Rear bumper absorber & crash bar

I removed the rear bumper skin off my '90 Anny to do some repairs to it, and found out that the internal crash absorber was 'reshaped' on the left side, sort of melted/mushed, apparently from the time I ran around without a down firing exhaust tip on that side. Doesn't affect the way the skin mounts, but I'd like to replace it.

Before I take apart more than I need to, does anyone know if the plastic absorber can be removed from the metal bar? Looks like some sort of push pin/nipple in a few locations. Can I just pop it off and source a good one, or do I need to remove the bolts that hold the bar on and replace the assembly?

I located a parts diagram, but it doesn't show any detail on how the absorber and crash bar mate.

https://www.bluespringsfordparts.co...gine/body-cat/bumper-and-components-rear-scat

Ken

I think it is riveted on. But yes it separates.

The internal formed crush barrier under the bumper cover is riveted on to the re bar , you can easily drill them out to remove the damaged unit but be aware you need to reinstall the next one with the proper rivets that have a large washer face to spread the contact pressure point over the plastic otherwise they will just pull off with very little down force , I could not get what I wanted so I used the general rivets and installed painted washers so they don't rust .
Also be aware that you need a long nose rivet gun to be able to get the rivet seated to do the pull because of the depth of the crush barrier [ I am guessing about a 4 inch nose ] , its not that hard to do but you do have to make sure you apply a lot of forward pressure on the rivet when activating the gun to make sure it is seated and giving the best clamp force as possible .
Dave .

KMT said:

I removed the rear bumper skin off my '90 Anny to do some repairs to it, and found out that the internal crash absorber was 'reshaped' on the left side, sort of melted/mushed, apparently from the time I ran around without a down firing exhaust tip on that side. Doesn't affect the way the skin mounts, but I'd like to replace it.

Before I take apart more than I need to, does anyone know if the plastic absorber can be removed from the metal bar? Looks like some sort of push pin/nipple in a few locations. Can I just pop it off and source a good one, or do I need to remove the bolts that hold the bar on and replace the assembly?

I located a parts diagram, but it doesn't show any detail on how the absorber and crash bar mate.

https://www.bluespringsfordparts.co...gine/body-cat/bumper-and-components-rear-scat

Ken

Click to expand...

Thanks gentlemen, looked closer and found the rivets.

I ended up removing the assembly, two nuts and one bolt, each side.

Will pull a good one off a '92 donor from PnP next week, maybe $30.