welding bumpers

[70 140]

Hey,
I just got another set of bumpers for my ghia. From a 71' with over-riders. They are in good shape metal wise, no rot, all the brackets are good. I have them disassembeld and want to weld up the holes where the over-rider end pieces go in, to make euro like bumpers. What technique should I use? weld a small piece of metal in, or fill it with the rod? and how do I ensure it is dead smooth before finishing it.

The chrome is really bad i.e. is peeling and pitted. What do I use to strip all the old chrome off, without grinding it? I would like to do as much of the work as I can before taking them to be re-chromed.

[Anti-]

Take them to the chrome shop and have them DE-chromed before you start. Then do your thing (fill with welding rod, grind, polish) then take them back to be finished. The chrome shop might also have some suggestions.

[john walker's workshop]

make some round discs in the same gauge metal, and weld them into the holes. carefully grind only the weld, and hand file smooth. the chromers will take over from there.

[john walker's workshop]

like anti said, the chrome needs to be removed first. a reverse electro-plating process is used. cheap chrome shops just grind it off. ask them how they do it.

[Air-Cooled Head]

DON'T DO IT!
The old style bumpers are SO hard to come by. If they are in good shape & complete, you could afford new blades just by selling 1 set. I've seen them fetch over $200 each, in good shape. I once saw a re-chromed pair (fr/rr) going for $1200!

[70 140]

I wont be totally screwing them up aircooledhead. I am just filling the over-rider holes and re-chroming them. Someone else could drill them out and put them all back together. I have a complete set front and back, of originals with over-riders on my car right now. They are in OK shape. But I got this pair from a guy I know. The chrome is messed up bad, but the metal is good. I will not be wrecking anything, I just want to remove the over-riders. Nothing is getting thrown out or sold. I saw a guy at a swap meet with the smaller bumperets (?) I hope he still has them next time.

this is the bumper style I want to make
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/index.php?photo+200211132050221788

[70 140]

How much will chroming co$t? I know it depends where I go etc but roughly? I will probably have to go to a bigger city to find someone who does it.

[coad]

I would see if the plater will fill the holes. Most good chrome shops are set up to do repairs like filling those. The trouble is that the platers love to blame others for problems. If someone else does the welding and there is a flaw in the plating they will say its the welder's fault. If they do the repair then they don't have an excuse if it doesn't turn out right.

[john walker's workshop]

but then again, platers ruin their share of parts and just shrug it off. you're better off bringing a "finished to your satisfaction" piece to the platers than trusting them to fix it right. whatever you tell the guy at the counter, the grinder guy doesn't know anything about.

[Air-Cooled Head]

70,
Sorry for freakin' out. It took me 8 months to find a decent (not great) set of bumpers, so to me, they're as rare as dino eggs.
I've seen those short overriders for sale recently, just can't remember where. I'll see if I can find it again.
BTW, someone on STF is looking for the front towel bar, and I need end pcs for the rear. If you accomplish what you're after and decide to sell, keep us in mind.
PEACE

[70 140]

I understand, I wasn't accusing you of a freakout. I saw this guy with a set of ghia bumpers at a swap meet for $800 a piece, needing a re-chrome to be perfect. They were ok for a driver, but not $800 ok. I guess when you need them they might be worth it. They do sell for a fortune though. I also know of another set this old body shop guy has I will see if I can get them.

The front towelbar is a mess, dinged and not one speck of chrome on it. What end peices do you mean?? the blades or the curved down pipes? I will have to go see what is what. The set I just got came half assembled and half in boxes. I thought the front and rear curved down pipe pieces were the same?? (except for that late sixties wrap-around style)But I could be wrong. There are pairs on ebay sometimes.

[[email protected]]

One thing you may want to do before filling, especially if you don't use patch metal is to bevel out both sides of the hole. Take a drill bit a little bigger than the hole. This makes you hole sort of an hole glass shape, helping to make sure you hole stays filled for a long time.
Peace,
Frank

[70 140]

Here is a picture of the front bumper pieces. Everything except the towelbar. It is so crapped out I am making it into a ratchet extension or something.

As you can see there is lots of rust. And where the over-rider ends went onto the blades it is pretty bent up. What do you think?

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/58376.jpg

[Air-Cooled Head]

I think those are very salvagable. They look better than my rear.
What I need is the curved ends of the rear blade itself. Mine look worse than the ends in your picture. And 1 inside mounting flange is rusted out at the bottom, and the other is missing all together!
KGPR has the short overridders for $40-$80, and the towel bar for $52, and free shipping for the holidays. Also try www.mtmfg.com

[Air-Cooled Head]

There's also a guy on here, Ray Perez, [email protected] who may be able to help you with that towel bar.

Another site for used KG parts:
http://www.ghiaparts.com/index.php

[70 140]

Oh, You need blades. Ignore the email I sent you than about the curved end pipes. All of the rear blades I have, including the ones on my car have dents.

The front bumper in the picture just has rust where the chrome is pitted and peeling. The bottoms and behind are in good shape, no rust through. I am going to try to find a chrome place next week.

Thanks for the help and suggestions guys. I will post some pics when I get them built. I am going to try the front first, and see how it goes

[sambastuff]

70' 140,

I don't know about the dechroming thing. I've never had that done. However, I would use a mig to fill your holes and not an arc welder. By the time you get done filling the hole with an arc, you're prolly going to distort the bumper by the hole. Besides, arcs aren't very clean like a mig. You can take a piece of flat aluminum 1/8" plate and clamp it behind the hole. You can slowly start tacking around the inside of the hole (make sure the inside of the hole isn't rusty...if so take a drill and bit and clean it out a little) until you get put a good final pilot hole weld on it. Then, remove the aluminum. I use a pneumatic hand air sander/buffer with a special 3M pad that actually sands welds superfast and extremely smooth...nothing like a grinder at all. If you can reach the backside of the hole with a pneumatic hand sander, then you can weld the back side and buff it down like factory as well. I have a bunch of buffing pads. If you send me $5.00 I'll send you one.