Bumper brackets for late Westy - 3 bolt or 4 bolt?

[eche_bus]

I just bought a pair of used rear bumper brackets to replace the bent ones on my 76 Westy. This bus was built in Feb. 76 and so has more in common with '77 models than early 76's.

I was surprised when I opened the box to find these brackets only have 3 square holes (1 top, 2 bottom) for the bolts that mount them to the bumper.

My bumper (which I don't know for sure if it is original to this bus) has 4 bolt holes (2 top, 2 bottom) for each bracket. My original brackets also have 4 square holes.

Question #1: Which bracket + bumper (3 bolt vs 4 bolt per side) was originally used on a 1976 bus?

Question #2: When did VW switch from using 3 to 4 (or vice versa) bolts to mount the bumpers to the brackets?

Bonus Question: I just bought new bumper carriage bolts and the heads look real small compared to the old ones, which might not be OG. Can someone tell me what the original bolt head size for these?

[poptop tom]

My 4/76 rear bumper has 4 per side on the brackets themselves.
But the actual bumper has only one hole on the top of the bumper, and two on the bottom. So one hole in the bracket goes unused.

The top width of the head of the carriage bolt measures 5/8" across.
_________________
'76 Deluxe Campmobile

[eche_bus]

[curtis4085]

I Only have my Split here at home so I cannot answer your question but I did want to say you are doing a fantastic job. It's the little hurdles such as this that will make your project super tight and true to its year. I applaud your thoroughness!

Keep on inspiring!
_________________
Special Thanks to:
Headflow Masters - Vista, CA
www.headflowmasters.com

[poptop tom]

[busdaddy]

I just went and looked at an assortment of buses from 73-79 and none had more than one bolt on top at each side including a very original 76 that I'm sure has it's OG bumper. And the carriage bolt heads are roughly 5/8" diameter on all of them.
Sure someone didn't put your bumper on upside down?
_________________
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[ddesh]

My 73 westy had two bolts upper and lower and our74 sunroof bus has one bolt upper and two lower. Both buses were very original and from original owners.

[eche_bus]

[Hoody]

Thought you were not building a show Bus? Honestly Jon I think it was probably another cost cutting measure from VW. My 78 had 1 up and 2 down. IMHO 4 anchor points are much better than 2. I am building a show Bus which will be driven as much as time allows and I opted to cut the the extra 2 holes in my German bumper to match the Westfalia hitch. As long as you have the correct bolts and paint them, short of a concours judge no one will be the wiser and your bumper will be more secure.

[eche_bus]

[Hoody]

.....

[Tcash]

These have Four holes.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1600259

[eche_bus]

Thanks very much for bringing this to my attention, Tcash. Sincerely appreciated.

All things considered though, I'm going to go ahead and have the extra bumper holes welded up. I got a good deal on very good 3-hole brackets, about 1/2 what the ad for the 4-hole bracket is asking, and shipping adds another 20 bucks.

From what I can tell from photos and posts here, the majority of late buses used 3-hole (per side) bumpers. I have good reason now to doubt this is my bus' original bumper after adding up the clues:
* One bracket bent without corresponding bumper damage
* Wrong size bumper bolts
* Bright white overspray on bumper

So might as well make it the same as most.