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Sat Oct 22, 2011 5:37 am

Made some bumpers for the front and rear of Sherman, my 87 Westy.

The van had the original aluminum bumpers but had some dents in them that someone had tried to bang out. The end caps were also kind of beaten and needed some persuading to stay on.

I wanted a more industrial look.

I just took off the old bumpers and mounted right to the original mounts.

Also added a sturdy 2" trailer hitch in the rear.(no pics of that in here)

Rear:

Front:

Final product, used grinder wire bursh on bumpers as they had been sitting outside at my g-pa's farm, then painted with black rustoleum from a can using a brush and several coats. The rear bumper had some sweet pitting to it and was real happy to have that textured added.

Sat Oct 22, 2011 5:51 am

very nice, they'll take some bending
8)

Sat Oct 22, 2011 7:35 am

Ramming speed!

Sat Oct 22, 2011 7:55 am

How many people while just seeing the first picture though holy crap that's dangerous until you scrolled down? I know I did. There is always something to be said for using what you have around and having them turn out good. Those would perfect for parking in NYC. They park by "feel" in that city and a gouge in a bumper cover is considered normal wear and tear by the NYPD.

Sat Oct 22, 2011 8:42 am

I'd sport those, tough, don't add length and look good! Can we have some daytime shots of the rear with a look at your hitch and what you did for the ends? I have a metalworker that owes me money. 8)

Sat Oct 22, 2011 8:52 am

if your looking for your boots, you left them on the bike rack.

Sat Oct 22, 2011 8:53 am

Very cool! I really like the industrial look and practical enhancement of this approach. In that vein, it sorta reminds me of the rear bumper I made for my '80 van. I used a recycled treated 4"x4" fence post, and even added the original plastic VW end-caps and center bumper strip.

Sat Oct 22, 2011 8:55 am

Nice job! I made my own bumpers too. Let's see a pic of your rear with the trailer hitch.

Sat Oct 22, 2011 10:06 am

BillM wrote: How many people while just seeing the first picture thought holy crap that's dangerous until you scrolled down?

I have to admit my first thought was "DOH!". Then I scrolled down. :D

Nice work, really looks good. Always appreciate build-it-yourself projects. Keeps me inspired. Thanks for sharing.

Sat Oct 22, 2011 12:23 pm

I like them... but like the others I was pretty aghast when I saw the first pic! :) I like that they're sturdy but look relatively stock to the untrained eye. I did bumpers like that for my '58 after someone stole my rear bumper, only I used steel tube about that same size. It took A LOT more kerf-cuts & welds to follow the round rear quarter and curved front end on my splitty!

pd

Sat Oct 22, 2011 1:21 pm

Original bumpers are not aluminum BTW :wink:

The finish looks really good,and I'm sure it's cheap to make that 8)

Did you weigh them by any chance?

Bye!

Sat Oct 22, 2011 3:18 pm

As I typed aluminium I thought that wasn't right, are they steel? Real soft if so.

I did not weigh each bumper but had no problem lifting them and halfway holding them up my self while checking drill holes and levelness(is that a word?)

Sat Oct 22, 2011 3:29 pm

Yes, steel and yes, pretty easy to dent.

The word you want is 'levelitude'.

Please, I'm kidding.

Sat Oct 22, 2011 4:03 pm

I agree with some of the above posts, at first i thought you'd be catching all sorts of things with the extra foot or so of width sticking out on each side of the van. You'd be snagging all the cars that you pass by and the occasional unlucky pedestrian/ bicyclist!

After the final bend and weld, they look very nice and very sturdy. Well done.

Sat Oct 22, 2011 8:56 pm

[quote="focusedcycling"] The rear bumper had some sweet pitting to it and was real happy to have that textured added.

I love the texture :D
My van came with this style bumpers...its great, I dress mine up with some 88 Isuzu trooper step treads and plastic end caps
nice :D

Sun Oct 23, 2011 5:34 am

That front bumper looks great! I really like that style of bumper - at least on a 2WD like mine. Please post up a clean picture of the rear bumper - would love to see it.

John
LiMBO
86 Wolfsburg Westfalia "Weekender"

Sun Oct 23, 2011 9:57 am

Nice - I'll take one of each!

Mon Oct 24, 2011 3:30 am

Nice! I like their simple design....low-cost...and clean look!

Mon Oct 24, 2011 8:36 am

Really close to what I was thinking for a bumper set of my own. I think that a C (or L)-channel is a great start point.

Maybe aluminum for mine. Less dent resistance, but it would be very light.

Love it! Nice work

...I second the requeast for a clean rear bumper pic...

Mon Oct 24, 2011 9:51 am

Can you tell what size is th C_channel?

Sounds like you got the material because it was lying around, but damn if the size don't look just right!