Stainless bumpers

Has anyone any update on fitting stainless bumpers to MK2 or Daimler V8 wide blade? There are a few old posts but no feedback on current condition of any of those fitted or recent experiences. I am not building a Concours car but a regular user and it will get knocked due to the prevalent horrendous parking attitude of locals around here. I have quotes for re chroming which are frankly eye watering and it cannot be done at all in Ireland as they have all been closed down.
Even a bad re chrome can fail and I am looking for 20 years of use. Polishing out SS marks is preferable to worrying about chrome failing or getting damaged.

I have no experience of the ss bumpers available, but have read very good feedback of those supplied by Harrington when fitted to Rover cars.

If it helps I have used my car as a daily for 20 years in the UK with no major issues; one of the over-riders has a slight ding but I cannot recall if this occurred before or during my ownership. Also they responded well to a good clean and polish using bodywork polishes and a mop.

A financial decision as much as any I would have thought – I’m happy with the chrome although not perfect and should imagine they would withstand all but the fiercest attack from a modern soft plastic bumper.

I have them. There are pluses and minuses.

Plus

I got two new bumpers for the price of having one re platted.

The cross section profile of the bumpers is good.

The over- riders are good.

The front bumper is a good fit.

They maintain a reasonable shine and you can buff out any scratches

They don’t rust :slight_smile:

Minus

They are very light gauge. They will provide no protection in a crash

The rear bumper is a poor fit. If you look closely you will see the central section is flat - similar to the front. The originals had more of a curve and wrapped around the rear. I managed to fit it. Required me putting a wooden block behind the center of the rear bumper to create more of a curve by stressing it. Needed a lot of wrangling and still looks ‘flat’.

Other things to think about

You need to keep the rubber parts between the over-riders and the bumper - they don’t come with.

Company was good to deal with.

Some photos that willhelp show the issue with the curve on the rear bumper.
My original was damaged so I didn’t realise the issue until I was well into the install process.
I made the best of it I could. They were good people to deal with. Sales based in England but manufacture in Vietnam. I am sure they would be happy to discuss changes to their tooling…
Dave

Thanks Dave that is very useful.

This is all very interesting. I considered buying these ones but because of the issues mentioned I went with a rechrome instead.
My bumpers were solid with no real rust, just faded chrome.
The cost of rechroming bumpers and overriders was essentially the same as buying these stainless ones.
I am sure it depends where you live but here in Massachusetts you can get a good deal. The job took four weeks to do.
YMMV as they say

Bruce

I think I will swallow the cost and go for a re chrome as flimsy bumpers will not look right and I will have enough fettling to do already.

One of the benefits of having the existing bumpers re-chromed is that you know that they actually fit the brackets, and track the shape of the body (more or less).

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