Look ma, no bumper bolts

Nice ... Hopefully I can make the 2005 round-up and see your car in person ... BTW .... That Maverick Drive Road Sign looks familiar ...

 

He's not responding to the taillight question because he likes for you
to guess to figure out that they are Chevy pieces. Maybe he's embarrassed?
just kiddin', Dennis.
By the way, I forgot to tell you that I found a mint used or NOS set of those
in boxes at a swap meet in Raleigh last month. The guy wanted $100 for them.

Seth

 

Hey Mavaholic and dmhines, Where did you get those Maverick Drive signs?

 

great looking car. those signs pop up every once in a while on ebay. that's where i got mine.

 

Looks great Dennis. Dale says it's nice to see someone who takes pride in his work. Good job.

 

Yes, the street signs pop up on Ebay every so often. I got one for the Maverick & Comet. I guess you've come to the crossroads here, at my place. LOL

 

Looks good Dennis. If you are going to do your Comet the same way, what are you going to do with the bumper you took off the Sprint? If you want to get rid of it we can work out a deal if you want. I know you don't want to mess up the chrome. I have an extra bumper to swap with you if you want. I know you have some too.

 

Got mine are Carlisle many years ago .. the ones on eBay are usually just vinyl cut letters on a green metal sign ... These are stamped and painted like a real street sign ...

 

I like the no bumper bolts but I really like the taillights better!!!

 

But do you have a working stop light? (first picture, upper left corner)

Thanks for the compliments but I wanted to talk to a few chroming places before I tell you what is wrong and how to prevent you from making the same mistakes.
Problem #1 is, on each of the 4 holes that were welded up, there is some really tiny pits. The bumper looked perfect when I was done with them but apparently they were not, or maybe. One plater told me he would not plate my bumper because of the welded up holes. He said the weld in the holes can pit. (exactly what did happen) Personally, I don't see how since the mig wire is steel too. Plus I have welded up bumper guard holes and never had this problem before. So I don't really know if I just didn't check it good enough or there really was a reaction that caused this. I tried to photograph them but I just cant get a clear picture of it. The second guy said it don't matter and he's the one that did the plating.
The second problem with doing this, is it is very hard not to put a slight dip in the metal surrounding the weld. By time you blend in the weld, you've cut into the surrounding metal. Now this defect is very hard to see and I doubt the majority of people would even notice it unless I pointed it out. I ask the guy about using lead as a sort of "bondo" and put a skim coat on it to fill in any imperfections. As soft as lead is, you wouldn't need to sand near as much to blend in the holes and it would keep you from getting the depression I'm talking about. I figure you can weld most of the hole up leaving a slight depression, then fill the rest with lead. The problem with this, as I was told, is during the buffing process, the metal can get hot enough that the lead can get soft or melt. He said they braze the little imperfections. Since brass is pretty soft, this seems to be the way to go and what I will use next time. Believe me, I'm no "metal man" so I'm open for suggestions from anyone with experience in this stuff

 

Hey Nick, call me. The bumper place was supposed to straighten another rear bumper for me and send it back so I can smoothh another one but they ended rechroming it. So I got a chromed bumper for $75. Plus the old Sprint bumper. Do you have a perfectly straight one?

Oh yea, the sign is steel and available at Carlisle. He can make them almost any color and say what ever you like. Remind me next year when Ford Carlisle is close and I'll get his contact info. The funny thing about this guy was when I told him what I wanted, he said he'd have to make it. He ask for my address. I was gonna pay him in advance but he said when its done, he will send it to me. If I dont like it, send it back. If I do like it, send him the money.

 

Dennis, I was told that the only thing you can do to ensure that there is no defects is to silver solder it. Expensive!! I feel that just welding it should work. You might have had a little perosity in the weld that caused the defect. If all the old chrome was not ground off priar to welding, it could have caused the problem. I do have a perfectly straight bumper. I will give you a call.

 

I have seen bumper holes deleted by using a donor bumper. Kind of like patching a panel, cut out the section that has the hole for the bumper bolt. Then cut out an equal section from a donor bumper, but obviously not the same section that has the hole. Then weld in the patch. Yes, it is still welding, but not like filling a hole. Wonder if you could just patch the existing holes with donor bumper pieces? This is something I have been thinking about. Then add metalurgy to the equation, and I'm out.
Dan

 

The 73 front bumper I just got from Restorationchrome in Spokane, Washington had the 2 top mounting holes filled in. Could only mount it with the 2 bottom holes. I think it looks great. Gives it a nice clean look. I'll try to take a picture when it stops raining.

 

We have many of our parts plated after we have machined them. Occationally we have patched boo-boos with a weld, but this doesn't always work because the texture if not color, is different at the weld. I believe it is in the acid bath prior to the plating that brings out the pores in the metal.

Dan, I've got a large hole punch if you need it!