Hello everyone,
So recently I was on a tour when the model t I was riding in was rear-ended. Thankfully it was a touring car and had a rear-mounted 26/27 spare tire/rim. This saved the body from pretty serious damage. Thankfully It was low-speed impact and no one was hurt.
That got me to thinking...
Currently I am building the body on my first model t and I would be sick if i got rear-ended!
SO... does anyone have a line on some good cheap bumpers? has anyone made a set from strap-steel?
Thanks in advance!
Wouldn't be very correct. Might look worse than the crash damage.
Nathan - what style of body are you building - lots of options.
Don't worry about being "period correct" - it's your T and do what you want with it. Lots of people over the years have added bumpers to their cars for added safety.
What about mounting a spare tire carrier on yours as well?
Scroll down to the last picture on this thread:
http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/331880/377827.html?1376058324
I am shooting for the back half of the car to look similar to this mercedez ssk
https://www.google.com/search?q=mercedes+ssk+1930&rlz=1C1CHKZ_enUS441US442&espv= 2&es_sm=93&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=PvPbU46BJ6ri8gHsuYHoCQ&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&b iw=1920&bih=985#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=kl5iWKaHNMRjRM%253A%3BOHOY-pbPmB-vWM%3Bht tp%253A%252F%252Fmedia.emercedesbenz.com.s3.amazonaws.com%252Fmagazine%252Fwp-co ntent%252Fuploads%252F774999_1416656_3624_2390_87F445.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fw ww.emercedesbenz.com%252Fautos%252Fmercedes-benz%252Fmotorsports%252Fmercedes-be nz-history-the-super-sport-short%252F%3B1600%3B1055
I think stock 26/27 bumpers would look okay on it but im open to suggestions. Stutz essentially used a pipe as a bumper in the 20's so i figured that would be easy to make as well.
Stutz:
http://willoughbycoach.com/Misc%20Photos/1923%20STUTZ%20BEARCAT.jpg
This car wont have fenders on it but im looking for any and all suggestions!
thanks!
I mean... realistically the stock bumpers were nothing but shaped, nickle plated strap steel.
Nathan, Make nurf bars like the early hot rods guys did. It sounds like you are making that type of car if you are removing the fenders. Have fun, Scott
Would have been period correct for some as bumpers were an option many couldn't afford. (3X4 hard maple)
PS I put the bumpers on to meet Michigan's inspection requirements. Later took the front one off but decided to keep the rear for the same reason you want one.
Nathan, back in the late 1960's, I was in college, majoring in Industrial Education, so I had access to making anything from bending and shaping metal; turning wood or metal on the appropriate lathe; woodwork; or making aluminum castings.
My dad and I were restoring my Grandfather's 1927 coupe which wasn't equipped with original Ford bumpers. Reproduction bumper bars and brackets weren't available, then, and I knew I could make the bars, easily. The brackets were another story as they are spring steel and cold rolled steel just isn't strong and safe enough, plus there are compound bends in the rear brackets, for sure. I found and bought original front and rear brackets. I made the bars, myself, from steel stock which was, and probably is, still available in the correct thickness and width. I borrowed an original bar from another T owner which I used to copy the correct radius on each end and to get the correct bend present near the end of each bar. I even reproduced and made the bumper bar clamps. Then I had all four bars plated. I didn't have the bars tempered or made out of spring steel, so I guess I was lucky that in the forty plus years, since, that I never had anything hit and bend them. I am still using the original bumper brackets, but have replaced the bars that I made with new stainless steel reproductions, as the chrome was peeling badly off the bars that I made in the late sixties.
Bottom line, is if the bars and brackets are not made out of spring steel, then they are on your car, just for looks. If the brackets are spring steel and the bars are not; you'll fair better in a accident, but the bars are easy to make from cold rolled strap, if strength is not a must.