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Did you weld the ends pieces to the center and make a one-piece bumper or are the ends pieces bolted to the center part like it was originally?
I'm about to do this same mod but I'm trying to decide if I should make one piece or three.
Mark
Right now its bolted but the rubber gaskets are removed. With that, the look is pretty smooth. I wouldn't be inclined to weld the pieces together because it would not improve looks but would (likely) decrease the fit on the car (in my pics, the bumper is resting on the body and its extremely tight fit).
IF you wanted to go really crazy (and I'm trying hard to avoid this thought) you could weld up the seam down the middle of the bumper and have it re-chromed. That would be sick.
In this last pic the bodywork is exposed. The rear bumper mod requires the removal of the bumper reinforcement plate and cutting off the bumper shock tubes. Highly recommend using a spot weld cutter on the reinforcement plate in order to get a clean removal. After cutting off bumper shock tubes, those holes were plugged and welded (along with several small holes of unknown purpose).
The bumper will be held on by using the original three bolts on each side and then I added two additional mounting nuts for the center section.
How hard was it to remove that odd-shaped reinforcement panel on the back? Did you just use a pneumatic chisel on the spot welds?
Also, did you have any trouble getting the bumper struts out? I have removed the nuts from inside the trunk area, thinking that the struts would then slide out the back. However, I can't even knock them out with a 3 lb sledge. Is there a trick to it, or perhaps mine are just rusted to the walls of the tubes they are in?
How hard was it to remove that odd-shaped reinforcement panel on the back? Did you just use a pneumatic chisel on the spot welds?
Also, did you have any trouble getting the bumper struts out? I have removed the nuts from inside the trunk area, thinking that the struts would then slide out the back. However, I can't even knock them out with a 3 lb sledge. Is there a trick to it, or perhaps mine are just rusted to the walls of the tubes they are in?
Kind of hard. A bunch of spot welds (used a spot weld cutter-highly recommend) as well as a welded seam the entire circumference of the bumper shock.
My bumper shocks came out easy, but they are a tight fit so any corrosion would slow them down.
Andy - dumb quesiton, but what are we looking at here? I love the skinny bumper, what exactly is that from / did you splice / just flip and weld two OEM rear chrome sections together??
Sorry if a forum "known", I live in a greasy cave.
I think the look is much better than stock but could be improved upon. Either the wheels and tires are too tall in car pictured above or the bumper is too thin. I briefly considered welding a strip of metal between bumper halves to thicken them but decided to be conservative (and easy) and leave them as is. I've got the same wheels on my car and so I plan to alter stance by buying narrower and shorter tires as well as lower the front end.
Last edited by bullittandy; Sep 6, 2015 at 04:10 AM.
I should also say, though it should be obvious, that this mod means that the bumper will no longer bumper. In fact, even a mild tap should utterly mangle body work since its bolted to quarter panel.
I like t he look but think they are a tad too fragile looking. If say there was a 5-8 cm thick piece of stainless steel welded between them to make them a tad "chunkier" then I'd say great
But taste again... Everyone likes different things!
I like t he look but think they are a tad too fragile looking. If say there was a 5-8 cm thick piece of stainless steel welded between them to make them a tad "chunkier" then I'd say great
But taste again... Everyone likes different things!
I agree, maybe a future project.
Another idea I have is to paint the lower ~2" of the rocker panels and front and rear lowers black to visually lower the car.
I like the bumpers. If I was going to follow that path, I'd all a 1" bar between top and bottom and set it back into the bumper so that an off the shelf rubber extrusion could be fitted to the gap.
One day when my car is well and truly finished, I want to get a couple of S1/S2 sedan bumpers and modify them to fit the XJS. I think it would be the best of both worlds then.
Another trick for removing spot welds like that is to cut the overlaying panel away close to the body seam, then grind the welds down from the outside. That way the panel can be removed and you just need to dress the remains of the spot welds with a grinder. Saves a lot of work plugging holes, but takes longer initially. I actually faired the body reinforcement seam into the bodywork on my car, looks a LOT neater.
I like the bumpers. If I was going to follow that path, I'd all a 1" bar between top and bottom and set it back into the bumper so that an off the shelf rubber extrusion could be fitted to the gap.
One day when my car is well and truly finished, I want to get a couple of S1/S2 sedan bumpers and modify them to fit the XJS. I think it would be the best of both worlds then.
Another trick for removing spot welds like that is to cut the overlaying panel away close to the body seam, then grind the welds down from the outside. That way the panel can be removed and you just need to dress the remains of the spot welds with a grinder. Saves a lot of work plugging holes, but takes longer initially. I actually faired the body reinforcement seam into the bodywork on my car, looks a LOT neater.
You gave me an idea! I searched those bumpers and noticed that Series 1/2 cars (and XKE's) have bumper overriders. I just purchased a set off eBay this afternoon and will be seeing how I can make them fit. They should help with the visual look that I'm trying for (60's clean)
You gave me an idea! I searched those bumpers and noticed that Series 1/2 cars (and XKE's) have bumper overriders. I just purchased a set off eBay this afternoon and will be seeing how I can make them fit. They should help with the visual look that I'm trying for (60's clean)
Ha! Sadly not! That is an early styling mockup when it was realised that the US weren't going to allow the proper headlights. Also note the louvres on the rear 1/4 lights, Webasto sunroof, Series XJ-type front indicators etc etc.
I to have been trying to sort out the bumper. I really like the treatment on the rear I'm thinking About 63 to 67 Corvette for the front. Any thoughts?
Yes, unfortunately the bumper I posted is pre production (but not by much) and pre US federal 5mph impact laws. Unfortunately, the XJS was going to be a fairly low volume build, so all the cars initially ended up being fitted with the dodgem car bumpers.
The rear was even sexier and even had a different tail light and boot treatment:
