Ok, so today I was removing the rear bumper to fix some rust. Here are some pictures...






Mind you this car has only seen two Michigan winters!

Well anyways, I noticed something interesting.... There is no absorber under the bumper cover! I can tell that the rear bumper cover has been repainted, so I'm guessing there was a fender bender at one point, and the shop the previous owner took it to saved a few bucks and never put one in! Goes to show why I like doing my own work....

 

Maybe that inner bumper is so rusty because it was also replaced after the previous damage? Just guessing here. Maybe replaced with a salvage part that was already rusted.
I know you have it looking new in no time.

 

Well, when I bought the car it wasn't even 3 years old yet, so for it to be repaired with old parts, I wouldn't imagine they'd be rusty yet either. It shows no signs of damage from an accident... I'm guessing it was probably just a minor fender bender where the cover needed replacing along with the absorber, but they never replaced the absorber since you don't see it.

I'm assuming the absorber is probably something I should have.... I'd rather that take the brunt force from an accident than have it go through the body panels.

I already have a coat of POR15 on it...just letting it dry before I put a second coat on. Looks pretty good already! Next I'll need to wash the car... It has 8 months of dust on it! LOL

 

I think the bumper beam itself has also been replaced, it should be body colored. It may or may not be a pattern part, but being painted in nothing more than "shipping primer", rust will come pretty quickly as you can see.

 

Oh really, those are body colored originally? Well yeah, if that's just primer, that would explain it...

 

Eric-

I can't say for 100% sure, but the pics I have seen of some members rides with bumper covers off, the bumper beams were painted their body color..

primer has no sealing abilities, in fact it holds water & wetness.

Unless it is a sealing primer.

Here's Gas Mans SS with fr bumper cover off.. Just for a look.

http://s99.photobucket.com/albums/l3...OLights007.jpg

 

Yeah, I saw his picture then...I searched for more pics, and I noticed too that his was silver. Yeah, I knew primer holds the water. My guess is that is why it rusted so much. I mean, to be honest that thing looks about as bad as my Lumina, which is 13 years old with 165k miles! There's no way a 6 year old car (but only 2 winters) with 50k should be that bad!

 

I've had all three of my front bumpers off for Cadillac horn installs and headlight bulb replacements, those beams are body colored.

Both the '06 and the '07 have had their rear bumpers replaced, and the bumper beams were body colored.

The new bumper beam on Paddy the '07 is body colored because the shop did things correctly and primed/painted it as part of the repairs after Mr. DUI hit me in December.

That black paint/primer is on new crash parts just to keep them from corroding during shipment, its not a finish that will last, so it needs to be painted.

 

Eric- What I see missing is the "Bumper Energy Absorber"
But you know that..


843- You pulled bumper covers for adding the horns. I just peeled back the inner fender..

 

Well either way the whole thing is now covered in POR15, so I'm thinking it's good to go. I'll just have to order the absorber sometime from the dealer.