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MK1 Golf Steel Bumper Project

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Thinking of reproducing the original steel bumpers

I have an idea.  I think it's a good idea but first wanted to bounce it off you good people.

I've owned a number of MK1 and MK2 Golfs over the years and have always tinkered with them.  As you know, it can be really time consuming to source parts.  You can spend months waiting for something to come up for sale in the right condition and it's likely to be expensive.

One of the items that I REALLY wanted, but couldn't find, or afford was the classic Chrome MK1 Front and Rear Bumper.

I do a lot of work with VW in the UK and got the opportunity to visit their factory in Hanover to look at the VW Transporter being made.  During the trip we visited the Old Timer museum and I got to see a set of original chrome bumpers up front.  Looking at them with my Engineering hat on, they didn't look that tough to replicate.  I even thought I could make some subtle improvements.

So long story short, I've been toying with some designs in CAD and I'm close to having the designs complete.

If I could manufacturer the bumpers, hangers and number plate holders … would you guys be interested in buying them?

They would naturally cost less than what you would expect to pay on other well known sites.

I could sell the parts individually, or as a set, either in bare metal or chrome.

I'm really interested in your thoughts.  If I can get some support I might make a thread and document my progress and the design process.  It might be interesting to see.


 

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Yup i'd be interested, price dependent of course.

Just out of interest are you thinking of pressing or welding them together? Or something really clever I've not thought of?  :lol:  

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i opted for stainless versions as couldn't be dealing with rusting out bumpers.

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Thanks for your comments.

I'm in the process of moving this thread to MK1 Golf Chat. It seems a more appropriate place.

borednow said

Yup i'd be interested, price dependent of course.

Just out of interest are you thinking of pressing or welding them together? Or something really clever I've not thought of?  :lol:  

No welding. I'm planning to press them with a specialist tool.  Welding just wouldn't be right for this kind of part.  There are too make challenges.


olethalb said

i opted for stainless versions as couldn't be dealing with rusting out bumpers.

That's a god idea!  This has crossed my mind but I knew I'd have to change the design because stainless is a harder to work with.

Did you have them polished and what do they look like now?

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I really need this tread to be in the 'MK1 Golf Chat' area of the board.  Does anybody know how to contact an admin to get it moved?

hubbadubba said

You're onto a winner if the price is decent :thumbs:

I'm a long way from sales but it's obviously in the back of my mind.  I'm going to make an appointment with a few plating companies and investigate the chroming process.  I suspect this is where a lot of the cost comes from.

I'd said that I'd made a few subtle changes to the design and somebody questioned it.  The changes are minor and not cosmetic.  I tried to fit lights and end caps to a set once with a friend and they were a total swine to put in.  The tolerances were just too tight for comfort!  Nobody wants to pay £28 for a end cap only to break it putting it on.

Anyway, I've attached a couple of screen shots that you might be interest in.

Bumper.jpg Hanger.jpg

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chroming parts is not cheap at all

part of the reasons the repo chome bumpers rust is its just chrome on metal, and chrome is a porus finish

old school chrome is all copper plated before the chrome, copper isnt porus so the metal doesnt rust

that what i thought anyway

a friend of mine had 2 bumpers and some other trim and the cost was around £250 mark

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jellybelly said

chroming parts is not cheap at all

part of the reasons the repo chome bumpers rust is its just chrome on metal, and chrome is a porus finish

old school chrome is all copper plated before the chrome, copper isnt porus so the metal doesnt rust

that what i thought anyway

a friend of mine had 2 bumpers and some other trim and the cost was around £250 mark

Thanks for the input mate. I did a bit of reading about the process and came to the same conclusion.

I'm thinking stainless steel might be the way forward. Sure the material might cost a tad more BUT, you benefit from a more durable material that isn't going to corrode.

Stainless can be refinished unlike chrome. Well it can but at great expense.

I'll have to see how much polishing is as compared to a decent chrome job.

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Stainless comes with it's own issue as well, harder to work with mainly 

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