So I just went to pull my close to perfect rear bumper top. Damned if both ends bolts didn't break . Anyone have a wat to replace without screwing up the bumper top? It is one of the nicest I have found besides

Just did it! I had a bumper in storage for many years. I pulled the top pad so I can fix a couple dents in the bumper and repaint it. All but one nut came off. One snapped off. I drilled it out and installed a new stud with JB weld. You really can't tell which one it is. I just cut the head off a bolt and used a grinder to rough up the section I installed in the new hole. This way the JB would have something to hold on to. A word of caution. Use a center punch and get the hole set in the right place. Take your time drilling. Be careful when the drill breaks through the metal and hits the rubber core. I can see where it would be easy to run the bit right through to the face.

I knew I should have documented it..

some silicone rubber will hold it down tape it in place for a day til the glue cures.

We also have replaced the studs by tapping and installing a step stud. The down and dirty way is to drill and then use a tapping screw from underneath the bumper to hold it on. The best way is to give mikey your money for a new front bumper top seal. He needs all the funding he can get as he is out tens of thousands on tooling for all of these 914 rubber parts and needs all member support.

I did the drill out and self tapping hex head screws on mine. Worked like a champ.

I'm in the same situation. How come it's only one stud that craps on you? Usually the last one.

Perfect timing for this thread. Rhodyguy did a writeup on this last year and I was about to search for that. His solution was about the same as Rick's. Now I don't have to wrestle with the search function.

Thanks all.

I had a stud break on me and Dan Root welded on a new on to the old. Worked perfectly

I've replaced a couple of broken bumper pad studs.

IIRC, I cleared away about 3/4" of the rubber around the broken stud with a dremel bit, used a small drill bit to drill around the base metal to leave a hole, MIG welded a washer to a proper sized bolt, then welded the washer / bolt to the base metal and filled up the hole with black silicone. Note, this will only work if the base metal is intact / isn't too rusty, and has proper ground connection from one stud to the other for MIG welding.