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Wed Sep 06, 2006 8:53 pm

malley56 wrote: I'm no metal scientist but isn't stainless lighter than regular steel? Those who know metal please chime in!

The opposite, actually. Stainless is heavier.

If your new stainless bumpers are equal in weight, then they must be thinner. If they weigh LESS, then they must be significantly thinner! :shock:

- David

Thu Sep 07, 2006 6:58 am

i was thinking of taking my old og rusty bumpers and wrapping them with heavy duty Reynold's wrap. that would give the appearance of being re-chromed. :lol:
has anybody tried this?

Thu Sep 07, 2006 8:17 am

tacky wrote: i was thinking of taking my old og rusty bumpers and wrapping them with heavy duty Reynold's wrap. that would give the appearance of being re-chromed. :lol:
has anybody tried this?

Use chrome paint in a rattle can - much better.

Thu Sep 07, 2006 9:21 am

tacky wrote: i was thinking of taking my old og rusty bumpers and wrapping them with heavy duty Reynold's wrap. that would give the appearance of being re-chromed. :lol:
has anybody tried this?

That truly would be TACKY . . . :wink: :P

Thu Sep 14, 2006 6:06 pm

I am so disgusted with my crusty grommet bumpers that I am almost ready to risk it and buy some of these stainless ones.

Minor fitment issues don't scare me, and since good OG ones are unobtainable and WW ones are hella expensive, and may rust anyway, this is looking like my only option for respectable looking bumpers.

So basically, how much did you guys pay for shipping? And are there any updates or pics of the bumpers installed?

Thu Sep 14, 2006 6:36 pm

I'm still waiting on the correct overiders for my rear bumper. I first contacted them over 3 weeks ago :shock:

If it were me I would wait and see if they actually send the correct parts to fix mine....They said they would but I have not seen anything yet.

If they come through I will be very happy with these bumpers.. If not I will raging mad because I blew a hard earned $500 on one complete bumper and one partial with the wrong parts....Time will tell....

Fri Sep 15, 2006 12:42 am

I was reading this thread with interest because my 67 type 1 when I got it in May had these cheap Brazilian bumpers..incorrect at that in the rear, and I was looking to upgrade them.

Then one day surfing Samba I saw newly listed a OG 67 rear bumper that has been inside since 1973 and it was in almost mint condition. I think I bought this thing within minutes after the ad appeared. A week later it arrives at my house and after installing it consider myself really lucky. It is in great shape. I even put on the original gray brackets and overrider support tubes that came with it.

Now for the front bumper. I can go with a reproduction such as this Steel one or a WW bumper, or just hang in there and snap up a decent OG bumper that may suddenly show up. The trick now is to match the rear as much as possible.

Fri Sep 15, 2006 8:54 am

Check this thread for some pics of another person trying to fit Harringtom Bumpers.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=123243&highlight=harrington

you will need to click on the link on the very first post of the thread.

Thanks!
Mark

Wed Sep 27, 2006 7:28 pm

UPDATE As many of you know...Harrington had sent me the wrong bumper guards for my rear bumper initially. I e-mailed them pics with a description. They said they would take care of it. Fast forward three weeks...

Today I had a large package at my door. They had sent me a COMPLETE Rear bumper! I have assembled it on the ground and the fit is excellent. These bumpers look really nice..

These bumpers sure look nice...I'll be glad to be able to put them on in the next couple of weeks. I'll have a review and plenty of pics with them on the car when I get done..

I'm very happy with harrington at this point...They came through and took care of the problem. That's about all you can ask for.

More updates soon!
Mark

Wed Sep 27, 2006 7:56 pm

malley56 wrote: I'm very happy with harrington at this point...They came through and took care of the problem. That's about all you can ask for.

That's great to hear! This would be a good time to make a thread about them in the feedback forum. :wink:

- David

Wed Sep 27, 2006 8:42 pm

paitently waiting for the pics. i would like to get nice bumpers for our '66 vw convertible for both the front and rear. i hope it works out for you!

Thu Sep 28, 2006 8:49 am

[quote="WD-40"] malley56 wrote: I'm very happy with harrington at this point...They came through and took care of the problem. That's about all you can ask for.

ok lets review.... these bumpers turned from a frog to a prince?
is this accurate?

Thu Sep 28, 2006 10:57 am

Ummmm... They were more like a prince with clothes that wouldn't fit. :wink: That's been my only problem from the very begining. I've been screwed by a couple of shady VW vendors and it's nice to have one who will take care of my problem.

I hope to have some pictures on the car by the middle of next week.(If I can finish the rest of the car)

I'm sure there will be some tweaking to do once I start mounting them. But that seems to be the norm on my car

Even when I post pics it's hard to say what would satisfy someone else as opposed to me....The readers will just have to be the judge of that. I'm just giving an honest opinion hoping to help. :D

Thanks!
Mark

Sun Oct 01, 2006 12:02 am

It's good to hear that you got your pieces Malley.
I initiated this thread, but will unfortunately not be able to buy mine for at least 6 months due to job requirements leaving me away form my bug. I look forward to seeing your bumpers installed, and then all the naysayers eyes opening up to these nice bumpers.
Thanks for all the feedback guys, and glad to hear someone took the risk of purchasing these bumpers.
-John

Sun Oct 01, 2006 4:05 am

I've got some Harrington stainless steel bumpers on my '61 Bug and I'm quite pleased with them. You can see where the 2 main overriders are actually facricated rather than pressed when you look from inside, but from the front they look great.

They're thinner than genuine bumpers but as stainless steel is much stronger than mild steel I don't think the crash tesing will show that much difference :wink:

They're a pain to assemble unless you start off with all the bolts loose as said in previous posts. My car is a European spec so I still need to fit the overrider strengthening bars through the apron / fenders, however they do look good on the car and they don't rust. Just a wipe over when the car gets washed and all is well.

Finding undented bumpers is pretty much impossible here, and US spec ones are even rarer so this was my only choice other than WW ones. In England these are pretty cheap too - £200 is about $350? And that included shipping.

As I said, because I don't have the diagonal bars I haven't really lined them up (and the rear needs a bit of tweaking), but you can see how they look on the car below

Gareth

Sun Oct 15, 2006 5:01 pm

Here are the pics of the bumpers on my car...I will write a full review when I have time..

Click on the pics for a larger view.

Mark

Mon Oct 16, 2006 8:18 am

Malley, your car looks great. Those bumpers really did turn out sweet, and the rest of car compliments them beautifully! Nice job assembling them, and being patient, the results are awesome.. I know where I"ll be buying bumpers from !
Thanks,
John`

Mon Oct 16, 2006 9:26 am

Hemi,

I'm at work so I don't have time to write very much.

There are a couple of things I would like to mention.

THE GOOD
The shine is awesome on these bumpers!
All the joints on the overiders fit quite nicely
They dont scratch easily.
The rear bumper fits the car quite well

THE BAD
The front bumper required a lot of tweaking.. The front WW overider supports will not even come close to attaching to the main bumper bolts.
Even with my tweaking(Slightly bending the mounts etc) The front bumper still looks just a little funny to me.

Overall I am still happy with my bumpers...Just make sure if you buy a set that you take good digital pictures to have to send to Harrington in case they need to replace one or both of your bumpers because of fit problems.

These bumpers are hand made so I'm sure each set will fit different and require a little more patience than say an original unit.

Thanks!
Mark

Wed Oct 18, 2006 1:00 pm

Hey, thanks for the commentary on your bumpers. I thought that your front bumpers looked like it was leaning backwards a little bit. I figure they won't be perfect no matter what, as these were prototyped on one car, and they will all be perfect for one car, not every vw...each will need their own slight customization.. Oh well, thanks again, adn I'll keep careful with mine when I get them!
thanks again to all who've submitted responses here, and any more who get these bumpers... I think these look nice, and the longevity factor should be a winning piece here.
-JOhn

Sat Oct 21, 2006 5:14 pm

ok if i missed it and if i did id like to ask it. anyplace in the U.S. started selling these bumpers yet?