Beetle Bumper Installation:

Video Transcript:

Today we're going to show you how to install the 1968 to 73 beetle bumpers, bumpers brackets, bumper bracket seals, and all the hardware onto our restoration series beetle.

Before we install the bumpers and brackets, we're going to install the bumper bracket seals. The bumper bracket seal you'll notice has an inner lip and an outer lip, and the fender is going to sit in between the two lips. Slide the seal into the opening in the fender and make sure the inner lip is in place to hold the seal to the fender. Repeat the process for the other three bumper bracket seals for the front and the rear fenders.

With the bumper brackets loosely bolted to the bumper. Slide the brackets trough the seals in place to the fenders. Note that the two bumper bracket bolts on the lower edge, are on the bottom side of the bumper. This is the proper orientation of the bumpers, brackets, and the bolts.

With the bumper in place go under each fender well and loosely bought the bracket to the body. With the bracket to body bolts in place, check the fitment of the bumper the body. You want to make sure that the bumper sits level, that the hood opens without hitting the bumper and the gap from the bumper to the fenders is the same on both sides.

With the bumper fit checked, go back into the fender well and tighten down the bumper bracket to body bolts. Then tighten the bumper to bracket bolts. The front bumper is now installed and we can follow the same process for the rear bumper.

On the rear bumper again with the brackets loosely bolted in place, and we have the bottom bolt for the brackets on the bottom side of the bumper. You'll notice that the rear bumper has an angle cut at each end. This angle corresponds with the angle of the fender and is the correct orientation for the rear bumper.

Slide the bumper through the bumper bracket seals, which we installed earlier. Then go into each fender well and loosely bolt the bracket to the body. As we did in the front check the fitment of the bumper to the body. Making sure the bumper sits level that the decklid opens without hitting the bumper and the gap from the bumper to the fenders is the same on both sides and not hitting the fender.

With the bumper fit checked, tighten down the bumper bracket to body bolts in the fender wells. Then tighten the bumper to bracket bolts and the rear bumper installation is complete.

If you want a long lasting chrome finish, it is very important to clean the chrome after the installation with a good chrome polish and most importantly, after every car wash, you want to polish the bumpers as well.