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Homemade Rear Bumper with Trailer Hitch on a Shaved 280Z


hawaiiz

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Homemade Rear Bumper with Trailer Hitch on a Shaved 280Z

 

Hi guys - The pics suck because they are from my phone but I thought id show you all what Ive been doing in my spare time. Im not a body/paint but I plan to do as much as I can as best I can before I hand it off for final prep and paint.

 

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I wanted the Z shaved yet I still wanted a bumper, while it wont save me in a big crash it will stop the average shopping cart plus some..

 

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Whats up with the intergrated trailer hitch you say. 2 reasons, Well 1st i live 90 minuites from civilization and when I go I buy lots of stuff, Costco Etc. 2nd when we cruize "Old car days" and we go camping Ill have tons of stuff, not to mention the bike rack and other accessories.

 

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I bought some 1x2 channel and cut slits in it to get the desired curve. All and all it turned out better then I thought it would, but we will see when it get grinded, sanded, primed and painted.

 

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This is where it bolts to the front of the spare tire well and get a connection to a main structure.

 

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I have about 12 hours in this so far incuding the design and shopping. Zya Later. HawaiiZ

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I like your idea of integrating your trailer hitch into the bumper. I've been thinking about cutting much of my existing bumper away so that it is tucked tight to the bodywork. As you said, it won't protect from the big one but then most bumpers are only good for 5 mph anyway. Having a trailer hitch allows for a bike rack, a small trailer or, as I saw on one Z at the MSA show some years ago, a custom BBQ grill that attached via the hitch when the car was parked. :-) I don't know how practical that was but it brought a grin to my face. Keep us posted on your progress.

 

John

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Hi All

 

 

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I had a couple hours to play last night so I built the support for the bumper side of the hitch.

 

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Ive designed it to be able to remove the bumper if needed

 

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I also wanted the least amount of harware on the exterior so this mounts on the inside of the rear behind the gas tank.

 

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This minimized water pockets.

 

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I may weld a bead that can be grinded of for bumper removal if its wiggles under a trailer load.. But Ive stood on it already without even the extra bracket I just built and it holds pretty solid already.

 

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I know or it still looks like frakenstien but ill put some lipstick on it soon enough... Still not sure how to plug the hole when hitch not in use, plastic cap with maybe a Z logo emblem might be cool....or 3rd brake light..hmmm

 

 

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I likey - the 3 peice spoiler i plan to glass in..mmmm..happy joy

 

 

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One of my parts cars had these 5 slots,

 

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I sanded and cleaned them - that was a whole day in itself. Got the Lug nuts, washers and special ball hitch on the way. Still havent locked down the center caps, I dont really care for the 4 ear style center cap...any ideas? Also need the Z logo for the center caps.

 

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from that to this, I actaully put the rim on the car, locked on wheel and idled it in gear while I wire brushed, wet sanded then scotch bright. I still need to figure out what to use to seal the bright aluminun.

 

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Costco came through - installed nice stainless valve stems and weights on the inside. But this was weird, they couldnt get the tires on, the rims have bead locks - Sema rated rims - anyways had to bring the rims back home, reinstall the gas tank, and do the run in gear trick and grind down and round out the bead locks. Those BFG Traction TA's.

 

More pics will come when I get it cleaned up and mounted. HawaiiZ

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That's pretty cool. I used an old aftermarket hitch on mine and made a bar similar to yours that mounted behind the stock bumper to support the hitch and the other end bolted to the spare tire well. I towed a small trailer everyday for work for over a year until I painted the car and got something else for work.

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Man, things were going good yesterday, I got out to the barn at 9:00am, got the patches welded in. Took Lunch posted in welding section, then back at the barn and what to do.

 

I started on the bumper, I thought id clean it up. It was coing along great and then I thought Id weld up some seam on the inside of the bumper so its sealed and all. Well, I lesson I knew from before, when you weld, things move and I welded it up all right, solid as can be, but each weld shrunk the seam slightly and it ended up making more of a curve. And I had it nearly perfect before, I could pull it in and out easy and it fit like a glove, now it about 1 inch to curved. Damn.

 

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I also mocked up the spoiler, bigger then I thought it would be, I hope the color matching and glassing keeps it from looking so big, and not a bad fit, they are not bolted down yet just sitting there, Aslo the rear hatch drivers side doesnt like to sit flush, took off the wedge thing no diff, removed the rubber gasket and it came down fine. More fine tuning I guess.

 

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Every turn brings somthing new. I found quite a bit of bondo on the passenger rear lower quarter and also found rust, someoned bondoed up the weep holes, Idiot. More work.

 

 

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I guess Im gonna have to redo the bumper, since most of the design work is don it shouldn't take but a few hours. Nice thing about steel is you can chop off the problems and start with new steel, Now im glad I bought a 20ft peice.

 

This time I will tack weld in place and then brace it for final welding and finish.

 

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Crappy phone pics.

 

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Hi Dareon

 

Can you get any pics of this spoiler installed??? Anyone?

 

I am having some serious 2nd thoughts about that spoiler.

 

1st it on the last pic its very busy looking corner - I could

----the side light - But Id still require some type of custom side light

----Remove the trim guards ie side bumpers - I like the trim, I don't want to have to park at the back of the parking lot

 

2nd Original plans were to fill in all the seams ie Filler or Fiberglass

----Concerns about cracks come up

----I could leave it as a bolt on but hmmm not as good looking I think.

 

3nd The spoiler is just plain big, But I could grow to love maybe

 

PS The spoiler is very well built and fits nicely and I belive is kind of rare.

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This might seem like a really STUPID question, but how do you plan on holding the hitch bar in? I see no provision for a hitch pin, or is this not the reciever style of trailer hitch?

 

Warren

 

Excellent Question - The 1 1/4 ball hitch I ordered is 12" from the ball to the hitch pin, that get me into the tire well. So I will need to open the hatch and the tire well (now called my storage well) to dissconect and reconnect the pin.

 

Any more thoughts on the rear spoiler anyone. Im still undecided, but have decided to lose the moulding bumpers for sure now. Thanks HawaiiZ

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