"Extra" front bumper spacer part

[svenedin]

Ever since I have owned my Minor it has had what might be extra parts as part of the front bumper fixings.

Underneath the large cup there is a metal spacer and on the other side there are 3 washers to make up the thickness of the spacer which I had assumed was lost many years ago.

Recently there was a discussion about bumpers and looking at the parts diagrams I cannot see the tubular metal spacer. The weird thing is, my bumper fits much better to the wing without the tubular spacer.

Is the tubular spacer a standard part?

Stephen

IMG_2566.jpeg (1.42 MiB) Viewed 6133 times

IMG_2567.jpeg (1.27 MiB) Viewed 6133 times

IMG_2569.jpeg (1.59 MiB) Viewed 6133 times

[les]

It’s a sloppy fit over the thread, so I’d conclude it’s non standard.

[King Kenny]

Mine has several flat washers that are used as spacers to ensure that the bumper sits level and equidistant on both sides. I think that one side has four or five whilst the other only has a couple.

[svenedin]

So it seems these parts were added to improve the fit at some point even though they now make the fit worse. I have left them off but kept the parts just in case.

Stephen

[ManyMinors]

The spacer is not standard. Generally one washer was fitted behind the cap. Most of these cars will have had a bump or two over the years and owners/repairers will have fitted all sorts of things to space out the bumper to adjust the panels. Having replaced the front wings on one of my Minors recently, I have had to use different sized washers to obtain the best bumper gaps. Even the new "Heritage" wings are far from a perfect fit