440fury
Well-Known Member
Hey Guys,
I've been working on a project this weekend that I've been wanting to do for months, and I figured I'd share in case anyone else wanted this info. I was inspired by a post from 72BluNblu many moons ago, and this weekend I had a go at it myself.
Here's the situation - I've never really cared for the shock bumper. Its not an end all be all for me, but I think the early 70s rear bumpers fit much nicer. Since the shock goes right through where the mounting holes should be, you need to make a block off plate and brace to mount the early style shock bumpers.
Here's what the panel looks like on the back of a "shock bumper" duster. The shocks on the bumper go through the D shaped holes, and have a monster bolt holding them on to the frame.
First I fabbed up a block off plate for the "D" shaped hole with some 16 gauge steel using some cardboard scrap as a template.
I didn't want to bank on this piece of sheet metal holding up the entire weight of the bumper, so I also build a bracket out of .100" sheet steel. This is an awful picture, but I show it much better later in the thread
After I gave everything a quick test fit, I welded in the block off plates. I make no claims of making exceptionally pretty welds - if it's strong, I roll with it.
Next, I clamped down the brackets behind the plates and welded them in. It's not a perfect fit, but its strong as balls, especially with the folded edge up top.
This is as far as I got this weekend, since the brackets from AMD were back ordered. Once the brackets arrive, I will follow up with some pictures of drilling the holes and mounting the bumper. Hope this helps anyone who want to do this swap as badly as I did.
If anyone is interested in the bracket, I made a model in Fusion 360 (free for hobbyists...) and have a flat pattern to make the cuts/measuring/bending easy.
I've been working on a project this weekend that I've been wanting to do for months, and I figured I'd share in case anyone else wanted this info. I was inspired by a post from 72BluNblu many moons ago, and this weekend I had a go at it myself.
Here's the situation - I've never really cared for the shock bumper. Its not an end all be all for me, but I think the early 70s rear bumpers fit much nicer. Since the shock goes right through where the mounting holes should be, you need to make a block off plate and brace to mount the early style shock bumpers.
Here's what the panel looks like on the back of a "shock bumper" duster. The shocks on the bumper go through the D shaped holes, and have a monster bolt holding them on to the frame.
First I fabbed up a block off plate for the "D" shaped hole with some 16 gauge steel using some cardboard scrap as a template.
I didn't want to bank on this piece of sheet metal holding up the entire weight of the bumper, so I also build a bracket out of .100" sheet steel. This is an awful picture, but I show it much better later in the thread
After I gave everything a quick test fit, I welded in the block off plates. I make no claims of making exceptionally pretty welds - if it's strong, I roll with it.
Next, I clamped down the brackets behind the plates and welded them in. It's not a perfect fit, but its strong as balls, especially with the folded edge up top.
This is as far as I got this weekend, since the brackets from AMD were back ordered. Once the brackets arrive, I will follow up with some pictures of drilling the holes and mounting the bumper. Hope this helps anyone who want to do this swap as badly as I did.
If anyone is interested in the bracket, I made a model in Fusion 360 (free for hobbyists...) and have a flat pattern to make the cuts/measuring/bending easy.
