18 replies to this topic

[FLY_LX]

Ive never seen a bumper tuck on any torana. Is there a reason for that?

Thinking about closing the gap on my lx bumpers, just an idea atm but never seen anyone do it.

Is that because its a lot of stuffing around? I'm sure someone would have tried it.

 

cheers.

[Bigfella237]

I've seen it done a couple of times, one example I remember is "A9XII" (if the walk-around video is still on YT, he shows you the 'tucked' bumpers).

 

 

[rodomo]

You watch too much "Over haulin" 

[Statler]

I done a rear bumper once.

It was a lot of work. 

[grumpy xu1]

You watch too much "Over haulin" 

I reckon chip foose is a cockhead ! Everything done the same way, full of bog & polyester resin kits. & done in 7 days. All a recipe for disaster!

[Heath]

I like to think that the main reason you don't see it done very often on LH/LX/UC Toranas is that it doesn't actually look much better?

 

Bumper tucks are really hot when there's a body line that you can make line up, or if there's a recess that the bumper can fit into (think '69 Camaro front bumper, or either end of an AMC Javelin).

 

LC/LJ for example looks really nice with the bumpers in close to the body. They also aren't quite as sticky outy from the factory... I think that is no accident, and the Holden designers knew that to look decent they had to be a bit better fitting. I'm sure they can be improved.

 

On LH/LX/UC the bumper does sit out a bit but I've always though that kind of suited the blocky look of the bars... and I'd almost go as far as to say I think it hurts the proportions a bit if you change that much.

I'd like to look at a few more, but I'm not sold on it. One thing I would probably say is that pulling the ends of the bumper in to hug the sides (particularly on the rear and particularly on a flareless car) probably makes more sense than anything else.

[Heath]

I reckon chip foose is a cockhead ! Everything done the same way, full of bog & polyester resin kits. & done in 7 days. All a recipe for disaster!

 

I have never watched the show, but are you sure the 7 days thing is even relevant? Or do they spend ages building the car and then just say it was done in 7 days to enhance dramatic effect?

 

You could call me a cockhead for doing everything the same way with loud colours, every sharp edge radius'd and holes drilled in everything. Having a bit of a "style" isn't the worst thing on earth haha.

[grumpy xu1]

I mean every car is shaded the same way, yeah they're probably longer than 7 days, like typical hyped up yank shit, but they're all bog boxes at the end, shot with polyester and they're certainly not going to last. It gives the impression to nieve people though, that that is how it's done & everything only takes a week or 2, part of the reason it's so frustrating & he is a dead set wanker.

[Bigfella237]

IIRC, Chip Foose started-out with Boyd Coddington (RIP) and HE was the undisputed king of bog-em-up, so it's little wonder that Foose continued in his footsteps.

 

You may remember Coddington as one of the pioneers of the TV genre with his show "American Hot Rod" which ran five seasons 2004-2007, and I used to cringe at some of the things they'd do on that show. I used to call them RAG Motors ("Rough-As-Guts Motors"), it's like they built things to do one show circuit and then get scrapped!

 

They used to do the "deadline" thing too but I think it was more about the production of the TV show than anything else. I don't think any of these type of shows ever makes their self-imposed deadline, do they?!

 

Anyway, back to the topic at hand...

[FLY_LX]

I can see what you mean Heath, with out a recess or body line it doesn't have much impact. having a look A9XII it looks better, I think anyway. idk might not be worth the effort.

anyone have more pics floating around?

[FLY_LX]

This is what I was thinking on the front, tucked in tight.

 HHH_LX1.jpg   348.14K   9 downloads

 

Rear

 HHH_LX.jpg   341.07K   8 downloads

[Heath]

I saw that car get revealed the other day. Look forward to seeing it in person and really interrogating it a bit more. Got some very nice features although the weirder shaped (more bubbly) flares haven't quite grown on me yet. 

 

So that rear bar has had what I was talking about. I don't think it's tucked length-ways along the car, but it's tightened in on the sides. Very nice feature.

To my eyes, the way the front bars fit standard (assuming it's all straight and adjusted nicely) probably looks as good as the tucked ones. But I can appreciate the angle that people go for trying to get things to hug in tightly and improve the loose tolerances that Holden designed around. It is obviously more refined and improving it is not an easy exercise.

[Bigfella237]

Yep, several ways of doing it.

 

As Heath says, if you just want to close up the gap at the ends then all you have to do is cut'n shut the bar and move/elongate the mounting holes (if the cut is in the centre, otherwise two cut'n shuts outside the brackets, but there's not much room to play with there).

 

If you actually want to close the gap between the bar and the body (across the length of the bar) then that requires surgery on the brackets as well, which is much more complicated.

 

Looking at the (standard) rear bar in particular, the ends don't really follow the shape of the body (they're kinda cut square whereas the body curves inward), and it may just be the shadow in that picture above, but it looks like they've extended the lower part of the end to better fit the body.

 

That's a terrible colour to see detail work like that BTW, it seems to hide the work rather than show it off, or maybe it's just the poor lighting/shadows.

[derrin71]

If I had my time again I would have done both ends of mine. Not too much just make it look a little neater.

[adrianh08]

I saw that car get revealed the other day. Look forward to seeing it in person and really interrogating it a bit more. Got some very nice features although the weirder shaped (more bubbly) flares haven't quite grown on me yet. 

 

So that rear bar has had what I was talking about. I don't think it's tucked length-ways along the car, but it's tightened in on the sides. Very nice feature.

To my eyes, the way the front bars fit standard (assuming it's all straight and adjusted nicely) probably looks as good as the tucked ones. But I can appreciate the angle that people go for trying to get things to hug in tightly and improve the loose tolerances that Holden designed around. It is obviously more refined and improving it is not an easy exercise.

Ha ha ha Heath!! Weird bubble shaped flares? I'm not sure if I'm offended or just amused. Hopefully now you've seen the car in person you saw that the front flares are 140mm wide and exact same dimensions as the rear flares.

 

As for the tucked bars it is a LOT of work to do properly. I shortened on the sides obviously and had to modifiy the brackets to bring it in close to the body length wise as well. I re shaped the ends of the bars to suit the body profile which included extending them and putting a curve in as well to follow the body shape. This is different for front and rear but both were done. All bolts welded in and tops removed. A lot of people think they are fibreglass bars due to this but they are the original bars. 

 

Agree with "Bigfella327" re these photos being quite dark and not showing off a lot of the detail. In fact the car is a nightmare to capture properly in photos due to the custom colour scheme. Looks 100% better in person and i have not seen a single picture that captures it properly yet.

 

Long story short, tucking the bars properly makes a huge difference in my opinion but it is a lot of work to do properly. To do it and then have them re-chromed would be even more work again. 

[Bruiser]

Beautiful looking car
Even the bubbley bits

[FLY_LX]

Adrian yours look sweet

i was thinking i would have to re-profile the ends.

would you have any pics of process?

[adrianh08]

Hey Fly_LX. I probably would have photos somewhere as i was doing it. Cant remember for sure. I might've been swearing and blowing up too much whilst doing it to remember the photos! The big advantage i had was having a second old set of old bars which i was able to cut the ends off to help to profile the shape properly. If you just cut and shut they will look a bit odd. If you look closely at my front bars i got the profile to follow the join between the flares and the front spoiler. All in the minor detail (which most people miss until you point it out to them!) The trick is to take all your measurements then shape and tack only and you will be putting on and off a lot to tweak and get right before you weld up. Have someone to help you as they are tricky to get on and off so close to the body without banging into the guard or quarter. Once the car is painted and you're doing the final fit up tape everything up big time and have at least two people helping you put them on and adjust them properly. That's the stressful part!

[FLY_LX]

Cheers mate.

sounds like i'm might have to source some more bumpers. Maybe i can find cheap damaged ones, as i only need the ends.

and prepare for a lot of frustration and skinned knuckles.

sounds like once there on you don't wont to take them off again.

thanks for the good tips