Brackets Behind Bumperettes Options

[wonkipop]

Based on the thoroughness of your posts I have no concerns for you regarding senility (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

i can confirm i have 50% senility after self diagnosis this morning peering into horn grill with torch. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

but post above by @DC_neun_vierzehn assists with my memory insisting there were no separate parts involved other than the bumper itself (and a harmless little rubber pad.

through the horn grill.



reason i could not remember anything separate in there from 5/6 years ago is because its not.
its all part of the front bumper and comes off with it.
the tit itself is the only separate part. (apart from a further little rubber pad).
these front bumpers are unique to the 73/74 cars.
there is an additional bracket on the rear of the bumper that entraps the spacer reinforcement. none of these are separate parts. came with the bumper.

the parts diagram in PET does not show it. drawn from wrong side.
and probably drawn when cars first produced and none of it was there on early cars.
but it is listed. 73/74 front bumper is unique part #. only the tit bolts on.



harmless little rubber pad referred to as desk pad in PET is also there.
you can see it in my photo through the grill.
this is how the tit transferred load directly through to the front body panel.
provided the back stop for the tit to crush and absorb an impact.
(at least up to 5mph (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) )
you bought a new tit and bolted it on if you were lucky and nothing else got deformed.




rear bumper info from PET further clarifies.



only a unique rear bumper listed for 74.
only the 74s had rear tits.
again the reinforcement is integral with the bumper itself and is not a separate part.
its entrapped behind the bumper support connection bracket.


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now i have never really studied any other 914 other than my own 74.
but i would surmise if you are finding that reinforcement bracket behind a bumper that is merely holding a tit on and the accompanying bracket that entraps it is not there, then its probably a case of an early bumper that has been modified to take a tit or horn as the parts book calls them. either say as a collision repair in the distant past where the repairer has not sourced the correct bumper and has lashed it up or a case of a past owner adding tits to an earlier bumper with a bit of a lash up.

if thats the case and the tit is merely bracketed on with the reinforcement part, but the bumper lacks the rear most bracket holding it all together along with the rubber pad its never going to do its job properly - and as one poster suggests its going to result in a deformed bumper as well as a damaged tit when its bumped or hit.


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i'm half senile but i knew there was a reason i never came across anything additional in there when i had the front bumper off. i just unbolted it through the wheel arches and it all came off once piece and all looked right. never thought twice about it. cleaned in there. serviced the horn. and stuck it all back together again. same at the back. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[dtmehall]

i can confirm with 55% senility that my 73 doesn't have that bracket

anyone else out there on this??

[wonkipop]

here is the early front bumper from back view.
from workshop manual.
none of the fixing hardware and reinforcement is there for the tit to the right of the horn grill.



be kind of crazy to just a bolt a tit on through drilled holes.
result in a point load at a weak part of the bumper and would result in significant deformation of the bumper itself even from a small bump.

the proper 73/74 bumpers have the additional stuff there and its all welded in to the bumper itself and comes with it. means the tit can do its job properly and be sacrificial.

[dtmehall]

my 73 looks just like the photo


no brackets

who knows?

[wonkipop]

i can confirm with 55% senility that my 73 doesn't have that bracket

anyone else out there on this??

lets be clear. are you saying the tit is just bolted through drilled holes in the front plane of the bumper and there is nothing else there in the vicinity. just two nuts fixing the tit to the bumper.

i'd guess its a repair then with an earlier bumper from 70-72?

[wonkipop]

my 73 looks just like the photo


no brackets

who knows?

explanation might be here.
wiki entry on US impact bumpers.



73 requirements look a bit less than 74.
74 required bumpers to have to take angled impact.
probably why rear bumpers got the tits in 74.
and an angled impact might mean that an individual tit, either front or rear bumper had to absorb all the impact. hence more reinforcement added in 74.

if the wiki entry is accurate, all the bumpers had to do was prevent damage to headlights and engine. nothing about recovering with no damage. requirement was same for both 73 and 74. but the angled requirement was the enhanced test in 74.
73 might have been able to pass a straight on 5 mph impact with a barrier with no reinforcement - just tits on front bumper. and nothing special on rear bumper.
since it was only a 2.5mph impact straight on.

how come its not listed in PET then as a unique bumper?
my guess is that it became an obsolete part after 1974 and they just assigned the 74 front bumper to the 73 and 74 cars as the replacement part.

i'm guessing this. but it might explain it.
esp so if you know 100% you have a bumper original to the car and it lacks reinforcement.