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Fog lights on fibreglass bumpers
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maco70
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Location: Montréal, Québec
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 16, 2012 7:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes i had to remove the bumper but, honestly my vanagon is an 86 so steel bumper were stock and i purchased those fiberglass bumper last year because i found them much more nicer and four holes were already drilled and i just installe d the lights there.

Then, i passed the wires through a grommet (from behind the lift headlight set) and it arrived just beside the steering column base, where i installed a small box with the two relay.

After several thinking, i finally decided to powered both sets by the fog light switch, which was an option on the vanagon on those years and have three positions : off, one set on (driving lights), two sets on (driving and fog lights).

I hope those informations would be helpful.
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zippyslug31
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 8:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Christopholi wrote:
Zippy - Nice looking bar. Is that notched right into the fibreglass? Is it a custom piece, or regularly available?


Thanks. Custom made... I cobbled together some random steel I had laying around into a mounting tower of the appropriate height then I attached it to the metal crush bumper that lives behind the fiberglass bumper. Two holes were then cut into the fiberglass to expose these mounting towers so I could bolt the bar directly to it.
Luckily my fugly fab work can't be seen; its hidden behind the fiber bumper. Laughing
Trimmed out the holes in the fiberglass with left over luggage rack trim rubber. The end result looks decent enough.
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LemonCove
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 3:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Here’s how I did it:

I installed 4 large (8”) Cibié “Tango Plus” Driving and Fog Lights. I was worried about vibration and strength of the fiberglass, so I did 2 things:
    - Reinforced the fiberglass with aluminum mounting bars/strips and additional fiberglass,
    - Added 2 additional brackets between the body and the bumper (added aluminum bars)

The aluminum bars provide a stronger mounting point, and ground the lamps. Because of the curve in the bumper, I used 3 pieces of aluminum on the inside of the bumper, and 2 on the outside. The lights connect all 5 aluminum pieces for a continuous ground. Not as complex as it sounds.

The brackets:
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


The center bar inside the bumper:
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


The center bar glassed:
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Side bar glassed:
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Top (outside bar) which connects to added bracket:
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Lots more detailed photos and description on my Picasa site: https://picasaweb.google.com/13VelosdeRemi/WestyDrivingFogLights#

Jed
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climberbob1
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 28, 2019 8:51 pm    Post subject: Re: Fog lights on fibreglass bumpers Reply with quote

I'm still scratching my head guys. Where have I been? I'd never heard of fiberglass bumpers in my life before. The only thing I can think of is trying to save weight? But doesn't that defeat the purpose of what a bumper is supposed to be for?

I don't guess, I KNOW I'm lucky with my Club Joker. Came with factory fog lights. I put a GoWesty front bumper on and had some reinforcing done courtesy of a local welder I found so I can carry my Husqvarna TE511 on the front bumper. I'm currently in the process of adding a bitchin light bar to the front and some convenience LED's around, so I'll get some pics posted when I get that done.
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syncrodoka
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 28, 2019 9:34 pm    Post subject: Re: Fog lights on fibreglass bumpers Reply with quote

climberbob1 wrote:
I'm still scratching my head guys. Where have I been? I'd never heard of fiberglass bumpers in my life before. The only thing I can think of is trying to save weight? But doesn't that defeat the purpose of what a bumper is supposed to be for?

Never heard of a Corvette? Lots of them made
Bumpers on modern cars will fall off in a light collision, they make fiberglass ones look stout.
Factory VW metal bumpers aren't designed to take a impact unscathed either.
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jimf909 Premium Member
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 28, 2019 10:20 pm    Post subject: Re: Fog lights on fibreglass bumpers Reply with quote

syncrodoka wrote:
climberbob1 wrote:
I'm still scratching my head guys. Where have I been? I'd never heard of fiberglass bumpers in my life before. The only thing I can think of is trying to save weight? But doesn't that defeat the purpose of what a bumper is supposed to be for?

Never heard of a Corvette? Lots of them made
Bumpers on modern cars will fall off in a light collision, they make fiberglass ones look stout.
Factory VW metal bumpers aren't designed to take a impact unscathed either.


Actually, corvettes either had steel bumpers or vinyl bumper covers. Of course, in the old days the steel bumper would collapse and crush the fiberglass body.

Regardless, I believe that bumpers are sacrificial and not intended to survive a crash rather they protect the rest of the vehicle from damage in low speed collisions.
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Current: 1990 Westy Camper - Bostig RG4, 2wd, manual trans w/Peloquin, NAHT high-top, 280 ah LFP battery, 160 watts solar, Flash Silver, seam rust, bondo, etc., etc.

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danfromsyr
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 30, 2019 7:19 am    Post subject: Re: Fog lights on fibreglass bumpers Reply with quote

the front bumper is just a 'skin' whether it's the chrome metal ones or the figberglass ones.

the front deformation panel is the true impact resistance unit.

now the rear bumpers that's just criminal..
but in the 80s-90s you could order any truck sans bumper from the dealer/factory to save a few $$.. they weren't even required items.
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Christopholi
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 30, 2019 3:11 pm    Post subject: Re: Fog lights on fibreglass bumpers Reply with quote

Seeings how this post is revived from the dead, I'll add that I ended up just using larger fender washers top and bottom, and worked well that way for many years. No bounce or wobble, and no cracking of the fibreglass. I have since moved to Gowesty bumpers, though, and did the same thing with those.
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