How to Straighten Out my Bumpers??

[type2tattoo]

I am slowly getting all my bits together so I can rebuild my bus, got the bumpers out of the shed and they are not as good as I remembered? all twisted and bent and dented

I don't want to get a new set cos the cost will put back my getting her on the road sooooo

Any advice on straightening them out?

They were powder coated earlier in the year, god knows why I did that first, fool :roll:

Do I need to find a panel beater?

 

[uber cool]

I did this with mine. Stripped the paint off. Where the dents was I heated up the metal and beat the dent out with a hammer. Skim of filler and repainted. Took a few days to do. If you need to pay a panel beater it might end up costing as much as a 2nd hand good set. Can your restoration man not sort them out for you?
Or keep your eye on eBay or vzi for sale ads, bargain do pop up, then sell yours.

 

[young_dubya]

They are too thick to just fettle with a hammer. As uber said if you can get um red hot the metal will move nice and easy.

 

[type2tattoo]

Cheers guys, I think I will have to do them myself or this rebuild is never gonna happen, my mate doing the welding runs a very busy garage and is rebuilding his own thing .....17 years so far *_* so I don't want to distract him from all the clever stuff he's got to do

I am watching a pair on ebay but they are in Yorkshire :?

I have a place up there I can work and I'm sure he won't mind me borrowing his heat gun thing so I will try that Will I be able to get the slight twist out if its warmed up?

 

[young_dubya]

If you cant see a deffinate bend then secure one end twist is cold other wise it may make things worse and end up in an "S" shape :lol:. may need the help of a mate though. Take any kink out top and botom first though as these will change the shape to.

 

[noddy]

Thrashed the dents out of mine with a lump hammer and a piece of one inch diam brass bar. It got the worst out without heating the dents but still needed a skim of filler to finish.

 

[BJ1]

10 years ago I used a bandsaw to cut the exact profile of an early bay bumper out of a chunk of very hard old oak. I've lost count of the number of dented bumpers I've heated up and bashed into that oak with my trusty lump hammer. Works a treat - you just put the bumper into the profile and whack it. I think it's called "precison engineering"

 

[Gadget Boy]

Yeap ive tweaked rear bumpers using a 2Lb hammer on a large wooden work bench . It took 2 hrs but the bumper was bent badly in the middle :mrgreen: And now its great In fact if you have a look at the back of the Deluxe laundry van its on the back of that :lol:

Gadget

 

[ProfessorWheeto]

My rear bumper was shot to pieces (and pick up only fitment - wider than standard :roll: ) so had to heat it up with the oxy acetalene and paste the crap out of it with an FBH.

So, as most people have said, Big Hammers and Fire is the way forward!

 

[young_dubya]

and pick up only fitment - wider than standard :roll:

Bollox :shock:

Now i know why the bumper Scott gave me didnt fit straight over!! :lol: Is it just a case of being wider or are the corners diffrent too??? Hopefully just be able to widen it :?

 

[dandaz]

Have a look here

http://latebay.voxit.co.uk/index.php?topic=500.0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The French guy just wacks them , fills them etc....

 

[ProfessorWheeto]

and pick up only fitment - wider than standard :roll:

Bollox :shock:

Now i know why the bumper Scott gave me didnt fit straight over!! :lol: Is it just a case of being wider or are the corners diffrent too??? Hopefully just be able to widen it :?

Ermm didn't look that closely really, just wider I believe. The standard bumpers have a tighter bend than the rear corners cause they are designed for the splash guards to fill the gaps. You won't be able to get splash guards to fit either due to the profile of the pick up only rear corners, to secure the bumper ends I got some long gutter bolts from plumbcentre and had to put a 50ish degree bend in them and then pack the backs out with washers.