Hm, my front bumper looks like it needs bending slightly...

[alaric]

Hi all. I made it back from Toronto after a nice few days waiting for the ash to settle. Good to be home but as always I'm struggling to get my sleeping patterns right again.

I've just fitted my front bumper. Since it was last on the body has been restored, I've reinforced the nose section, and the bumper has been re-chromed. It's in place, and all the holes line up fine. However, It's not sitting down well at the ends and looks like it could do with being bent slightly to match the curvature of the nose; it currently makes contact in the centre and is too far from the body at the ends until I put the bolts in. It fits ok as it is, but if I tighten up the bolts it'll stress the nose which I don't want it to do. It probably only needs to come in a few mm at each end.

So, I'm wondering whether to start bending the bumper - looks like it'll bend quite easily in the centre - to make it a better fit. I suspect this is the normal thing to have to do, but is it likely to damage the lovely chrome finish at some point, and has anyone got any suggestions for achieving a controlled bend? Should I try to get it to fit so as not to touch in the centre?

Thanks.

Sean.

[stugilmour]

Hi Sean. Hope you enjoyed Canada. Sounds like excellent progress on the car and getting close!

I was not happy with front bumper fitment done by the body shop and fiddled around with it for a day. I am using one of the Harrington SS replacements, which may be a bit different, but had similar problem.

Prior to fiddling with the bumper mounting, cover the paint work with green masking tape to avoid damage. I don't think you need to ask how I know this!

Rather than bending the bumper, I settled for a compromise that looks OK. Looking at any reference photos I could find, it appears front bumpers fit best when the top rear edge is about 1/8" to 1/4" high to the body contour using rubber washers or rubber pads at each mounting hole. The parts book calls up rubber pieces in this location, but does not provide dimensions. The rubber thickness required was different for each mounting hole pair, but I do not recall the final dimensions I used. Job took quite a bit of patience, with bumper on and off several times.

I also ended up adding some rubber packing to the lower edge of the bumper to get the 'ears' at the bumper ends to move upwards and reduce the 'elephant ear' look.

The top edge of the bumper does not follow the contour of the body exactly, with the outside ends maybe 3/4" out from the body contour at the turn signal. As the whole bumper is raised above the body it ends up looking right.

HTH

[david.g.chapman]

I cut rubber washers from an unwanted heater hose to mount my rear bumper.

You can get the thickness you want that way.

Dave Chapman.

[alaric]

Hi, yes I thoroughly enjoyed Canada thanks - I've always loved going there. My colleague has cousins that live near Toronto, so we made the most of it; it'll take some time to lose the weight after the bbqs. Niagara has changed a bit since I was last there in '92, and Toronto has a ridiculous amount of ongoing development. Where will it stop? You certainly have a great country. I hadn't realised such nice wine was made in Canada; Niagara is on about the same latitude as Tuscany in the north of Italy and has ~50 wineries in the area. I'll be enjoying some of the wine later this evening.

Anyway, back to the bumper. I didn't mention that I've actually used the old fuel tank rubber strip cut into ~2" square pieces under each bolt. At the moment it's the same thickness on all. I've used silicon sealant as glue to fix them to the underside of the bumper. So far no scratches - I'm bound to slip before long though.

It's the original bumper, but the car had its nose replaced in ~'76, so I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the bumper was straightened out or replaced around then, either of which may lead to a poor fit.

Looks ok as it is though actually. Nice to have some chrome going back onto the car. Think I'll go chrome mad for a few days and see what other bits I can get installed - door handles, door window frames etc etc.

Alll the best.

Sean.

[1964 S1]

Hi Sean, I think bending the bumper will affect the chrome plating. Maybe not immediately, but as the moisture in the air interacts with the plating and steel beneath, the cracks will begin to show and get worse. I guess it depends on how much you have to bend it. Luckily perhaps, it could take years to surface.
I'd talk to the people who plate bumpers, maybe you can heat the whole thing before bending and be OK.
(Aren't these old inverted Anglia bumpers?)

Was the nose of the body you reinforced damaged?

Eric

[alaric]

Hi. The nose was damaged back in '76 (that's when the colour of the whole car changed) and was replaced with one from another car. During the body restoration the guy that did the work for me spent a lot of time re-working the front of the car. On receiving the body back at home again I wasn't happy with the flexing of the front of the nose when I pressed down on it, so applied more matting to the underside where the badge is located, and to the small right angle section at the front edge - there was a crack through this as it happened that he'd managed to miss. It's all much firmer now, so flexing the nose or applying any strain to it by bolting down the bumper is not really something I want to start doing.

Sounds like bending the bumper is not something that's commonplace, so I should hold off for now at least. It wouldn't need to be bent much, but there's a chance it'll crease unless I'm very carefull.

All the best.

Sean.

[1964 S1]

Hi Sean, I'll guess the front end of the shell is outta whack. Maybe compressed slightly end to end, hence the need to bend the front bumper. I don't know what I'd do, proceed with caution and let us know what happens. Can you shave off any fiberglass on the outside under the bumper area in the center?
Eric

[alaric]

Hi. I checked it again last night, and I don't think it's actually that bad. I don't have a line of +2s to compare against - wish I'd made it to the show. The bumper is only touching the body through the pads under the bolts, and there's a healthy gap everywhere else. I think I'll accept the gaps for now, and see if it stands out once the car's stood on the driveway and I'm looking from a distance.

The best pic I can take until it's out of the garage:

Looking shiny

All the best,

Sean.

[Gordon Sauer]

From the pics yours seems similar to mine--mine is flush, in contact with fiberglass all along the front--then at the ears away from the body some as others have noted. I remade rubber spacers similar to the old hard ones and it sits as you see it. Didn't do any nose work and believe this was fit from when I got it. Gordon Sauer

[alaric]

Thanks Gordon that's very helpful. I should have taken a pic from that angle. It does look very similar to mine. I think I'll leave well alone. Actually the fit of the sidelight looks very similar to mine too. Hoorah!

All the best.

Sean.

[stugilmour]

Both shots look very similar to mine as well with the Harrington SS replacements, which is encouraging. Side light on the right side looks the same, but I seemed to get a little better fit on the left one. Both are marked for the same side of the car, so I think the difference is pretty subtle, but the fit could be a bit better I suppose.

[bill308]

I don't think I'd worry too much about the chrome fracturing. If you are happy with the bumper fit, just leave it alone given the small deformation you are experiencing. If you are lucky, the plating will creep to relaxation. If not, you will have to rechrome some day.

An alternative is to remove some body material to make the body fit the bumper.

Bill

[davidj]

Hi,

I don't know if anyone has mentioned it yet, but the reason your bumper is a slightly different shape may be the result of distorting slightly in the chrome plating process.

David

[alaric]

Hi. Good point on the distortion. I think it looks ok though, certainly as good as in the other pics here. My plan is to leave it as is and put it down to character!

All the best,

Sean.