Stainless steel bumpers

[glamoor]

Gooday to you all from Australia.

Just thought I would fill you in on this bit of info.
You know how hard it is to keep up the look of the factory bumpers.. due to accidents, bumps, etc.
Have found a Company in VIETNAM..(English owned) who manufacture stainless bars.. They already do most bars for vintage classics and not so vintage.
They are tooling up to do a run of 240 and 260 Z bars.
And wait for it Front and Rear Fairlady bars. Here's who you have to order from..Nathan Redfern..he can be contacted at http://www.groupharrington" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. If anyone is interested in his products check his website out.

[avidtest]

Hi Glamoor,

Have you received any pricing info yet? I'll likely have mine chromed in the near future (paint is almost done!...finally). If the quality is good and the price is comparable, I may consider it.

Shannon

[alp]

I wonder if Vietnamese S/S is any better then the crappy Chinese version??

[S Allen]

I am actually working with them on this. I am sending them several bumper cores to see what they can come up with. I do not care for the over riders but I am including them as well. It will be interesting to see what the final cost will be. Stay tuned-if you are interested I would like to know about it. Cost and quality will be a deciding factor I am sure.

Steve

[glamoor]

Alp,

Just wondering if the names Aston Martin, Dino Ferrari, Maserati, Mercedes Benz, Jaguar. Ring any bells with you? I Don't think they would be wearing recycled Baked Bean tins do you?.
Lets just wait and see >> What is being done here is an alternative that will last a lifetime.

Regards
Bert

[alp]

I have yet to see any nice stainless coming out of Asia with regards to cheap import cars. I have seen all the marques you mention but have never seen "made in Vietnam" on any of their s/s parts, correct me if I am wrong. If the material is quality then no problem; if it is made cheap then the price must reflect that obviously also. Good luck!

[Datsundude]

If it cheaper than rechrome I'll be interested too. bumper rechrome cost $130, now let see if they can beat this price


vinh

[alp]

just something I found.....
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewto ... harrington" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[eddietude]

Couple of comments:

Congrats for going to the trouble to look into having these items made. It would be nice if people would be supportive rather than negative right from the onset without having any information whatsoever.

That being said, after viewing the link posted, Harrington doesn't look like they make very good products.

But again, how about we all try to support endeavors like this unless we actually have concrete information about negative issues?

BTW, I'm STILL waiting for info on those a-arm shafts... The manufacturer made a couple of great test ones, but has taken their time on getting the run going and setting up the website...

[dbrick]

Were it me, I would rather have chrome steel bumpers, or if it's possible, chromed stainless. That may sound silly, but most chrome is damaged by the base metal rusting. Chrome looks different than polished stainless, it's a personal taste issue. Chromed stainless would be the best of both worlds.
I have a set of Tex stainless bullet mirrors, they are duller than chrome, but require no polishing. The hardware is rusting a bit and staining the housing a little, so time for stainless bolts.

I read the VW post, not too good. I also read an Opel GT forum, rave reviews. As far as what they build, you can built high quality Yugo parts and you can build total crap Aston Martin parts, so that's not a yardstick.
They sell on Ebay, about $600.00, (295 pounds UK) for a TR3 fr bumper and 4 overriders. TR3 is pretty close to a Roadster size and shape. and about $1000.00 for a Lotus set, also similar size and shape.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TRIUMPH-TR2-TR-3a ... dZViewItem

As with all things, time will tell and the verdict will come with reviews of the first few sets. I'll wait and see.

[Linda]

There is a lot of criticism of Asian manufacturing but in my experience, and I have a bit anyway, it is all about telling them what you expect and then if they deliver they get paid if not they don't get the contract. Like many domestic companies many can make a crummy product or a good one, all depends on price and leverage. If you have good quality control then you can check their work, as the engineers on the List are well aware.
That said I am glad to see a possible project in the works and despite any difficulties I am supportive. Playing Devil's advocate in a respectful, supportive way to me isn't bad, just when things get out of hand or personal that we have problems.
So that being said, how does stainless steel compare to a conventional bumper with chrome, other than just price?

Linda

[alp]

I didn't have any problem with the idea of looking into the parts being made here, there or anywhere. I originally made a comment about the lack of quality with regards to stainless steel products coming out of Asia. I never posted anything about the company being good or bad till I found some posts regarding other enthusiasts' experiences with this company. That being said it was only a couple remarks with regards to one area they serve. For myself I would take the original parts and send them out to be redone by a quality shop in my area rather than deal with offshore parts. I have lots of experiences with after market parts from varying sources and have not had very much luck or quality with off shore products. With the Asian region they do have their good and bad as we all do. It just seems to me that stainless is one of those things that pisses me off most about cheap knock-off crap from Asia. There never seems to be very much "stainless" about the products to begin with. If you find that the products are of good quality and manufacturing then great.

[datsunrides]

Is there anything on the grade of the stainless, such as 18-8, 317, 316(L), etc.? There is a difference in the grades as not all stainless is rust proof. If someone is after a chrome like finish, you can always have the bumpers electropolished. ($$$) IF the bumpers go for $600 each, I can't see the benefit over chromed stock bumpers. I had mine triple plated AND straightened for about $250-$300 ea. in possibly the most expensive area (California) to do this in. Also, I don't believe stainless can be easily chromed. Seem to recall the guy that did my plating recommended polishing vs. the difficulty in plating.

Mark

[alp]

Some more info I found: they use "very high grade (304/ 1.4301) stainless steel" for the bumpers. The S/S is not sourced locally but sourced out of Italy. They also have a "lifetime anti corrosion warranty".

[glamoor]

Well glad there is some discussion going on here about the stainless bumpers..I see both positive and negative issues being raised. Which is great, but bear in mind none of us have seen them or had a price for them.
Harringtons web page prices are for a "pair"..Someone posted a figure of $200 for a rechrome job with the remarks "beat that"..well I can beat that I just got a quote for $800 to straighten and rechrome my bar..
If Harringtons price is within coooeee of that I know what I'll be getting
Steve have you got those sample bars off to Vietnam yet?
Regards
Bert Moorhouse
Cairns