60-66 Stepside rear step bumper modification

[3/4ton Randy]

This is a great thread guys! I will soon be starting on my own rear bumper on my longbed stepside. Your's turned out great.

[murphy98]

Originally Posted by WhippinSaw

Thanks for the carpenter square suggestion, I got a good look at it and noticed my fender with the spare tire cutout is narrower than the other. Never noticed that before, barely noticeable in the pic. That side will have a shorter bumper than the other. I have a metal super mart close by, looks like I need 2 pieces of 1/8" diamond plate steel 12" x 24" and 2 pieces of 1/4" X 4" flat stock steel 2 foot long before I start cutting. If you get a chance could you post a couple of rear close ups so I can better visualize that molded area like the pic below. Thanks murphy98

Here are some pics of the contoured tip of the bumper side rails where it meets the fender, hope these help? It's only about the last 2-2 1/2" of the bottom portion of the tip that is bent (sort of a compound curve top to bottom of the edge & horizontally a couple of inches from the end) to match the contour of the fender. I took the last pic from underneath so you can see how it bends in to fit the shape of the fender. The top edge is straight all the way. Bottom edge of the bumper side rail should be flush with the bottom of the fender. In other words you should not be able to see the bottom of the fender dropping below the bottom of the bumper side extension. Obviously, I did not have to deal with making these contoured tips as I was able to reuse my original tips however it may be helpful to use a scrap piece of thinner metal or tin to make up a sample of the tip before trying to shape the thicker steel piece.

[murphy98]

Originally Posted by 3/4ton Randy

This is a great thread guys! I will soon be starting on my own rear bumper on my longbed stepside. Your's turned out great.

Thanks 3/4ton Randy, good luck with your bumper, post some before and after pics when you are done.

[WhippinSaw]

Thanks murphy98, Yes that helps, still seems that I am to low, I cut off the diamond plate to 55 1/4 and am going to remount the bumper after I clean it up so I can lay some new diamond plate on the top of the bumper to see where it ends up on the fender. I want to cut it like yours under the diamond plate vertical riser like the picture below to rid a little more rust and smooth it out, I think thats on a straight line with the bed then too. I think its 3 inches, could you confirm when you get a chance.

[murphy98]

Checking my bumper measurement from the edge of the vertical diamond plate to the factory weld seam I get 2 3/4", the distance from the factory weld seam to the outer edge of the bumper is 12". The new diamond plate pieces I used to fill in the new section were exactly 12" x 24" which worked out perfectly for my bumper. Because your bumper was originally for a feetside, not sure if the factory weld seem would have been in the same location as the stepside version? Let me know if you need any more dimensions, your progress is coming along nicely!

[murphy98]

Oh, by the way WhippinSaw, I see in your second photo above that your bumper has an upper hitch ball plate. Mine had the same setup but I chose to cut out the upper plate in order to allow my rear license plate to be mounted there as I did not like the original mounting on top of the bumper left side as shown in the 2nd photo below. Not saying you should do the same but something to consider. I forgot to mention that modification in my original write up.

[WhippinSaw]

Thanks for posting the description of the bumper tips. Your picture from the bottom of the compound bend and your description made it all click. I made a tip out of 1/8" flat stock and thinking of welding 6 inches of that tip onto thicker flat stock or channel and hiding the seam under the diamond plate. The compound bend not only made the bottom curve In, but it also curved the whole edge. I put the flat stock in a vise and tightened it at one and pushed until 45 degrees in the picture , lowered it to two and pulled it 45 degrees, then lowered it to three pushed it as needed. I also think I got a good measurement. The bumper is flush with the bottom of the fender and everything looks good so far. I might need to cut more than 2 3/4 off the diamond plate to get rid of the distortion from the rust, but I don't think that should be a problem.
Thanks again murphy98

[murphy98]

Looking really good WhippinSaw! I see what you mean by needing to cut a bit more of the diamond plate to get rid of the rust underneath it. I had the same problem on one area of my bumper as well but it was more confined to the outer curve area. As you said, should not be a big deal to correct this issue. Looking forward to seeing the finished product, keep up the great work!

[richards72chevy]

Nice it looks like it should have came from the factory that way.Great detail.

[WhippinSaw]

Originally Posted by murphy98

Looking really good WhippinSaw! I see what you mean by needing to cut a bit more of the diamond plate to get rid of the rust underneath it. I had the same problem on one area of my bumper as well but it was more confined to the outer curve area. As you said, should not be a big deal to correct this issue. Looking forward to seeing the finished product, keep up the great work!

Hey murphy98, I have one side mocked up but wanted to get some advice about the diamond plate. The more I cut out the more it sagged, never worked with any of this stuff so any input is welcome. I ended up using 3/16ths channel and flat stock for the frame. The thicker metal was harder to bend, so I just put the bumper tip in a vise at the line and bent the triangle over to match the molded area. Pictures are worth a 1000 words so here ya go.


[QUOTE=richards72chevy;6612914]Nice it looks like it should have came from the factory that way. QUOTE]

Thanks for the encouragement richards72chevy, I am thinking the same thing, its worth the effort to find out.

[murphy98]

Hey WhippinSaw, you are making great progress! Side pieces are looking really good! I must admit however that I am not sure why the vertical section of diamond plate is sagging? I did notice that in your last pic on post #33 you can see that there is a downward dip in the vertical piece of diamond plate & a downward dip in the horizontal piece towards the vertical. That distortion may be due to the rust build up at the outer edge? So perhaps when you removed the extra flat section of diamond plate the vertical piece took on more of the slope downward due to the missing horizontal section. Hopefully once you add in the new section of horizontal (step section) of 1/8" diamond plate under the vertical piece, the vertical section can be pushed up with a floor jack and tack welded to see if the sag is corrected. Not sure if that makes any sense? Kind of hard to describe. This was my first time working with diamond plate too so I'm afraid I'm no expert! If the sag is not corrected when the new horizontal piece is installed you may need to cut some of the vertical section further towards the center of the bumper and splice in a new piece. Not sure if this is of any help but I hope the sag can be corrected. Keep us posted!
Murph.

[WhippinSaw]

Thanks for the reply murphy98, the floor jack and some massaging might work. If I have to I can try to re skin the whole thing. Im getting ready to make the final adjustment on the fender tip spacing and was wondering if the bumper tip touches the fender or do I leave a small gap.

[murphy98]

I was going to suggest if the sag can not be corrected that you may need to consider (although I know it's a ton more work) redoing all the diamond plate with new stock but did not want to overwhelm you! Glad you are considering it if the jack does not work, hope it does however. I left just under an 1/8" gap between the edge of the diamond plate/end tips and the fender. This allowed me to use left over fender welting to fill the gap and prevent the bumper from scratching the fender.

[1963c-10]

Nice work...looking good. Love the trim rings that you added to the rims also...looks great.

[TJ's Chevy]

Really nice work! Giving me ideas for when I possibly do mine!

[WhippinSaw]

Had some problems keeping my gap by the bumper tip where it meets the fender. Every time I would apply heat to the channel the gap would change no matter how I clamped it down. I decided to just "cold tack it" until I have the diamond plate welded in to keep the angle and then go back and put some heat on the frame. After some time off to get a new plan I blasted and primed the frame and had some diamond plate bent. When I cut the plate to size, do I leave a gap for the weld, or leave it flush with the edge of the bumper channel?
Thanks murphy98

[WhippinSaw]

Originally Posted by 1963c-10

Nice work...looking good. Love the trim rings that you added to the rims also...looks great.

Thanks 1963c-10, and thank you for the beauty ring suggestion, I really like them.

Originally Posted by T.J. MCCAULEY

Really nice work! Giving me ideas for when I possibly do mine!

Thanks TJ, Been snooping around in the projects and builds to get ideas,

[murphy98]

Originally Posted by WhippinSaw

Had some problems keeping my gap by the bumper tip where it meets the fender. Every time I would apply heat to the channel the gap would change no matter how I clamped it down. I decided to just "cold tack it" until I have the diamond plate welded in to keep the angle and then go back and put some heat on the frame. After some time off to get a new plan I blasted and primed the frame and had some diamond plate bent. When I cut the plate to size, do I leave a gap for the weld, or leave it flush with the edge of the bumper channel?
Thanks murphy98

Looking really good WhippinSaw! I can understand the trouble getting the gap right at the fender, hard to do a compound curve at the tip on thick material like that. I wonder if the original tips were done on some kind of stamping machine for consistency? I did leave the diamond plate set back from the edge of the bumper about 1/16" to allow room for the weld bead. Then I used a grinder to round over the edge & smooth out the welds to match the original continuous weld bead on the rest of the bumper.
You're doing a fantastic job, keep up the great work it will pay off when you're all done and ready for paint.
Murph

[Jeff La]

Nice work it's looking good.

[WhippinSaw]

Originally Posted by Jeff La

Nice work it's looking good.

Thanks for the encouragement Jeff, no experience at metal fab so I need all I can get.

I replaced my 55-59 drivers rear fender with a 60-66 fender, the 55-59 fenders are measurably and noticeably narrower than the 60-66. Shout out to TJ for shipping me a nice fender and informing me that I did have a 55-59 fender.

While I worked on replacing the fender I drove it around with a chopped barden bumper, I cut it short to remove some length from the straight part of the bumper and it looks better than it did already, it also weighs quite a bit less, like mentioned above, you could also cut the upper clevis plate out to reduce weight.

[WhippinSaw]

I solved my problem of the extensions moving while applying heat to the C channel, I welded on a piece of angle iron on to hold it in place with no clamps required, I tried it at first with a piece of diamond plate, but had to switch to quarter inch angle to keep it in place, still only tacking it in place except for the top which will be unaccessible when I get the diamond plate welded in,

[WhippinSaw]

Got the bumper tips bent up, I just put them in a vice and bent the ears down about 3/4 of an inch

[WhippinSaw]

I wasn't sure how to attach the extensions to the fender so I came up with carriage bolts and rubber plugs, I only needed one bolt per side because it was strong enough with just one, but I thought I would need the extra strength and the fender TJ sold me had 2 holes in it. This also allowed me to dial in the gap with the bolt holding the extension in place while the diamond plate is being installed.

[WhippinSaw]

All the diamond plate has been cut and just making final adjustments and checking lines before I weld it up this weekend.

[1963c-10]

Nice work....can't wait to see it all done and painted!!!!