[Trifecta]

Putting trim and bumpers on my car last night we noticed how badly the front bumpers drooped at the ends. The bumper seemed straight so we looked elsewhere. We noticed when we tightened the top nut the angle pointed lower at the end. We decided to shim the top part of the bumper with about 5 large flat washers. Perfect
I've noticed this droop on a lot of 56's, specially those with the grill extension as the top of the bumper end is supposed to run parallel with the grooves on the extension. This makes the downward angle of the bumper end look more obvious.

 

[angs1957]

Here`s what`s in the library

 

[Trifecta]

Mounting the bumper was about a 20 or 30 minute job for two guys. Mounting it so that the ends didn't give us a frowning bumper took over an hour.
I believe it will make mounting the large grille guard a lot easier. Assembling the grille guard is a project in itself. I'm turning that over to a machine shop.

 

[enigma57]

Do you mean like the front bumper on my old '56? Used to be quite common on these cars back when people used bumper jacks.

I had already had my share of cars falling off those jacks. Even had one slip off and the jack hit me in the head and knocked me out for about 15 minutes, so wouldn't use anything but hydraulic or scissor jacks under the frame by the time I built this car in the '70s. Front bumper was that way when I bought it.

Happy Motoring,

Harry

 

[Trifecta]

Yeah. Actually, it doesn't look too bad. I've seen worse. I would ask car owners about it and either they hadn't noticed, or didn't care. I like straight lines. Can't stand to see an uneven picture on the wall, or play pool on an uneven pool table.

 

[enigma57]

:tu Same here. Crooked pictures are meshugenah machen.

Wasn't a problem with my '55s...... I always ran them with no front bumper. Welded a piece of 2" iron pipe between the frame rails and a couple of 5/16" bolts to it so I could mount the front license plate.

Just left the '56 bumper the way it was and never got around to working with the bumper brackets to get it straighter.

Happy Easter,

Harry

 

[carls 56]

mine is similar, been that way since I got it. might try and fix it one day, thanks. :tu

 

[carls 56]

forgot pics. :damnmate:

 

[Chevyragtop57]

I had not noticed on mine. I will look the next time I can see them. Mike

 

[Trifecta]

forgot pics. :damnmate:

Just a smidgeon. If it wasn't for the groves on the grille extension, it would hardly be noticeable.

 

[max46]

Never heard of droopy bumpers?? I heard of droopy...oh forget it.

 

[Trifecta]

Here's how mine came out by shimming the top bolts that mount the bumper.
I don't know why but the end of the bumper on the passenger side vibrates. My engine has a bit of a lope due to a hotter than normal cam. This could be the reason but why one side and not the other? Gotta check the brackets.

 

[nomadawhat]

Had the same problem with my 56 for years. Finally got around to fixing it recently. When the bumper shop did the smoothy treatment (around 1980) they welded the brackets to the rear of the bumper and we did not trial fit it before chrome. We spent a day modifying the brackets on my '57 Nomad, so I then moved on to the 56. I took the bumper off and used the die grinder to enlarge the rear mounting holes on the brackets. Sits a lot better now - the avatar photo is before I did the mods.

Cheers, Des

 

[Trifecta]

Here's a few more pics of results simply by using shims.

 

[DavidY]

If you Google 1956 chevrolet front bumper under images it looks like almost all 56's have that droop, even customs. It's almost like it's supposed to be that way.

 

[Trifecta]

I don't think it is. It's a visual distraction easily corrected.