Suck in that front bumper...
 

I have my truck completely torn down and my bare frame is sitting in the garage. I am trying to take care of everything on the frame so that I can take it to get powder coated. I didn't think to measure before I tore all the sheet metal off of the frame, and I want to suck in the front bumper. I like the front bumper to be left on the truck, but do not like how far out in front of the valance it sits in stock form. So I was going to cut some material out of the front horns of the frame. Was wondering if there was a fairly standard amount of material to remove to get the look I'm describing, or if I have to mount everything back on the frame to figure this out. Maybe someone can measure how far their stock bumper sits out from the valance so that I have a rough idea of how much material to remove. Any help is appreciated.

Also, any other info you can provide if you have done this before would be appreciated as well. This is my first go round with these trucks, and I don't want to screw my frame up. ;)

At the end of the frame the "horns" have a flair to them. In other words, the frame at the very end is almost twice as wide as the rest of the frame. The point at which the angle meets the narrow is just about the leading edge of the valence. In simpler terms...if the back edge of your bumper sits forward of this point then you should be fine. I would leave 1 inch from the rear of the bumper to the intersection of the angle. You are going to have to fabricate something in this area anyway since there will not be enough of the flaired section of the frame horn left to support both bumper bolts. A picture would be easier to understand but I am not an artist.

I understand what your saying, and thank you for the info. I thought I remembered that where the frame begins to flare was the front of the valance, but I wasn't entirely certain. very much appreciated. :-drink

You'll also want to remember that while the valance is fairly straight across, the bumper curves in closer to the truck at the ends.

I`m thinking of doing the same and I hope to cut off a part of the frame and re weld the ends back to mount the bumper, is this feasible?

I don't think that I would go to that extent...once you know how far back you intend to move the bumper, the outside holes can be drilled directly into the frame. The two inside holes will need to have some metal added before they can be drilled. Maybe you could use a portion of the frame horn as a "tab" to weld back on for these inner holes.

Welding a portion of the frame for tabs would be easier than re welding the frame ends back on? Just asking because I haven`t gotten that far and at present my 56 is at the painter shop.

It's been awhile, but I think I took 2.5" off the front of the frame rails and just re-drilled and trimmed for the stock bumper..I DO remember having to trim the upper bumper bracket to allow room/clearence of the lower valance.I have the measurement written down in my notes, and will post specific's tommorow..

Here is a pic of a frame horn. Given what Mertz has said and looking at this pic I can see where there may be no need to weld on additional material. If you go back 2.5 inches there will still be room to drill both holes.

You can trim off the excess frame material, drill new holes in the frame, and drill new holes in the bumper brackets. Some bracket trimming might be needed to clear the valance. Moving the holes back is simple. A sheet of paper over the frame holes, rub your fingers over them and it'll show the hole locations. Move it back and mark those holes into the frame, & drill. I don't think you have to add material to the frame for the inside holes because if you take it back that far, the bumper will be touching the valance. I don't know how big the gap is between the valance & the bumper is but I'd imagine you could probably bring it in about 4" before you'd have to add material to the frame.

You can cut the frame horn in half, remove however much material you desire, and weld it back together. Pretty simple. Some bracket trimming might be needed to clear the valance.

I don't run a bumper on mine and don't have frame horns anymore so I can't run out and pull any measurements, but I've done this same thing on a friends '53. We just cut the frame in half and moved it back and had to modify the bumper brackets to clear the valance.

I checked some notes this morning and found the bumper moved back 2 1/4" vs. the 2 1/2" I noted earlier,..apparently that was using the stock bolt spacing, and just moving everything back,..some bumper bracket modification was needed, but nothing about that procedure was noted.If one wanted the bumper closer to the valance,more detailed examination of the part fit/relationship will be required. The frame horn end gets wider at the forward end,..if one was simply cut a section of frame out and re-install/weld it back on, interference with the valance frame-horn opening becomes apparent. Might be simpler in the short run to make a custom bumper bracket,designing one that takes up less space than the original,then trimming the frame-end as nec.
For me, 2 1/4" brought things in close enough,..and I realize I'm trading some bumper integrity for looks..but,as an added benefit, I don't bang my shins into the front bumper anymore..

I love this friggin' site!!! :-jammin This is great info. Thanks everyone... :-dancing1