B and C front bumper wrap around

[Trevor]

In Tom's thread this topic came up.
http://www.abcgt.com/forum/14-356-Restoration-Projects/8963-SC-Coupe-Restoration.html?limit=6&start=432

I was going to post my pics there but didn't want to clog up his dedicated resto thread. As Jack mentioned, when we measured 6 or 7 cars, there was quite a bit of inconsistency as to how much the bumper wraps around in relation to each side - truly made by hand. Here's how Jack and I fixed the problem to make both sides match each other. Now both bumper ends have a 2 1/4 inch reveal from the edge of the bumper to the wheel opening.
















I hope these pics help someone else in the future.

[Trevor]

Last ones.






And here's the other side.

[John Pierce]

Trevor,

Nicely done and thanks for posting it for the rest of us. Just another detail for me to fix in the future.

Is the 2-1/4" reveal an average of the cars you and Jack measured? Also, how far from the front fender sheet metal does the back edge of the bumper stick out?

Cheers,

John

[tperazzo]

Nice Trevor! Welds are looking great too btw.
Thanks,
Tom

[Trevor]

John - I think the average was around 3", Jack correct me if you remember differently. On the car in the picture, once we had the bumper aligned where we wanted in relation to the front/nose and gapped on the sides, we ended up with a reveal of 2 1/4" on the driver's side, so we choose to match it on the passenger side instead of shortening the driver's side. Also because the rear bumper really wraps around, we decided to elongate the front bumper so it would look pleasing to the eye. This particular car is not going to run bumper guards so we had to factor in getting the deco strip centered on the bumper. If we shortened the bumper we would have had to also shorten the deco strip and that would mean a custom deco strip because we couldn't hide cuts behind the bumper guards.

Tom - Thanks!

[JTR70]

Great stuff Trevor and I'm sure useful to more than a few guys working on their bumpers. I spy one of those oversized folding sunroofs in the back ground in one of your shots.

Looks a lot like my buddy's folder he installed on his hotrod project years ago. He has since moved onto grafting a full electric "new Beetle" glass moon roof in its stead.
Thanks again for sharing these bumper findings!
Justin

[Trevor]

Check this out Justin

http://forum.porsche356registry.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=41617

I want to start a thread here also, just been busy. Without a preview button on the site I have to make sure all the pics are in perfect order.

[JTR70]

Cool, I must have missed that. Sorry about the no preview option however it makes no difference which order you load the photos into this system like on the R. Where the cursor is located when you hit insert on a particular photo is all that matters. If the photo is in the wrong spot or order hit "edit" and erase that photos code in the text box. Then simply hit "insert" on the photo you do want there. Hope that made sense.
Justin

[Jbrooks]

Timely topic.

I was backing out of the shop hooked the bumper on a lift post and bent the bumper tip up without even noticing.

It looked like a mountain goat horn. The tip was pointing straight up. Luckily it did not get into the mounting doubler. Also lucky I did not pull the lift corner out and drop my 912 on top of the 356. Slowly pressing and rolling out the dent at a local fabricator. But now I have the fit dimension.



I also figured out what the sizzling sound was in the bumper, I thought it was the licenses plate, it was cracks around the floating nut plates.

[JTR70]

looks very painful but as you said it could have been much worse if it had dumped your 912 off the stand.

[Jbrooks]

JR
I was lucky with the lift. The bumper did not offer much resistance at all.

Yes and the thinnest wheel dollies are 3/8" too wide for the flat part of the bumper. English wheels are really hard to cut down.

[Trevor]

If I understand you correctly, I think you're saying the lower wheel anvil on the English Wheel is 3/8" too wide. There are thinner lower wheel anvils available, however not cheap. They are used mostly on motorcycle fenders and on automotive trim. A hardened set of 6 (1x3") can be purchased here for $375: http://hoosierprofiles.com/Lower_Anvil_Sets.html

Kind of hard to justify the expense for a one time repair, but whoever you're having do the work "might" see benefit to having the thinner lower wheel anvils or you could offer to share in the cost. Another option might be to call Joe, the owner of Hoosier Profiles, and see if he'll sell you just one 1x3" wheel anvil with little to no radius for a reduced price. You never know... he might have one sitting on the shelf already.

I've bought a few dies from Hoosier Profiles for the bead roller and have been happy with his quality - made here in the USA.


Other than that you could use a hammer and dolly in combination with putting the bumper in a vice with the backside backed up with a dolly of similar curve/profile.

[Jack Staggs]

Brought from another tread as perhaps applicable.

[quote="bbspdstr" post=33816]The angle of the bumper tip needs to be close to parallel with the indented surface of the quarter panel. A simple cut-n-fold may change the geometry in an undesirable way when an inch is involved. Please be careful.

I never throw a bumper away (at least the outer shell) because no matter how one side is hit, the other or one of the three parts is usually savable. Not too difficult to de-construct the overlaps and build a bumper that actually fits any particular car, at least if the quarters are measured and similar from a centerline. (Through the hole, side-to-side.)

The bumpers for a B/C are VERY adjustable; laterally, up-down and in/out. What one wants to avoid is 'force-fitting.'

-Bruce[/quote


Bruce, I completely agree with you on all points here. As you well know, the difficulty often lies in the "factory fit" of bumpers on B/C cars.
Folks, these bumpers, both front and rear, have significant variations in spacing to the body when new. That is, both front and rear bumpers, when installed are tighter at the center line, with gaps getting larger around the corner lights (tail lights in rear, turn signals in front), and then getting tighter at the ends. Ideally, and to look pleasing to the eye, these factory variations in gaps must be somewhat symmetrical from right to left, a mirror image, if you will. So here's the difficulty. Body curvature was never symmetrical to begin with. Add to that, rhinoplasty and other repairs may change the shape even more. Couple that with bumpers that have suffered collision damage and have been stretched out of shape and "straightened", or replacement (new or used) bumpers fitted, and the symmetry can be way out of whack. Nonetheless, Craig's car, the one that Trevor alluded to, has what I believe to be an original front bumper that was poorly made. There is no possible way damage could account for the huge variation in fit.
Rear bumpers have their own concerns. It pinched too tightly at the corners, a "pregnant bulge" ( per Trevor) can result near the tail light area, as the bumper flexes in. Careful examination will reveal this. More common than this is misplacement of the bumper guards, resulting in off center relationship to the cut-outs in the body, sometimes resulting in chaffing of the paint near the cut outs. Since I am often called upon to fix problems on "finished" cars, I sometimes resort to ovaling, or even redrilling new new holes for the bumper guards to correct severe cases.
Fun, huh?

[MikeMoss]

Nice job documenting what you did looks great. I like the early 900 series headlights on B,C cars, it matches the fender line much better than the 356/VW light units. Mike

[Jack Staggs]

Mike Moss, thank you for noticing the headlights! You are the first to spot them without them being pointed out. A subtle but distinctive change, and I like mixing different year Porsche parts on a Porsche. Besides the contour fitting perfectly, the attachment tab at the bottom of the trim ring is no longer needed, for a cleaner look.
If you don't know of Craig Richter, he is the author of the critically acclaimed, long out of print, book from the '80's "How to make and Old Porsche Fly", currently available for a very low price online (links Trevor?). He also participated in the very first NHRA Pomona "Winternationals" drag racing event in the early 1960's, taking first place in his class, driving a Speedster.
BTW, welcome to ABCGT. Justin is a very gracious host. Please spread the word about this forum.