TheSamba.com :: View topic

Thu Sep 19, 2024 5:37 pm

Hey all...looking for input/advice on parts for my son's project. Putting the question in a separate thread that others may wish to cleanly search for in the future.

'71 Ghia Coupe. Daily driver that will be nice enough for a late-teen to impress with and occasionally enter in local car shows as a driver.

Planning on US-style, not Euro style. I see three options, but I don't know how to make this a legit survey:

1) New stainless set from Vietnam or similar. Very clean, very solid, but have been told that "the color is wrong" or that they will stick out as a mismatch against chrome trim like the headlight rings and such.

2) purchase a used set and re-chrome. Super pricey, and no guarantee that "new chrome" won't be more or less yellow than the 53-year-old chrome on the rest of the car with modern EPA plating rules and different chemistry

3) purchase a not-too-rusted set, polish the crap out of them if there is only pitting, and live with fighting the ongoing corrosion and OCD about having something "cleaner"

How "off" does the stainless look compared to good, complete trim? Picture examples? Anyone have a fourth-option idea that won't have me selling organs?

Thu Sep 19, 2024 7:06 pm

Gotta love kids who get the essence of things. To paraphrase my son, "it's a 53 year old car. I'm fine if parts of it look 53 years old."

I'll put a lot of love into the polishing effort...

Fri Sep 20, 2024 6:02 am

I had mine re-chromed at Advanced Plating in Tennessee.
They take them to down to bare metal, fix what needs fixing and triple dip them. They look amazing. Pricey, yes, but in my mind , worth every penny.

I’ve seen the stainless ones on a few Ghias and your assumption of the color is correct. They’re just a little off.

Fri Sep 20, 2024 6:47 pm

I put fiberglass bumpers on my '72 with handmade brackets and a rattle can semi-gloss paint job

Fri Sep 20, 2024 7:04 pm

runamoc wrote: I put fiberglass bumpers on my '72 with handmade brackets and a rattle can semi-gloss paint job

Nice looking, but why bother with bumpers that will shatter before they absorb...anything? Do you think they'll actually do anything if something makes contact?

Perhaps I'm naive to think that the originals would really protect anything above maybe 5mph.

Just out of sheer, morbid curiosity...where did you find those?

Fri Sep 20, 2024 9:45 pm

i sell all kinds of bumper in stainless steel. so let me know if you are interested in

Sat Sep 21, 2024 4:23 am

I vote for the old fashioned 'triple chromed'.... expensive but gorgeous
copper, nickel and chrome

Sat Sep 21, 2024 6:44 am

To me, your key words were "driver" and "teen". those two said, my advice is to do the best he can to clean them up and love them. From personal experience I have learned: New Chrome is like new paint. It is a rabbit hole, so to speak. Once you rechrome the bumpers, everything else looks really dull and you end up redoing everything. so much can be polished and made to look really nice. Not perfect but really nice.

As for the word "teen". They are teens. They don't always use the best judgement. Neither did we as teens. It should be a shame do invest all the time (and money) only to have something bad happen to it because of your teen being a teen. Sounds a bit harsh, I know. My kids are 46 and 35 now and very responsible adults, but I DO remember their teen years.

Sat Sep 21, 2024 2:37 pm

Put some T-Bars on it and call it a day.

Sun Sep 22, 2024 7:13 am

Quote: why bother with bumpers that will shatter before they absorb...anything?

Cheaper to replace than bent up $$$$$ stainless steel bumpers or $$$ re-chromed stock bumpers.

Mon Sep 23, 2024 12:02 pm

I'd suggest a 4th option if the ones you have are too far gone to polish back to a decent shine (that would be my first option).
Because teens tend to bump into things or hang around other teens that tend to bump into things, I would suggest having them powder coated bright silver or 'chrome' colored. It would be durable and fairly inexpensive, especially when compared to re-chroming.

Tue Sep 24, 2024 12:25 am

dingerjunkie wrote:

Perhaps I'm naive to think that the originals would really protect anything above maybe 5mph.?

Correct. They do nothing other than bend whatever they are mounted on.
The bumpers are just for looks and be a place for shiny chrome.

Nicholas

Tue Sep 24, 2024 5:37 am

Quote: where did you find those?

It was over 10 years ago but from the Samba Classifieds. He made them to order. Older style that goes back to the wheel opening, new style to fit inside the 'dimples' on the fenders, or to fit if I filled in the 'dimples'. Not sure if he is still there/here.

Wed Sep 25, 2024 2:49 am

runamoc wrote: Quote: where did you find those?

It was over 10 years ago but from the Samba Classifieds. He made them to order. Older style that goes back to the wheel opening, new style to fit inside the 'dimples' on the fenders, or to fit if I filled in the 'dimples'. Not sure if he is still there/here.

I'm pretty sure .... yep ... after a quick web search.

Glass Action makes the bumpers...

https://www.glass-action.com/

Wed Sep 25, 2024 4:47 am

Quote: Glass Action makes the bumpers...
Looked at their dashes. Thought, naa, I'll go through the trouble of keeping it stock. Bumpers, that's another story. 8)

Wed Sep 25, 2024 6:57 am

WARNING danger!!!!

I'm in the middle of a PayPal dispute over their fiberglass bumpers. Paid with PayPal on July 26 2024 and they still haven't arrived. If I don't receive them in good, usable shape by September 27,2024 I will " Escalate issue to PayPal".

I will keep everyone apprised of the situation as things as they progress.

As of right now I would wait until I get this resolved before ordering anything from them.

Steven

onwardtothestars wrote: runamoc wrote: Quote: where did you find those?

It was over 10 years ago but from the Samba Classifieds. He made them to order. Older style that goes back to the wheel opening, new style to fit inside the 'dimples' on the fenders, or to fit if I filled in the 'dimples'. Not sure if he is still there/here.

I'm pretty sure .... yep ... after a quick web search.

Glass Action makes the bumpers...

https://www.glass-action.com/

Tue Oct 15, 2024 4:08 pm

I never did get my bumpers but, I did "win" my dispute and got a refund from PayPal.

Heading over to the feedback page to leave some very negative feedback.

Steven