Rear Bumper up or down?

[Dougieb]

Putting on a new exhaust system on my '72 Spider.
I noticed something unusual.
The bumper guards ("bumperettes" or whatever) that are in the front and rear bumpers are on differently.
On the front bumper, they are sticking longer side up.
On the rear bumper, they are sticking longer side down.
Sorry for no pictures.

I noticed this because the new exhaust with the new hangers hits them as it sticks out the back.
I can't go any lower with the exhaust or it will hit the rear suspension.

I am guessing that they were installed upside down when the PO had the car painted.
Just want to confirm this.
Thanks.

[baltobernie]

Here is the correct orientation of the '72 rear bumper guards:



Fiat used several versions on bumper guards before finally surrendering to the big bumper. On the '73, for example, the long side is down.

[Dougieb]

Awesome.
That is what I thought.
Now I just have to switch/flip them.

Just another reason to grumble at the PO.
Ha ha

[divace73]

i have seen them both up and down, I imagine they would be suited to match the opposing vehicle height to offer some form of minimal protection. I like when the longer section point down, kind of looks like fangs of a snake....
In real term any car that is going to impact our smaller bumper cars will do some damage

[Dougieb]

Ok. Just a couple of more questions.

Does it matter which way the half bumpers (the horizontal pieces) are mounted?
I am trying to figure out if the entire bumpers are upside down or if it is just the verticals.
It appears that the horizontals are a little longer (closer to the car body) on the top side.
I can't tell if that is real or just my eyes playing tricks on me.

One of the reasons I question this is because there appears to be three mount points.
They are not attached to the ones closest to the center (tabs hanging from the body seam).
I wondered if turning the entire bumper would make those points match up better.

Also, one of those tabs from the body is missing or broken off.
What is the easy fix for this?
Do new ones just bolt in?
Or is this a bigger problem?

Sorry about the no pics.
I will try and add them later.

[azruss]

the rear bumpers are built to fit the slope of the side fenders. If you put them upside down, the fit will be way off. with that said, you have a larger gap between the bumper and fender on the bottom than the top. This is for access to the mounting stud. The bumper bracket for the fender mount should be sloped to match the fender contour. You should have 2 studs for the main bracket to attach, i single slot on each side for that mount. There is also a very small attach point on the end of the bumper where to two pieces meet. This small mount should match up with the weld seam between the back rocker and back panel. As I recall there is a 2nd small angle bracket for that contact point.

[baltobernie]

If you look closely at the photo above, you'll notice that the inboard end of each bumper is asymmetrical. The (correct) Top side comes to a point; the Bottom is curved.