I had an idea for for a thread about bumpers for traditional custom cars. One thing I like to see on a custom is some trick with the with front and or rear bumper. Maybe even swap in a bumper from a completely different car. Maybe we could post good bumper choices? To start, I’m posting this photo. It’s advertised as a Chrysler product, with no specific date. What is it? I like this look, really smooth design.
I thought there was already a custom bumper thread, but I don't remember what it was called, it may have been only for a very specific era. This is the back bumper on my '41 Cadillac convertible, customized I believe in the early 50's. They cut the center out of a '49 Buick rear bumper and worked it into the Cadillac bumper, using modified Cadillac guards to cover the seam. This way the license plate could be moved to the bumper and the holes in the trunklid were leaded over. Whoever did it did a really nice job. I cleaned up half of the car just to see how it would go, hence the half-polished bumper.
That looks great. 49 Buick rear bumper is one of the sexiest stock bumpers, period. This should be a good thread.
I’m sure the subject has come up before. HAMB has has been around so long, most everything has been talked out. I’m an idea man. Always dreaming up something new. One example is a 49 Lincoln. Besides the like ‘em or hate em headlights, the bumpers are extra stodgy. The stock Merc is good. If any of you photoshop gurus have any ideas, they are welcome here.
I run a 53' Desoto Front Bumper and a seriously modified 55' Desoto Rear Bumper on my Merc in the avatar. It was fun fitting them to the car
This bumper is made of relatively common parts, but has a few subtle tweaks. The main bar is a '40 Merc rear bumper, and the license frame is the familiar '49 Chev front. The bumper was cut into several sections (6?) to flatten out some of the curve in plan view, and the license frame is narrowed to fit the plate more closely. The section behind the license plate is flat, so the plate is recessed into the bumper bar. Not visible in this picture, there's a gravel pan filling the gap between bumper and body.
I made these using common aluminum extrusion profiles, and a roller to bend the 5mm Aluminium backing. I hid the mounting bolts by installing them before gluing the strips on.
Sometimes the bumper, grille bar, grille surround, and hood, all need tweaking to fit right, and look right.... This is Ford, Pontiac, and Chevy, Chrysler, and Plymouth, all git'n together......
Here’s a bumper I think has potential. 1957-58 Edsel is a two-piece, with a nice shape. Could be used on several custom cars.
Another two-piece bumper, seen on some customs, is the 1955 Pontiac. The bottom part is kind of a “rolled pan” that could be used for other things.
That “rolled pan” lower bumper design can be found on several different models of different brands in the mid-fifties. This 1956 Lincoln looks to be not as deep as the Pontiac. Threw in the pic of a custom built bumper with “Dagmars”.
Taboo uses 59 Chevy bumpers and roll pans front and rear. Each bumper was also narrowed 3". Front was taken out on each side of the center point, on the rear they cut it right out of the middle. This was done with (then) brand new bumpers bought from the parts counter at the dealership in 59. The front bumper would look great even on a 56 Chevy with stock headlights. The rear end I go back and forth with as it didnt really fit the car back when it was first built. There was no actual panel made to span between the quarter panel bumps. With the trunk reworked and the new sloped panel setup it looks alot better. That work was done in 94.
Ron Hings 56 Chevy uses a 62 Chrysler bumper on the front and a 1 piece 56 wagon bumper on the rear with no bumper guards and all bumper bolts "shaved"
Yeah, those Pontiac bumpers are neat and tidy. I didn’t think I would like the Chrysler bumper when I read the caption, but it really works. Out of the box thinking right there.
On my Ford Vedette , I used a rear bumper of chevy 55 with a looooot of cutting work! cuts every 2 inch to follow car’s rounding and slightly crushed to recall the profile of the front bumper (ford 49). And no visible screws..
I suppose I could search the HAMB and find the answer, which I how I ended up on this thread. And since its a current thread, and I like talking/reading anything custom, I'll add to it. I've got questions about shaving/smoothing the bumper bolts on a wrap-around bumper and the possible problems that creates when mounting it. I picked up a '56 Chevy front bumper at a swap meet. It is a California, one piece, and of course, wraps around on the ends. I intend to put in on my '54 Chevy. I like the look and have seen it done on a few cars. I'll likely use the stock '54 bumper mounting brackets and relocate the bumper bolts on the back of the '56 bumper to fit. It occurred to me that I may cause myself a problem. Being a one-piece bumper, I think I won't be able to get the front bolts thru the brackets at the same time as the ones around the wrap-around sides. Am I overthinking this? Is there an obvious solution? I am going to run the '56 bumper guards. I like the forward motion look they give. They will cover up where a normal 3-piece bumper bolts together. Maybe I sell the California bumper and get a 3-piece? That would allow a "loose fitment" before snugging everything up.
If you can't make the side brackets separate from the center ones, it can still be done if you slot out the holes in the bumper brackets enough. My '52 Ford has shaved bumper bolts, I did manage to get the brackets on the bumper and then the whole bumper onto the car but it was a challenge, I had to really wrestle with it.
Modified DeSoto/Briz bumpers on my 41 They came from a different car, they where too wide and the wrong shape for the Chevy. So I cut and recurved them to follow the lines and hug the rear end, also modified the brackets, to get them closer to the body. Frank View attachment 5608714
Closest i have are these two bumper ends about 15 inches long. Anyone recognise what car they are from ?
I'm seriously thinking of using bumpers from a Jaguar MK7 on my mostly stock '37 Buick. I got quotes to rechrome my bumper for $1250 each, I can buy stainless Jag bumpers for about $2000 for the pair. They look pretty close to stock and are with an inch of the stock Buick bumpers. Plus with stainless if they get damaged I can repair them myself and they'll never rust.
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