Four years ago, I had the crazy idea to make a custom bumper:

http://forums.2gnt.com/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=7&topic_id=92312&mesg_id=92312&listing_type=search

The look of it came to me in a dream. You know, the kind where you wake up and immediately grab paper and pencil to start drawing (was this a scene in Close Encounters?). Here is what I did:



Cut stock urethane bumper with jig-saw to remove parts and reposition them. Mock up new features with cardboard and craft foam. WTF did I just do?




Sand stock bumper and drill a million tiny holes in it to promote adhesion of resin. Hot glue is used to hold craft foam in place. Foam is sanded to a smooth contour.




Wrap bumper with too many layers of fiberglass and polyurethane resin. I chose to sand after each layer, removing a third of my work each time. Cheap paper masks should be good enough.




My throat hurts, but let's add a couple layers of resin and with fibers.




Make sure everything still fits.




Sand essentially all of that resin/fiber filler back off to get a nice smooth surface.




Spend 4 weeks sick from sinus and lung infection. Determine that pussies probably live longer and buy a proper respirator to use when sanding. Coat bumper with the highest quality filler available at Advance Auto.




Sand everything smooth and apply a classy gray primer. Everything still fits.




Yup. That is how I imagined it. I put some flat black paint on it soon after. That was 3 or so years ago. I have scraped it a bunch of times on entrances and my wife backed into it. It developed a couple hairline cracks that I repaired and some that I haven't. I was going to use this one to build a mold for a full fiberglass one, but I think I am just done. My car needs a paint job and I can't risk it cracking after spending the money on real paint. I have decided to chuck it and slap a stock urethane bumper on there. If anyone wants to pick it up in Northern VA, they are welcome to. Maybe this will inspire someone to try or not to try a project like this.


Corbin
'95 ESI-T

Now with more power and fewer leaks



Humble servant of the Wiki

Thanks for posting this Corbin. I have always wanted to try something like this and have a spare beat up bumper sitting in my backyard that I can experiment with. I'm also wondering if I can use a similiar technique to make a modified headlight panel for my motorcycle.

I bet that bumper weighs a crap load since you made it over the factory bumper and did not pull it off as a mold and use it. Looks good though.

-MIKE-

Stroked 2.2L

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Built. That's All...
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Looks great Corbin. I have a cracked all to pieces front bumper and I was debating to buy a new on or do something like this...Maybe this will be inspiration. If not I will buy another bumper lol. Very nice.

‹noboost› Four gee's and 63 years ago, our forefathers brought forth on this continent, a new dsm, concieved in Normal Illiniois...

i doubt it weighs anything. Corbin, that is very nice and one hell of an idea. As always, i have come to expect ideas from you that exhibit the age old enthusiast mentality........"Doing more with less." You have not once let me down.

I love it.

Terry

It actually only weighs a few pounds more than a stock bumper. That is because I sanded so much off after each step. Of course, that is the reason it is cracking now. This was certainly a learning experience. I contemplated making a mold from it now and recreating it properly. I also contemplated modifying a stock urethane bumper with purpose made plastic adhesives and fillers to make a full urethane bumper. I just can't invest any more time in a project with marginal potential for sucess.

Corbin
'95 ESI-T

Now with more power and fewer leaks



Humble servant of the Wiki

ok i knowthis is off the subject but where doyou get the hood from. i want one so bad.

He made it. Like everything else that he's done.

Erik P.
Official 2GNT thread Hijacker
Some say that he's driven over more Covenant than he's shot, and that his grenades aren't where you'd expect them to be...
All we know is, He's not The Stig... But he is The Stig's Spartan cousin!