Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Bumper bar polishing - +4 1986

yeh! Duraglit was addictive as a 12 year old! Brasso smelt like dog wee! I too remember the button guards and buckle strip protector and of course I went on to serve in the Army Air Corps so still had a few years left of polishing the same things!
Neil, workshops that deal with stainless steel polish to various grades of finish from bright to quite a ground looking finish so that might be another possible option.
Melvyn Rutter or Life's motors might also have some thoughts and Holden are always doing classics up to original spec so a chat there might not be a bad idea.

I admit to being besotted with shiny metal. The right choices never fail you like paint or chrome always will. Two of my Plus 8, came set up like yours, with the open ended alloys. Aluminum can be polished
somewhat, but even a professional job, aside from the new electrolyte polishing, produces a lustre finish rather than a mirror finish. On my first car I was able to have the original bumpers chromed, a careful triple
plating/polishing job with alloy. I gave my last one to the late John Sheally II. He was even more of a shiny metal nut than I!

I came to like the closed ended ss bumpers that came with my recreated my mog in 2002. Polished ss is not quite as lovely as chrome, but it can be mirror polished. BTW, very recently, Achim G found he was
able to use a skilled fellow with a 30 ton press to make a dented stainless bumper perfect again for 40 pounds..a saving of 900 pounds. So switched both my +8s to polished stainless bumpers in front but I use
and the original Morgan chromed steel overriders at the rear, not the later ones. On request, the Factory had made my Morgan slimmer than the norm. The standard bumpers of the day were too wide and I had
learned to be wary of them.

BTW, as is obvious at a glance, trad bumpers are merely decorative. They offer no protection and even (especially at the rear) add to risks and damage, unless remedial measures are taken. Trust me. As you know,
have detailed experience with that. The overseas' bracketry offers production but I prefer the UK stock look. Bumpers/overriders, compliment the Morgan looks.

Which was a too long route to get to the subject at hand. (wryly)

In front, there are two types of bumper brackets. The painted tubular curly things AND the shaped aluminum ones, either in rough metal or painted from the aftermarket. (both below) The original tubular ones were
roughly painted, but later, (aka now) they can be had in polished stainless. The last are the ones I settled on. I did once try to polish the aluminum ones (dealers call them the "flat types") but it will not give one a mirror
shine. I use either professionals polishers or table grinder mounted polishers. I have seen some very decent results for aluminum using baking soda and a polishing pad at the end of a hand drill.

Both types of stock bumper brackets break, unless you don't use your car much. The weight of the bumpers interacts sadly with the bouncing up and down and they shear at the stress point at the bolt. I made discrete
welded reinforcements for both (I have both types, one in spares) that has been fine for 25 years on all three mogs. I no longer use the overseas configuration, even on the cdn car. The MMC and I came up with
something more discrete and suited to the car that offers the production one needs. They used it since on occasion.

Please note, I DO NOT replace Morgan stuff that breaks. I take failure as indisputable evidence that the same guilty part will break again, possibly 1000s of miles from home. I think it out, ask around and make or modify
it for something more reliable. It makes for bullet-proof Morgans.

Lastly, I have never had problems with rear bumper brackets of any type. I use John Worrall polished stainless bracketry on all mogs. It doesn't rust.

L.

Anodized aluminum....the "coating" will not come off easily. I figured that out even trying aircraft aluminum "stripper". The only real way is to sand them out..... start out with the good old 220 and work your way up to 1200 or 1500. Then hit it with a good aluminum polish. In my case, I used White Diamond plate polish. It will take several days per bumper. And then you have the constant polish requirement to keep them looking like chrome.

Thanks for all of your input. I am wondering whether a gentle flame would lift the coating off. The polished aluminium looks to be what I would like.

Neil ... anodizing changes the structure of the actual metal surface so won't come off like a paint ... you can remove itvusing a drain or oven cleaner containing Hydrochloric acid but that might be a recipe for considerable unpleasantness if the part is the size of a bumper .... I've never done an acid strip ... still reckon mechanical sanding and polishing will be your best bet ... at least they're nice easy shapes to buff without annoying nooks and crannies.

K

Ps .. still think chatting to a local plater or polisher might save you terminal tennis-elbow 🙂

Thanks Image. I have a good chrome plater who plated the windscreen frame recently. I intend to take the car to him to have a look at the bumpers.

Again, TM is great resource.

Neil,
Lots of options here! To be honest if you want shiny I'd go with polished stainless steel as they really are easy to look after and they often appear for sale on this site as some don't like full length bumpers preferring either over riders or the naked look! I like bumpers so I have full length SS front and rear. Lorne is absolutely correct in that they only protect for the lightest of contact and the rear mounting brackets can easily contact the rear panel if flexed a little too hard!

If yours are anodised well that'll be quite a lot of work and then on going maintenance to keep them like it. Aluminium is tricky to chrome and doesn't stay fixed as well as on steel and isn't cheap. There is a new system around now that looks like a chromed finish, its called silvering and they claim they can silver anything and its cheap! Have a google and see what they say. I have seen it done and it takes minutes and they claim high levels of durability too!

Stainless new with the mounting bracketry are probably about £1300 each so second hand is the way to go and you should pick them up for £5-600 in good condition with the mounting hardware. To be honest its all about the look all options provide, what you like your Morgan to look like. I'm getting on a bit now and like the full bumper look as its a look of my time but if I was ordering now I'd probably go for over riders, possibly on the rear, the simple bumper bar/rack combination.

Knowledge is power and I think you are now getting most of the answers you'll need to reach your final decision! good lock with your endeavour.