The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Straightening a bumper,can it be done??

As and when funds allow,I will be replacing the front bumper on my '50.

In the meantime is there any advice any of you can give regarding straightening the one I have just now.
Sorry the pic isn't very clear but there's a flat spot just left of centre,between the bolts in this photo here.

What method/s can I use to improve this if any?

TIA.

Rest it on one or more sandbags and use a block of hardwood and a BFH. Strike on the concave side. Put the sandbags under the dent.

Tiny, I think it might have to be an EBFH!

What about heating the dent?
I'm not worried about the chrome,what's left of it,it's shot to h*ll anyway....
I will just paint the bumper meantime assuming I can get it looking a bit better.

you could always try a hydralic press to push out the dent/flat spot...

Way back when, that be in the late 50's, when I was just starting out in the parts
department, I was the runner. I dropped a lot of bumpers off at the re-chromer to be
straightened and re-plated. As Dave posted, they used a hydraulic press to straighten
them. I remember watching two guys doing a single piece bumper with one on the press
and the other holding up the other end. They were just using wood blocks to keep from gouging up the face.
DG

Tiny has the right idea. If you have access to a band saw cut a one foot length of hard wood or even very dry 4 x 4 treated post lumber and make a wooden buck the contour shape of the concave side(inside) of the bumper. A hydraulic press would be the best choice to reshape it. The pressure will stretch the metal some, but you can enlongate the mounting holes if necessary for fit.
It won't pass the 100 point judging, but I don't think that matters to you at the moment.

My bumpers on my 49 Willys were horrible .... way worse than yours.

I took them in to be chromed and they used a combo of hydraulic presses
and the steady hand of their "bumper guy" .... amazing results.
And, all the holes for the brackets were perfect... I wish I could have watched the whole process! I guess with all the plastic/ABS bumpers now; a good "bumper shop" has gone the way of the buggy whip .........

mike

Thanks for the input guys...
There's some great info there.
Now to find myself a big old lump of hardwood.


Bumper shop Mike? It's hard enough trying to find even a chrome platers in the UK.....

hi, jock
sorry but i only just spotted this
but the hard wood sounds the simplest method i,v done it 100,s of time,s on big trucks nomally after pushingor pulling them nearly straight against a wall or steel stanshion then removing them and using a hardwood block and another bigger block to thump/knock against and of course a big hammer
but youre,s does,nt look to bad so maybe it will come out easy

good luck
mike..

Thanks for chiming in Spanners,my work takes me to some heavy engineering workshops,hopefully I can call in a few favours!

I might try the same technique with the grill bars...