maybe i've been up too many consecutive hours, but Jimmy's repro bumpers thread got me to thinkin about the feasibility of aluminum bumpers for the cars... it would shave a few pounds vs. the stock, they would be a little more forgiving than the fiberglass bumpers, plus if i did it in a brushed finish, it would match my old worn trim a helluva lot better than chrome... just have to get rid of the chrome wheels and door handles now...
I dont know about aluminum but It straighten back out easily after an accident, lol but I would buy a set of bumpers in polished stainless steel.
not if you sell em with brackets to convert a big bumper car to small bumpers. you could make em out of lead and they'd still save weight over those. just include brackets that'll fit the small bumper and the car that came with the big bumpers.
joe was doing some composit bumpers that were susposed to bend back into shape when hit. i wonder how far he got on them?
Bottom line on all bumpers (and all Maverick reproduction parts for that matter).....the demand it just not there compared to the investment and minimum order that would be required to get them done. If the demand was there...they would have already been made by companies with deep pockets that love to make lots of money. Now.....if they were $1 (one dollar) each....yeah the demand would be there. But at $100 each.....the demand drops off dramatically. At $200 each...the demand drops even more. At $300 each....well, you get the idea. Bottom line......MOST parts will NEVER be reproduced.
Someone on here suggested 80s Fairmont bumpers as replacements for the big-bumper cars ... they are a bit thinner height-wise, and I do believe that they were aluminum. How well they fit might be another story entirely, but ought to be fairly easy to modify.
unfortunately, yes, but i was looking at this as a small numbers custom deal... possibly changing up the lines of the new bumpers a little also. i had just been down talking to my metal guy the day before and we were talking about aluminum fab work... i have a top secret highly classified front valence/chin spoiler project im about to start *evil laugh* maybe ill draw up a couple designs on those bumpers though
This is really very interesting, i would love to see any of this stuff built or made, anything new no matter how it's made or made off would be great.
