Rear bumper gap fix attempt

[SVTinAR]

Dan,
I like the result, can you help me understand more clearly how this is working? It seems like the wire is pulling down. The part of that I’m not seeing is how does that close the gap? I would like to give your method a try once I have a clear idea of what it’s actuallt doing. Thank you.

The upper part of the wire runs through a folded lip on what I think is a pinch weld in the body on the sides of the trunk. The folded lip is a metal tab that is about 1-1/4 inch long I would guess and the 18 ga wire threaded through the crease where it was folded back up on its self. It's right above and to the outside of the tailpipe tips.

So the wire is supporting the lower valance area and exhaust tips weight up to the sheet metal body.

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[SVTinAR]

When I posted my pix upon arrival in late May, many here noted the very tight rear bumper cover gap. Kept in garage, it is never in the sun. One summer day, I parked outside. Upon my return a few hours later, the gap was much bigger.

Note the the relative angle of the bumper cover vs the sheet metal appears to grow. The heat affected it and now mine is much like everyone's. I started looking at all late model Mustangs, and it is a very prevalent issue. The gap on the line parallel to the ground is not bad, but the gap on the upward angle seems to grow with time and these two mating surfaces do not seem parallel. While all of your efforts are of interest, it appears to me that this is just not designed to yield a tight gap. FWIW :shrug:

That's interesting. I bought my car with 2600 miles on it and the bumper gap didn't look too bad but I've put about 800 miles on it since and I've noticed the gap increasing - particularly on the drive side. Some of that time has been sitting outside at work. My little bailing wire trip probably restored it to where it was before.

 

[GTthree50]

The upper part of the wire runs through a folded lip on what I think is a pinch weld in the body on the sides of the trunk. The folded lip is a metal tab that is about 1-1/4 inch long I would guess and the 18 ga wire threaded through the crease where it was folded back up on its self. It's right above and to the outside of the tailpipe tips.

So the wire is supporting the lower valance area and exhaust tips weight up to the sheet metal body.

Thanks for clarifying that.

 

[SVTinAR]

That picture is with the jack in place. I was showing how tight you can get the gap with the jack, prior to attempting a fix. Like I stated, my solution just kept my gap from getting worse than it was prior to the attempt.

Been thinking about this. I may get a board and towel and try a jack next week end and see what it does on my car and re-tighten my wires. I would think you need to be careful to not put too much pressure on it.

 

[Zombo]

Been thinking about this. I may get a board and towel and try a jack next week end and see what it does on my car and re-tighten my wires. I would think you need to be careful to not put too much pressure on it.

With the arrangement you have, I think tightening the wires while jacked up will improve the situation. Thinking about it, I wonder if replacing the majority of the wire with turn buckles might help. I think I might investigate this, myself. There are all kinds of materials and sizes available.

 

[SVTinAR]

With the arrangement you have, I think tightening the wires while jacked up will improve the situation. Thinking about it, I wonder if replacing the majority of the wire with turn buckles might help. I think I might investigate this, myself. There are all kinds of materials and sizes available.

I agree - I have a right angle drill and I might see if I can snake it up there and drill the pinch weld and get a threaded anchor in there.

That photo you posted - was that all done just with the jack or had you had your bumper cover off sometime and worked with the brackets before that?

 

[Zombo]

^Just the jack.

 

[SVTinAR]

Round 2 - bumper gap

Tried another approach to the bumper gap today. I substituted 3M rod threaded on one end in lieu of the twisted wire to tension and support the exhaust tips/lower bumper valance. I used a close quarter drill to drill a 1/8 inch hole through the pinch weld up above where I secured the wire before. I was able the get the drill in above the muffler and drill without too much trouble.





3mm rod and nuts/bolts - tiny stuff. Strong enough but had to resort to a set of ignition wrenches to tighten the nuts.



I tried to fabricate a wider support to catch both exhaust tip brace bolts but kept running into interference so I ended up modifying what I used for the wire by putting a 90 deg bend in it to catch the threaded end of the rod. I bent the other end of the rod to form a hook to catch in the hole up above.



I then used Zombo's suggestion to lift the bumper with a jack and then I tightened up the rod/bolts. Results are definitely better - driver side is at .010 in gap and other side is about .015 in gap - both after I backed off the adjustment a little. I noticed one side is fairly tight against the bottom of the tail light but the other side still has a pretty wide gap - so lights may need some adjusting.





I backed off because I could see some distortion across the bottom of the panel under the exhaust tips since the load of pulling the bumper up is all being placed on the outside exhaust tips mounting bolt. It's not really noticeable except down at ground level but probably not the best of situations.

So - back to thinking out what more I can do. I think if the inside mounting bolt for the exhaust tips could also be supported I think that would help. There's a pinch weld across the rear of the trunk pan that I could hang it from. I might also be able to hit a muffler hanger for support. In the meantime I think I've at least got it hitched up better than it was.

 

[firestarter2]

Did you remove the rear diffuser?

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