I hate this, ‘34 bumper bolt, how do I fix it?

[Digger]

Well, I consider myself be of standard abilities, not a complete mechanic that can break down an engine or anything but this kind of small stuff really bugs me and I can’t figure this one out.

I’m not a big fan of the 33-34 Ford bumper guards so I will take them off, because I think they take away from the smooth lines of the car especially in the front. But then putting in the oval bolt, I can never tighten it down properly with it staying perfectly straight up and down.

How do I hold it in place without scratching the bumper or screwing up the threads and getting it tight enough?

[V8COOPMAN]

Originally Posted by Digger

How do I hold it in place without scratching the bumper or screwing up the threads and getting it tight enough?

Digger ....I would imagine that I (or YOU) could hold the bolt straight with the force of one hand, while I (or YOU) burp the nut on the back side with a pneumatic impact wrench. The idea here being that the tightening happens so quickly that it likely wouldn't take but a couple of attempts to get 'er done STRAIGHT, without the bolt moving.

Coop/AMERICAN

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[cas3]

Yup, and run a die or thread chaser over it first so you are in complete control

[deuce lover]

The orig bumper bolt has a square on the back side behind the head like a carriage bolt.That could be rounded over. Or the square hole on the bumper is no longer square. If its the bumper bolt -find another maybe. Show a pic of the backside of that BB ? If its worn-bead blast the back and tig weld it just behind the head and file it to fit correctly then repolish the SS cap.

[19Fordy]

To prevent scratching cut a thin nylon washer to fit over the square part of the bolt so that it rests against the bumper surface..

Use JB WELD to reform the square head of the bolt, if needed. You could also use solder and then file it to match the square head. "Burping" and using a die on the bolt threads are good ideas. Cas3 has a good idea too if you don't have a TIG welder.

[Lawson Cox]

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I'm old and forgetful, but aren't 34 bumper bolts round rather than oval? my 2¢.

[DavidG]

For starters, are you sure that you are using the correct bumper bolt, 40-17758-B with 1/2" threads, and not either the '33 bolt (40-17758-A) or the '37 plus bolt (78-17908), both of which have smaller 7/16" threads? Use of either of the 7/16" bolts would account for the sloppy fit of the bolt in the square hole in the '34 bumper bar.

It could be the photo, but the shape of the head of the bolt that you are using suggests that it is a 78-17908 bolt, which are far more plentiful than either of the 40-prefix bolts. In the attached photos (not very good ones, but good enough to distinguish the three different head shapes), the bolts are 40-17758-B , 40-17758-A , and 78-17908, from left to right.

Just for the record, no bumper guards were released by Ford during the '33 model year. The '34 bumper guards can be installed on '33 bumpers by enlarging the holes in the bumper brackets to accept the larger 1/2" bolts, but then so can '35 or '36 bumper guards be installed by enlarging those holes and they would look equally out of place because of the resulting slant of the guards.

[DavidG]

Lawson, Yes, with bumper guards, the bolt heads were round, but without bumper guards the '34 bolt heads were oval (please see #7).