Why won't 95 Impr. rear bumper slide out? 6 17mm bolts are out.

[brycarp]

I haven't spent a lot of time yet trying to figure this out, but I thought one of the learned denizens here might have a tip. I mainly want the bumper cover out of the way to do some rust remediation, but there are so many fasteners holding it to the bumper, including some with access blocked by the tail light housings, that I just figured it would be simplest to pull the bumper. I took out the six 17mm main bumper bolts, but it still won't slide out. And the blockage doesn't feel "bendy" like trim hanging on (I did unscrew the lowest/inboard screw on each mudflap so the mudflaps would go with the bumper cover.) When I try to slide the bumper out, it's blocked by something that feels like "metal hitting metal" but I don't see any extra retainer hook or anything. I did try lifting on the bumper before trying to slide out, but there's not much clearance with the aforementioned tail light housings.

 

This isn't really that big a deal because the bumper cover is now pretty floppy and I can get it pushed away from where I'm working on the rust, but it would still be easier to just have the whole bumper "thing" gone and out of the way.

 

Any thoughts?

 

Thanks,

Bryan

[bluedotsnow]

I believe to remove the whole thing there are 4 very large bolts same as front bumper but they are hidden taking apart the bumper never works just remove the whole thing from the metal mounts! I once had to get a license plate bulb and cover from an impreza for a friend, I found that removing the bumper from a junk yard car was the only way to get at the back to unscrew nuts from bolts allowing the light to come off with the bumper attached this was impossible for me to do especially without mechanic grade tools.

[brycarp]

I believe to remove the whole thing there are 4 very large bolts same as front bumper but they are hidden

 

Actually, there are three big bolts with 17mm heads on each side that seem to pretty obviously be the main structural attachment bolts for the bumper, and those bolts are already out. Now the bumper does "move around" relative to the car's frame, which wouldn't be the case before the removal of those six big bolts, but I still can't get the bumper to actually slide out.

[Subruise]

is there a notch in there? my 92 legacy had a notch, made it difficult

[bluedotsnow]

did you get the two smaller bolts each end but the wheel wells? on each side I believe there is one screw holding the bumber to the body.

 

check opposedforces.com/parts if you need a referance diagram

[brycarp]

I got it out. I wasn't missing removing any fasteners, but there's a hook formed out of the sheet metal of the car "frame" just forward of the forward-most bumper bolt on each side, and a loop at the very tip of the part of the bumper that "plugs in" to the car frame. the loop hooks over the hook, and holds the bumper in the correct position for the bolts to go in. So the maneuver I needed was to push forward (relative to the car) on the bumper and then rotate the bumper so the aforementioned loops would unhook from the hooks.

 

Now I see that the structural steel bumper is bent noticeably, so I guess that's another junkyard part for me to track down.

[bluedotsnow]

geez talk about unhooking a bra! at least you didn't use your teeth!

 

sorry about the miss information my 93 impreza didn't seem to have the same design or maybe a previous owner just it up so that the bolts were the only mount points, may it R.ust I.nto P.ieces it served me well.