rear bumper splash plates

[chris123]

Hi people,

Can anybody advise me are rear bumper splash plates necessary the van has gone in for a paint job and upon removing the bumper there was a lot of rust in the are where the plates can these be left off when I replace the rear bumper

thanks

[Convoy]

They are heat shields . More of a safety item than anything else as they shield dresses, clothing, etc. from contacting a hot muffler. Not totally necessary.

[busdaddy]

The pans support the ends of the bumper, without them the ends wiggle up and down and eventually crack the blade at the mount bolts. They also keep rocks from bouncing off the inside of the blade and chewing up the back of the bus. Never seen them cause rust, did the bus sit a long time with leaves or pine needles trapped in there?
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[Dana Champion]

Back in the day it was common place to remove them. Keeping these critters more stock original today is where it's at. I would put them back on. They are available, you might have to get them overseas.

[awreed]

As busdaddy said, these splash pans are absolutely necessary to support the ends of the bumper from wiggling up and down. This is what they look like on the assembled rear bumper with brackets

Without any splash pans or anything else to support the bumper, you'll get cracks in the paint/powdercoat where the bracket carriage bolts are. Look closely. With enough bumping and wiggling up and down, the steel of the bumper can begin to tear as well

These are not always easy parts to find, so in the meantime get some steel and bend it to the correct shape. Use some rubber gaskets to protect your paint. This is what I did while searching for my splash pans. This won't keep rocks from hitting the underside of the car, but they'll hold the bumper steady.

[Tcash]

If this is for your 1972. Only 72 splash pans will fit.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_search.php?...t_dir=DESC
Good Luck
Tcash

[chris123]

I thanks everybody for your advice , I will be putting them back on

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I came across this while searching for info on splash pans. I see from the above picture that they appear to be the white bumper color. I recently got a used set to refurbish for a 70 I'm working on, and although all the top paint had flaked off, the bottom had some black paint under some undercoating. So, are they all white, white top with black bottom, or is the black paint a rattle can job that has nothing to do with the color?

[airschooled]

[Lil Lulu]

After what I saw happened to a friend's bus from a parking tap on the rear bumper, I have opted to run with no rear bumper. On my bus it would have just been a ding. It ripped the shit out of both rear corners on his and fucked up the bumper. Hit and run.
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'72 Deluxe - Niagara Blue w/pastelwiess Camper Special 2L dual 40 Webers 002

'74 Hightop Weekender "Dixie" 1800 34 Del singles

[wcfvw69]

I sourced an original, non restored set of 70' splash pans. They were black from the factory and didn't look gloss but more like the engine tin glossiness or semi gloss.

They are absolutely needed unless you want your bumper ends flopping around and looking terrible.
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Interesting...... So the 70 I got them for didn't have them. And like mentioned, if you bumped the end of the bumper with your knee, it would sit there and vibrate like a tuning fork. The drivers side of the body was completely smooth without any mounting hole, or raised section. After doing some investigating, it turned out it had been bumped into and that section of the body had been patched, and filled over. It's a shame because that was about the only bad spot on the whole Bus. It also explains why they weren't on because the drivers side one was probably destroyed. The black paint I did find on mine was a satin type finish, so I'll put them back in that. For anyone's future reference, SEM's Hot Rod Black is a nice catalyzed paint that has about a 60%/degree gloss. Thanks to all for the info!

[awreed]

When I found those splash pans they were still primer gray. I had no idea what color they were supposed to be, so I just had them powder coated to match the bumper. Guess I should have done some research first before acting- oops The white on white still works for me though.

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