Bent Bumper Repair?

[lorettalynn]

bumper.jpg

I'm not going to embarrass myself describing what happened but I managed to bend my (S)Carla's bumper well out of shape today, real bummer. (Her name is Carla, but she goes by Scarla too...72 F100 XLT Styleside) The bend is really in two places it seems - at the bolt and to the left, the paint has cracked from pressure.

Think I can just remove and reshape or should I start saving for a new bumper?

[Fordyarddog]

Ok here's my worth on the subject. Look around your area and find a steel fabricator that has a 20 or 40 Ton break press or a heavy duty hydraulic press and see if they can press it back in shape for you. After that you may need to do a little grinding and filler work to get it looking right and then you can sand the entire bumper, prime it and repaint it. Good as new. I know this will work because I have done it before and we used a heavy duty hydraulic press at a friend's shop and I'll be doing it myself soon on my front and rear bumpers on my F100 68 Flareside.

[lilorbie]

these bumpers are pretty thick.maybe take it off and lay it face down heat it with a rosebud on a torch.then get the biggest sledgehammer you can find and have at it. good luck with your truck.

[Fordyarddog]

Bad idea. Bad idea. The heat will cause the bumper to twist and really the rosebud on a torch will not generate enough heat to really do any good and all a sledge hammer will do is scar the steel and wear your butt out. So please take my suggestion and just try it. It will work if its done right. I guess I have just been lucky. Oh here's another way. Find you a chrome shop that does only bumpers and they know how to do it correctly by using a hammer press along with a heavy duty hydraulic press.

[HIO Silver]

Here's my brother's solution from back in the day....

Attach a hook and chain to the bumper and wrap then secure the chain around a power pole... with a spotter providing direction, slowly apply the throttle to get it close (and presentable).

Yes, start saving for a replacement.

[Red Mercury]

I have straightened a couple of bumpers near perfect but not quite as good as new using a hydraulic bottle jack under the drawbar of a heavy farm tractor. Basically a "poor man's press" and a very redneck technique. I took the bumper off the truck and placed a short piece of 2X4 under it and then used the hydraulic bottle jack to press down on several points to get it back into shape. It takes some patience and experimentation but the results were decent. On a chrome bumper, the chrome plating can crack and peel where it has been bent. The story behind this is that I was 17 when I first learned this and desperately needed to figure out how to fix a bent front bumper on a 67 Mercury F100 before my father found out about it! You might say I work best under pressure.

[fastEdsel]

Yup I would agree with the bottle jack solution as well. I think that bend should come out easy. When I restored my '64 International 1100A I took the outside mirrors and bumper to a plating company in Lethbridge, Alberta. The bumper was bent slightly more than yours but they actually re-stamped the bumper, plated it chrome and was $320. It looks nice, it looks new but I thought a little pricey. Yours should be an easy fix, just make sure it's well blocked and braced before you put the pressure to it. Definitely try to source a shop with a press and good operator first then sand, prime and re-paint. Good luck, let us know how it turns out!

[lorettalynn]

Thanks for the suggestions! I decided to try it "redneck style" just in case that'd do the trick before getting into anything more complex and it worked! I padded a cement post (out behind my husband's workplace, where he is the manager so I had permission. No good sturdy enough trees in my yard to bump into!)

I through a blanket over the post, lined it up and gave her a little gas a couple of times and managed to bend it back where it was with no further damage. Just a little bent toward the middle from the original mishap and some chipped off paint now. Those should be easy enough to take care of. Glad this worked out, but I was ready to move on to the bottle jack if it didn't.

Top photo is after, with the post I bumped and bottom is the before and after. The light bezel was dinged up already, not from this incident. I would have made a video of the action but didn't think to until after, was just too excited to get it fixed.

bumperbend.jpg

[sargentrs]

Now that's how to git 'r done!

[lilorbie]

fordyarddog i am not sure about the rosebud,s that you have? but mine put out more than enough heat. just take it in small steps. i did not mean to heat up all of the bumper at the same time. also if you work from the back side it should not leave any marks ,small at the most.in the state where i live there is no one that doe,s chrome plating. we have a powder coating shop close by but that is it.