HELP: 1983 308QV front bumper pushed in

Had a little mishap recently and the right side of the front bumper was pushed in (see picture below). I haven't taken it apart but wanted to ask if anyone could recommend the best way to fix this. I know there is an "energy absorber" (as described in the 1983 spare parts catalogue) or shock absorber that attaches the bumper to the frame. Can this shock be pulled back out to its original position or does it need replacement?

I recall reading threads on 308 owners modifying their front and rear bumper shocks by shortening the supports to give it a more recessed European look but I couldn't find those threads.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Wilson
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I would remove the bumper and see what's going on in there and if you can, push the left side in to match the right side, looks better.

 

Thanks Mike. I agree, the recessed bumpers look a lot better but probably provides a bit less protection. Will take it apart and see what gives!

 

I suspect your bumper shock leaked. You can drill a hole in the other one and push it in too or I'm sure you can find a replacement from Ferrparts or Eurospares. Looks so much better pushed in but only if you don't intend to show it. I bought the shorter mounts from Macarbon but will revert back when comes to concours time.

 

Glad that there was no other damage to the car.

Also glad to see the bumper shock system actually works!

 

Labman,

When you say "leaked," do you mean the bumper shocks are oil-filled and the leak caused the bumper recessing into the body? Would drilling the shock on the opposite side drain oil from the shock and allow the bumper to also go in? What part of the shock would you drill and with how big a drill bit?

Thanks for your advice.

 

Thanks Brian A.

 

Yes. I believe they are filled with oil for shock dampening and can easily be drained by drilling a hole in it. Someone here with experience in doing that can give you better info than I can with this. I just removed the OEM bumper shocks and replaced with shorter struts. Disadvantage is now I have no shock absorption in my from bumper. But lets face it, if I run into a back of a car, the 308 nose is going underneath it anyhow.

 

This has happened to my '83 308 a few times.
For now, just slip a rope behind it & pull it back out. It'll look fine.
But your bumper shock is popped. Find another on ebay ($50-$99) and it's a fairly simple matter to swap the bad shock for a replacement.

There's a few threads on drilling out the good shock or buying Euro braces for the bumper. Personally, I like the added protection of bumper shocks

 

The bumper will not save you regardless.

 

Thanks Labman. I think I like the extra protection with the shocks but we'll see if I can locate another shock...otherwise I'm getting the drill out!


(Yes. I believe they are filled with oil for shock dampening and can easily be drained by drilling a hole in it. Someone here with experience in doing that can give you better info than I can with this. I just removed the OEM bumper shocks and replaced with shorter struts. Disadvantage is now I have no shock absorption in my from bumper. But lets face it, if I run into a back of a car, the 308 nose is going underneath it anyhow.)

 

Thanks Clyde M. I'm starting my search now.

BTW, when you say "your bumper shock is popped," do you mean it will no longer work to absorb any further hits? Only good for one pop?!

Anyone out there done a "Euro" conversion - i.e. shortened the shocks to recess both front and rear bumpers? I've seen threads previously, but couldn't find them.

 

I have. Both front and rear. I have a post on how to do the rear bumper somewhere on here. See if you can do a search on my posts. It's pretty simple by removing the spacers in the rear bumper mounts. For the fronts just go on the Macarbon website and buy the 308 short struts and make a swab. It comes with detailed instructions. Still fairly simple.


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Wilson, here's a bumper reducer that I have on my car from MAcarbon: https://www.macarbon.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=212&vmcchk=1&Itemid=212&redirected=1&Itemid=212

 

Thanks Miketuason and Steve (Labman). The Euro look is pretty slick.

 

I was removing the front bumper and in the process, the right side bumper shock "popped" back out to its original position(?). Anyway the bumper seems fine now and is aligned properly. Go figure.

Thanks to everyone for your help and suggestions!

 

Correcto. Once a shock has popped, its useless. If you try & pull it out, you see you can probably push it back in fairly easily. There is a service that rebuilds them buried here in one of the threads.

 

ClydeM, thanks for that information. I'll see if I can find the outfit that rebuilds them.

 

Try a wanted ad in the classified section, there must be dozens of pairs of these things in boxes stored in the garages of people who have installed MaCarbon struts or euro bumpers. I have two but for purely illogical reasons I hang onto all of my original parts. I even kept the old fuse blocks (as if I'd ever reuse them) and rear bumper spacers but I'm sure there are more sensible guys out there that would be glad to let them go.

 

Exactly like me. I need them for concours judging to bring the car back to factory correctness and/or I ever decide to sell.


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What color is your car?

Looks good

 

Tommy,

It's Rosso Rubino (ruby red).

Thanks for the compliment!

 

Except it isn't true. I have popped out many of those in exactly the way you did. Just loosen the bolts to unbind the mounts and they pop back in position. Bumper mount is fine.

 

That's what I was thinking, since it popped back out it was probably just jammed by the asymmetry between the two mounts that occurred when you hit whatever it was that you hit but the shock is stilled charged.

 

I thought it was kind of strange that the affected shock would just pop back out if it had lost its internal oil or integrity as a shock. I agree with Paul (kcabpilot). Thanks Brian for confirming.