Front bumper alignment

[peters3103]

Hello all,
I’ve bought a front bumper hardware kit from SNGB and am proposing to attempt the correct alignment of my bumpers. It has the typical bumper droop. Having read several posts here it sounds ominous. Being an early car there are no “cutouts” on the underside of the bumpers for access to the mountings. Do I need to remove the headlight glasses and sugar scoops for access? Any tips greatly accepted.
The photo below on a recent mountain rally has prompted me to tackle this job after only 12 years ownership!

Cheers,
Pete

[abowie]

Yes, assuming you have a 3.8 the sugar scoops need to come out.

Before you start it is really worthwhile making sure the bolt and captive nut threads are scrupulously clean and go together really easily as access is awkward.

It helps to have a second person to control the bumper while you're fitting the bolts although I can do it myself. I have considered substituting the bolts for a stud in the past although I have never actually tried it. As you will discover getting the bolt thread aligned to start in the captive nut can be very tricky, and a stud with a nut inboard might get you around that problem.

The key is using the chamfered square spacers on the front of the 2 bolts to get the angle correct.

The holes you will find in the bonnet are often very agricultural which is why they used the round spacer with the bevelled edge. I use a really big thick square washer inside under the bolt head and spring washer. Often you will need to grind this to shape.

I suggest you mask the paint around the corner of the bonnet mouth and at the back of the guard where the pointy end of the bumper fits.

Aim for a gap of 6mm around the top of the bumper. One trick is to start with a stack of washers that is thicker than you need, then measure both the gap and the washer stack thickness. Subtract the amount over 6mm you are from your stack and you will be pretty close. You can also sticky tape the washers together to minimise the annoyance of them falling off.

I have in the past made up a washer out of 2 or 3 mm heavy rubber. Make the centre hole a tight fit on your bolt and it will hold your washer stack onto the bolt. Additionally you can use it to fine tune your 6mm gap by crushing it down.

I used to fit the rubber trim after I had the bumper adjusted. You use a soft plastic stick (I made a sort of blunt chisel out of a toothbrush handle) and fingers to slide it in. More recently I have taken to using Super Glue to attach it to the bumper prior to the final fitting. This works better IMO.

Have fun.

PS. If your motif bar attachment bolts are intact DO NOT remove or change them. The new ones fall apart almost instantly.

If I need to replace them I have taken to using a long bolt and sliding 2 short sections of fuel hose over this, front and back from the motif bar ear. The rubbers hold it snugly but it can still move as the bonnet flexes. Do not be surprised if your motif bar doesn't fit as well once the bumpers are adjusted. Having to oval the hole in the ear or grind the ear smaller to get it to fit is common. As it is made of brass this isn't a problem from a rust perspective.

[peters3103]

Andrew, thanks very much for your comprehensive info as usual - much appreciated.
I have a fellow Jag club member (S1 4.2) who has done this job on his car reasonably recently so will ask him to offer a second pair of hands and some knowledge too.

Cheers
Pete

[abowie]

Andrew, thanks very much for your comprehensive info as usual - much appreciated.
Cheers
Pete

Welcome. I am currently waiting for my trimmer to come back from his overseas holiday and I have completely run out of things to do on 889457 so I have far too much time on my hands.

My"job" for this morning is to dig over the veggie patch with some mulch and fertiliser but it is cold and I am lazy so I am procrastinating.

[cactusman]

Extremely wise words from Andrew. I took mine off to replace the rubber trim....what a pain in the backside to get them back on. All I can add is so it on a day when you are in the mood and allow lots of time. Supplies of tea are good along with patience. One of many e type jobs I wonder how they did it On the production line....they must have had special people

[johnetype]

I used to fit the rubber trim after I had the bumper adjusted. More recently I have taken to using Super Glue to attach it to the bumper prior to the final fitting. This works better IMO.