Features Smoothed '58 Chevrolet bumper. No more plate recess!

All '58's should have this front bumper treatment. I understand why because its a lot of work. Thank you for sharing.

 

Unfortunately, that trend seems to have been going that way for a while.

For those of us who really enjoy this stuff, would it be possible to post some in-progress shots? Did you use a donor bumper for the straight sections and weld them in? Or did you fabricate the entire middle sensation from scratch? It's crazy impressive man.

 

Yeah, I originally came to the H.A.M.B. for all the information that used to be shared, then left for about 9 years when it turned into just another photo sharing circle jerk. I see nothing much has changed.

I do have the progress shots. I'll have to dig 'em up.

I used a standard 3 piece bumper as a donor for the ends, while the straight runs to replace the middle were scratch built from .120" steel sheet.

 

That's wildly impressive. When we think of hammer and dolly work, I usually think of it in the context of body panels and 18-20 gauge sheetmetal, not 1/8" steel. I'd love to see how you work metal that thick. Do you need to heat it to move it?

 

No heat needed. I actually made the fillers using a brake, and bending a little at a time. I made this bumper a long time ago, before I had the equipment, and the experience, I have now. Now days, I would use my Pullmax machine to do most of the work in very little time.

 

Wow! That’s very nice!

 

That bumper looks GREAT! Since you have done this maybe you can answer a question that has bothered me for years. When I see bumper modifications on any of the old TV shows they just cut and hammer and weld away on a chromed bumper. I would think stripping the old chrome off first before welding would be the first step, or am I totally wrong? Bob

 

Outstanding custom look front end… !!!

Hello,

Where were you in 62? Wow, having been a first time hot rod teen with a penchant for custom cars since walking by a chopped Ford truck in our Westside of Long Beach neighborhood, there have always been cool cars around. When my brother had his custom 51 Oldsmobile sedan, I saw it as a long term cruiser for me when I got my license. As a younger brother, I got a lot of hand me downs. This one would have been the epitome of a cool hand me down.
(actually late 1957 Fall to Winter 1965)
But, as all things go for a reason, that Oldsmobile sedan hit the road to a neighbor’s house and up pops a black 348 powered Impala, all nice and shiny in our driveway.

Now, we are/were talking cool cars for the time. A fast, powerful factory built hot rod/cruiser all built into one. And, it was sitting in our driveway and squeezed into its tight space in a narrow two car garage.


Jnaki

So, as cool as this Impala was as a stock hot rod racer/cruiser, it was not mine alone until several years into our hot rod/drag racing time period. By late 1960, I was now the owner of the Impala. I drove it all through high school and beyond until I changed the look to a powerful cruiser.

My efforts to making it a very fast custom Impala with a C&O Stick Hydro, a 300+ HP modified motor, and custom Buick Skylark Wire Wheels. It was not a full custom like Mox Miller’s custom Impala, but it was as far as our pocketbook would take us at the time.

A special thanks to the HAMB expert @themoose The memories of the custom Impala still survives…

So, with your addition of a smooth front bumper, it would have made the Impala front end the coolest custom car around. But, if the smooth custom bumper would have been made back then, Mox Miller would have added it to his Impala. For sure.

Note:

The local CHP and B/W patrol cars stopped us for being low or other faults as we were racing and cruising, but not for no front license plate. So, it would have been a very nice addition. But, these days, when ordering a new car from the dealers all over, cars with smooth front bumpers still are required to have installed license plates. A lot of folks still drive around without front license plates… call it “ignoring it, until it goes away syndrome…” Now, the dealers are required by law to install license plates on every front and rear bumper, regardless…

So, where does that go from your nice design work and application? Below the bumper would be too low and above, it would block incoming air. Perhaps a custom flip down plate apparatus?

Great design and definite cool work… Kudos…
A possible look with what was available at the time, but due to costs involved, our teenage pocket books could not afford the custom item. The old stock style was ok, but your custom front bumper design would have been a top item for us, 58 Chevy owners and cruisers… YRMV

So much more cl***y improvement in design and workmanship…

 

Here are the photos I took of the process. I am not a photographer or teacher, so the quality will not be to some expectations, I am sure

I began by making a very crude looking jig to hold the bumper parts after cutting and during welding. It looks like hell but works great. I still have it to this day.

templates were made from chip board to make sure that the shape of the new parts would be correct and consistent. Then, a test part was made from steel.

 

Once properly size blanks were cut, I covered both sides with dye and scribed lines every 1/8", if I remember correctly. The lines were used as guides to place the incremental bends using a hand brake. Back when I made this bumper, I didn't have nearly the equipment I have now.

Now days, I would make these pieces almost exclusively using my Pullmax P-21SL.

Everything was gradually bent until they fit the wood and steel templates shown prior.

 

The parts were cleaned and smoothed, trimmed to the proper angle to form the middle peak and tacked together, fitted to the trimmed bumper being very careful to find and maintain the middle. Then, everything was welded together.

These days I would absolutely TIG or oxy/acetylene weld something like this. Back then a MIG and the knowledge to use it was all I had.

When I built this bumper, I was still doing body and paint work. Now days I only do dedicated sheet metal shaping and repair, with light metal fabrication. I am glad I learned what I do now and made the switch.

 

Lead was used to smooth the welded areas. There wasn't a lot to smooth out, but again, I would do things differently these days, metalfinishing the part and using no lead. Or, very little if I absolutely had to.

 

After everything was filed and sanded, the completed part was ready to send to Ogden Chrome to have the shiny stuff applied.

 

Progress shots posted.

 

To do any welding, yes, the chrome has to come off. Chrome is such a hard material that it is very hard to weld to, particularly with short circuit arc welding (MIG).

Any time I have to modify a chromed part, I either request the client send it out to be "unplated," or remove it myself sanding in a series of steps.

 

Man, this is some real top notch stuff here. Outstanding. I see how you said you could make dies to form those pieces on the Pullman, but I didn't realize a Pullman could move material that thick. Awesome stuff man, thank you so much for posting that. Really inspiring

 

1/8" would be getting up there for the forming limits of my machine. Cutting, punching, and even doming, it can handle much thicker material.

I love this machine:

 

I saw about 5 58 Chevys at the Custom Car Revival this weekend and all I could think of was this thread.