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LH/LX BUMPERS

Started by _nial8r_ , Mar 04 2010 01:07 PM

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24 replies to this topic

#1 _nial8r_

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Posted 04 March 2010 - 01:07 PM

righto here goes Posted Image

i have 2 sets of bars now ( 1 set with rubbers and one set with out ) what ever way i decide to go they will be re-chromed but what i wanted to know was if i was to remove the rubbers from the bars and weld up the holes in it do you think i will get warpage ??? both sets need to be repaired as they are a little out of shape, now i know someone is gonna say why not just get the ruberless bars repaired instead of going to all the trouble of welding up the holes in the the bars with rubbers ??? the reason is that the rubberless bars have already been repaired once as i found this out today when took the rear one of the car thats why im starting to sway towards fixing up the bars with rubbers if that makes any sence at all Posted Image

any ideas ???

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#2 _moot_

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Posted 04 March 2010 - 01:22 PM

mine arent warped,so it can be done :fighting:

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#3 _nial8r_

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Posted 04 March 2010 - 01:36 PM

they are heaps nice Moot, its just how i want mine, with the bar irons welded to the bar so there are none of the top and bottom dome heads and all the holes from were the rubbers go through, thx heaps for the pic's

i just had another look at your bars shit they are heaps nice just how i had pictured mine to be, did you weld yours up ya self as i will be doing mine ???

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#4 Statler

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Posted 04 March 2010 - 02:12 PM

No doubt you will get warpage!

The bars are pressed from thin material. There is still an inherant amount of stress in the material from the way they are formed.

It can be done sucessfully by monitoring where & when you apply the heat [weld].

If you just jump in and weld all the holes up from the one side, it will bend.

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#5 _nial8r_

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Posted 04 March 2010 - 03:03 PM

looks like it will be a long,slow and steady process to stop any warping Posted Image

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#6 _mello92_

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Posted 04 March 2010 - 04:23 PM

Shouldnt be too hard man, the bars arent that thin.

Plus, you know how to weld, so it should be a walk in the park for ya! :spoton:

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#7 _hotlx8_

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Posted 04 March 2010 - 05:48 PM

They are nice bars moot....I'm looking around to get mine re-chromed atm.

Can you tell me who re-chromed yours and roughly what they charged?? Also, did you weld up all the holes yourself?

Cheers

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#8 wot179

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Posted 04 March 2010 - 05:53 PM

I would be tig welding or oxywelding the holes.

Mig is a lot harder to grind and blend flat.

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#9 ls2lxhatch

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Posted 04 March 2010 - 05:53 PM

Dirtbag made it look easy in this thread.

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#10 _nial8r_

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Posted 05 March 2010 - 06:07 PM

thx for the link to dirtbag's thread Andy it has gave me a whole lot more confidence now Posted Image

Carmelo yep i can weld but the walk in the park well thats a bit different as i have never done this kind of mod before and didnt wanna stuff the bars from warpage cause as you would know your self a half decent bar is pretty hard to come by these days Posted Image

unless.......................... you wanna chuck me one of your nice looking bars to practice on Posted Image

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#11 _mello92_

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Posted 05 March 2010 - 10:41 PM

Yes, I know how hard they are to come by Lee.

Thats why you're not even gonna get my spare front one.

hehehee

Take it easy mate, and I cant see why you'd stuff it up.

Oh, just so you know, I can weld, have been for 6 or so years now. I realise its bugger all experience to you fellas, but hey, atleast you now know that Im not just some d**khead on a keyboard.

Cheers

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#12 _nial8r_

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Posted 06 March 2010 - 09:27 AM

hey i never thought you were a d**khead mate Posted Image

oh and i think you should send me your spare bar to have a practice practice run on Posted Image

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#13 wot179

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Posted 06 March 2010 - 10:44 AM

Dirtbag made it look easy in this thread.

Im loving dirtbags work,he certainly has made it look easy.The whole car is very impressive.

but I suspect some of those welds will still be visible after chroming.

That one weld on the left in the closeup of the passengerside still has visible undercut around the edge of the weld,which will definitely showup after chroming.

I know its difficult because I have done it this way myself,and while I was pretty happy with my work before the bar went for chroming,the filled holes were still visible in

the finished product.

If I do it again,the holes will be tig welded.

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#14 ls2lxhatch

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Posted 06 March 2010 - 01:36 PM

I think that brazing rod can be used to fill imperfections before chroming. It would be worth discussing repair techniques with a chrome plater before starting.

The chrome plater should have either repeated the copper layer process until the imperfections were filled or returned the bumper.

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#15 wot179

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Posted 06 March 2010 - 02:46 PM

Brazing can be used to fill imperfections,as far as I know.

But why get the torch out twice? If you are capable with an oxy set (which you will need to be if you are brazing),weld the holes up once and sand them up once.

You will also have the oppotunity of dressing the welds up with a hammer and dolly;not something you can do if you use a mig.

Brazing will need to be sanded as well,I can easily see a days labour in finishing that many holes properly,with the rest of the labour and materials involved these bars

could become very expensive.

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#16 _LH SLR 3300_

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Posted 06 March 2010 - 05:56 PM

Using a silicon bronze welder would be great for doing this. Less heat, around 200-300 C, less distortion, welds easier to sand & can be filed or polished. Very similar to the original oxy braze welding, no grinding sparks when grinding silicon bronze either. I use these welders to fill small holes, join quarter panels etc at work & the welds can be file finished with no bog if done properly. Most modern smash repairers have them these days or a good quality MIG can be converted over by changing the wire & gas bottle to Argon.

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#17 _nial8r_

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Posted 07 March 2010 - 11:58 AM

thats sounds really good Matt, the warping and grinder marks are what i most worried about Posted Image

i remember you showing me a pic of the bronze welder and looks to be a pretty trick machine, can you remember how much it cost you to get your bars re-done, i think you said you get all your stuff done at some place in Ingadine ??

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#18 _LH SLR 3300_

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Posted 07 March 2010 - 05:08 PM

Hi Lee, there are a few places i know of, Bumpers Wholesale in Ingleburn or somewhere around Campbeltown do them but won't give a price until they see them. I can get a contact number for you if you like. From memory i think i paid around $400 each to get mine done but they were in pretty average condition.

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#19 _hotlx8_

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Posted 08 March 2010 - 06:36 PM

For those in Melbourne, I just spoke to John at Pro Plating in Prahran (9510 7586) and they do them for $280 per bar (front & rear). This also includes some minor repairs/panel beating if required. He strongly recommended that I didn't weld up the holes as it would cause them to warp, so it looks like the holes are staying!

I'll fill you in on the end result when I get them back!

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#20 _greenmachine215_

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Posted 28 April 2010 - 09:46 PM

dont try this at home, as i just learnt the hard and expensive way.

Front bar turned out OK But to chrome would have still shown traces of where it was welded up. Chromers quoted me ball park $800-1000 to do the job properly.

Rear bar on the other hand, bowed down the right hand corner, and rippled to shit in the mid section where it was welded and ground back.
There were 3 separate quotes i got for this bar, 2 of which refused to put their name to the work, Another said anythings 'do-able' depending on how much one wants to spend.

This end up costing me a new/recon rear bar $750 later...... plus what was an immaculatly straight rubberless rear bar now good for scrap

Front bar i end up re drilling the bolt holes and sending back for chroming.

After all the rooting around i have ended up with 'bolted' bars.

If anyones gonna do it, Be smart like MOOT was and get the pro's to do it. will cost less in the long run.

Cheers

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#21 _patch_

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Posted 06 May 2010 - 05:35 PM

how bout fiberglass bumpers? seen them on ebay for sale they will be light as
dont know how ya will go fitting the mounting brackets on to them tho
just a thought

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#22 _DeNMaSteR_

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Posted 08 May 2010 - 02:06 AM

Hi Patch, I had the Fibreglass ones on my last torrie and if they are done properly you would never know and we had no issues fitting them to the original mounts.......just make sure no one uses them as a footrest though

Hotlx8 - Interested in your experience with Pro-Plating as im looking for a new plater at the moment and Prahran is only 2mins from me so would be perfect if he's good!

Edited by DeNMaSteR, 08 May 2010 - 02:08 AM.

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#23 _AD_75_

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Posted 08 May 2010 - 08:31 PM

how bout fiberglass bumpers? seen them on ebay for sale they will be light as
dont know how ya will go fitting the mounting brackets on to them tho
just a thought

Have you guys noticed if you look closely at some of the cars fitted with them, that they seem like they get a warp in the top surface of them? i have photo's of a couple cars I've spotted it on if you guys arnt sure what i mean. I think a couple of them may even belong to forum owners too maybe they can tell us what they think.

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#24 ls2lxhatch

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Posted 08 May 2010 - 11:39 PM

I was told by the Perth Technical section that fibreglass bumpers are not street legal on an LX Torana in WA. You may have the same problem in other states.

Edited by ls2lxhatch, 08 May 2010 - 11:39 PM.

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#25 _DeNMaSteR_

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Posted 09 May 2010 - 03:46 PM

I was told by the Perth Technical section that fibreglass bumpers are not street legal on an LX Torana in WA. You may have the same problem in other states.

Yeh I think your right, mine was in WA and im pretty sure i would have issues if I had taken it over the Pits.....but then again if that car was stickered the bumpers would have been the least of my worries