP! All this means that there was some rear trauma at some point and most likely Bubba just reworked everything so he could get SOMETHING to bolt together. Anyway, I have a couple of pics and I was hoping that somebody more knowledgeable could chime in and tell me which side of my Vette the brackets are orientated correctly on.

This is the driver's side and what I believe to be the INCORRECT orientation with the wrong upper bracket and the correct lower bracket reversed.


This is the passenger side with what I believe to be CORRECT orientation with the correct upper bracket and correct lower bracket. Yes I see the bung has come off of the lower bracket. I will be getting a new one. You can also see where the inner support brace should be.

 

Hope this will help. First pic is driver side the second is passenger side.

 

Oldsarge,
Thank you very, very much for the great pics.
I can see that the way mine is configured is quite different.+
But I am a little confused. On Corvette America's site, they have distinctly different upper brackets for driver and passenger sides.
If I'm reading your pics right, you have two driver's side brackets there.
The drivers side is part #29008 and the passenger side is part #29007
I hate Bubba.

 

I've spent soooo much time under there lately I'm sure mine look like Oldsarge's on the drivers side but mirror imaged to that on the pass side.

I should have pics somewhere but I'm not where I need to be to access them. Check when I get home

Mooser

 

Hi b,
In looking a the AIM it looks to me like there are lefts and rights for all 4 brackets... the 2 that bolt to the frame rear crossmember, and the 2 that bolt through to the bumper. The rod has just one part number so fits both sides.
Be careful if you do anything with the 2 bolts on the sides of the bumper. The bolt heads are right against the fiberglass with just a washer and it's real easy to crack the fiberglass if you over tighten them.
Good Luck!
Regards,
Alan

 

According to CC they are both the same. However Paragon shows a left and a right for each. Those in my pic are the ones that were install in the factory, if they were wrong, they came that way. Now I am not sure, maybe I did something wrong.

 

You should purchase an AIM, man. You will wonder how you got along without one. Seriously.


Keep the shiny side up!
Scott

 

Hey guys,
Thanks for all the replies.

Scotty,
This cinches it. I"m getting an AIM manual. I hadn't thought of it and it's so obvious that I need one. I think Wilcox has an AIM on CD. I need to check it out.

Alan,
Thanks as always for chiming in. I was secretly hoping that you would. Your advice has helped me through some confusing Vette issues.

OldSarge,
The 70's were a crazy time. Who knows what altered state of mind some of our guys on the assembly line were in when they were assembling our cars, LOL! Maybe they only had driver side brackets that day and they made them work. I'm gonna go by the book on this one and get the two different type brackets for their corresponding sides.

As always, Thanks so much for the information.

 

Just got home and stuck my head under and yes they are mirror images of each other. OldSarge's drivers side is right, passenger side should be mirror of it.
Mooser
(have to change the batteries, camera just keeps kicking off)

 

Thanks Mooser!

 

Alan,
I'm thinking that I am going to leave those bolts out. I can't see how they contribute to structural integrity. I will see if I can put a rubber plug in the holes to keep water/debris out. I notice for 72/73 Vette's they had these side braces that bolted to the frame and then to bumper. Do you think these are worth adding? The holes are there for these on my 70.

 

Hi B,
Sometime in 72 (I believe) a rubber bushing was added to that hole too.
On my car I cut a flat washer so it would fit in the fiberglass depression so that I can use a bolt, but I still only tighten the bolt a little bit beyond finger tight.
Regards,
Alan

 

as Alan said be very careful tightening them up they will crack the side. Very good advice. Dont ask me how I know that its true!
Rodney

 

Some pics of mine before I put my gas tank back in.

 

Thanks StingrayLust,
That's the way I think it's supposed to look.
Hope mine looks that good when reassembled.

 

Just paying it back. POR-15 on those along with all new bolts/nets/washers. However I do always temper my pictures with the subtitle that my car was previously worked on by Bubba, so always take my pics with that precaution. That said, I do believe these bracket pieces are correct.

I checked my '71 AIM and it only shows the drivers side assembly, not the left. Presumably this is because they're almost a mirror image of each other. I checked Paragon's web site and they show 4 different pieces, 2 for each side. So it seems pretty likely that your drivers side is incorrect as you stated.

That said, other than cosmetically, I don't think you'll have issues by not having the correct bracket there.