Making three pieces into one, bumpers that is.

I promise I'll put up pics of the operation.
This was accomplished with much helpful advice from El Polacko.
I started making my '56 Chevy wagon bumper into a one piece.
I removed the mounting flanges but not to the point of cutting the very edge off. That would have made the bumper too narrow. With that done I ground the chrome off the areas that needed welding. The most important edge that needs to be lined up is the character line running through the bumper, the tops and bottom can be tweaked.
I used flux core wire because it results in deeper penetration than regular mig. It's better to weld the backside first, because the thickness of the flange remnants means you can get some nice wide beads. It makes welding up the frontside easier and prevents burn through.
Off course the shebang should be tack welded and test fitted before final welding.
I'm not up to the final welding part yet, I ran out of wire and daylight.
Weld small sections at a time because even though bumper metal's quite thick, it will still warp.
I decided to ditch the '49 Chevy license plate surround, the car looks smoother without it.
Also I knew the bumper had been cur too narrow the first time so it's gonna have to be widened just enough to fit nicely around the '56 Packard tailights.

 

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I used flux core wire because it results in deeper penetration than regular mig.

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Is the flux gonna be okay under chrome? Not dissin' flux core, used it for years before I got on the bottle, just worried about contaminating the chrome. And WHEN are we gonna see in progress shots before [paint?!?!?

 

jason, James, on my Lincoln mig I get better results on heavy steel with flux core than with shielded gas.
I started off stick welding years ago and I've gotten good at it, the flux falls off in chunks right from the weld bead, there should be no contamination.

Progress pics coming, I promise.

 

Get them into Photobucket.com and let's see them!! I'm not voting for your article unless it's fully illustrated