60-66 Stepside rear step bumper modification

[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.