Restoration Difficulty Level

[andyburns]

BUMPER RESTO - PART 1

Decided to take the plunge and get all the bumpers restoration in motion.  Think my new rule of one part per day can be averaged out.  I can count 8 parts on the front and rear bumpers when they are decomposed so I have round it down and given myself one week to get both refurbed and back on the car.  Feel free to berate me if I don't achieve it!

Thought it would bit be too bad, perhaps a quick touch up on the insides.  They had been re-chromed by the 'best' chrome shop in NZ in the early 90's and had only seen 2000 km's since whilst been shed stored.  What possibly could be wrong with them... you know where this is going.

After a good clean to get an inch of dust and crud off them I discovered pretty much well 60% of the interior chrome was blistering or peeling badly.  The remainder of the surface was rusted.

The exterior is perfect and had obviously had a fair amount of attention lavished on it.  Why oh why oh why would a professional chrome shop with a reputation to uphold do a fantastic job on the outside and make an absolute dogs dinner out of the inside.  Isn't part of chrome plating about preserving the item as well?  If I dont do something about this now it wont be with the car in 15 years time thats for sure.

So what should I do.   Option 1 - Take it back and get it stripped and re-chromed again at a cost of 1200 dollars (this time giving them a jolly good bollocking if they dot do it properly) or option 2 - Try and carefully get rid of all the chrome plating and rust back to bare metal while leaving the exterior chrome undamaged. 

[andyburns]

BUMPER RESTO - PART2

I choose option 2.  Dont have the dosh to get the ultimate solution so will take the pain and do it the hard way.

Stripped out the bumper irons and gave them lashings and lashings of paint stripper to almost back to metal status.  So they are sitting waiting for an appointment at the bead blasters.

Moved onto the first of the bumpers, the front left unit.  Took to it with the 60 grit.  Much worse than expected.  Mostly all the chrome just fell off in my hands.  Took a good hour of sanding to get 99% of the internal surface back to a rusty substrate. 

Quickly masked up the edges ready for a final masking tomorrow with thick PVC plastic.  Cant afford to breach this protective layer in the blaster as you would destroy your nice shiny surface is mililseconds if you made a mistake.

Think I will be repeating this over the next 3-4 days with the other bumper halves and aim to get into the booth on the weekend.  Hopefully the masking will stay in tack and I can take them strait out and into the paint booth.  Will use the rust inhibited epoxy primer and then try and source some correct top coat for it.  Anyone know the paint code.  I think it was a light tan/gray colour?

[bogeyman]

Andy:

It was DB158 White Grey or "weissgrau"

[DaveB]

Rick is correct. I was always dubious that paint colour was DB158 because it looked more tan/olive to me but here is a new genuine bumper and a factory DB158 hubcap and the colour is identical (as is the backside of the hubcap). So now convinced.

[andyburns]

Thanks guys, I hope I can get my bumpers looking like yours Dave.  Wish I could afford new units.  Mine are showing signs that they have been repaired before.  The car was involved in a minor front end fender bender at some point.  The radiator support panel was a bit dented.  I decided to leave it as its hidden by the bumper.  If you look carefully at the bumper photos I posted you can see where a skilled trademan has used some sort of panel beating tool to knock and file the dents out.  From the exterior the repair isn't detectable so they have done a very good job.  Just a pity they didn't pay as much attention to the inside.  Will let you know how I get on sourcing the paint from that code. 

[andyburns]

Guys, am I posting stuff in too much detail.  A bit worried I am boring the sox off you all with blow by blow.  Can tame back to weekly summary updates if you want.  Let me know and I can adjust my style as required.

[getsmart]

Andy you've got to be kidding mate !!!!

I'll vouch for everyone here...KEEP the detail coming !!! Its invaluable and what makes this such a great community !!!

Best wishes from Joe !

[andyburns]

Cheers Joe,  didn't think things like bumpers were that interesting to everyone.  Could come accross like paint drying!

[Valvechatter]

Andy,
I agree with Joe. Keep the detail coming.
Lin

[getsmart]

One of my bumpers has rusted right through from the inside out, I'll have to repair that before rechroming. For those that like to try and do most things themselves its invaluable, truly !

Joe

[DaveB]

Second that! Your posts are very helpful to those doing or planning a restoration. We appreciate how much time it takes to photograph and document the process so many thanks.

Even the new genuine bumpers are not as well finished on the underside as the top. They often have tooling marks like those in your photo.

[dario]

Guys, am I posting stuff in too much detail.  A bit worried I am boring the sox off you all with blow by blow.  Can tame back to weekly summary updates if you want.  Let me know and I can adjust my style as required.

Andy, Your style is perfect. For me it's a daily portion of good material to read over morning coffee.
Just keep it posted as so far.

[andyburns]

BUMPER RESTO - PART 3

Thanks guys I will try and keep on top of the updates then.  I had a bit of a shocker today.  Quite a hot day here and the garage got really warm inside.  Almost sauna proportions.  Hooked into masking up the bumpers with really thick pvc industrial plastic.  This should prevent any scratches on the chrome and also allow me to sandblast and paint in quick succession. 

The masking was a really hard job as the plastic was so thick.  Took well over an hour struggling away in the heat. 

After I had protected the exterior chrome I was able to really start agitating the loose rust and chrome.  Took to it with a really stiff steel brush and then 60 grit paper.  Really hard work.  Fingers on one hand no longer have prints. 

The really frustrating thing with these bumpers is that some of the internal chrome is still sticking like **** to a blanket while the rest peels off leaving a patchwork quilt of bare metal and slithers of sound chrome.  To get a really good internal finish I have to take all the internal chrome off or bare minimum feather the hard edges of the remaining chrome slithers.  Chrome by nature is a fairly hard substance and is resistant to all attempts to remove it. 

I sanded away for two hours hard out in the heat with my dust mask on until all of a sudden I felt quite sick and got really dizzy.  When things started to get black and white I decided to retreat... quickly.  I have spent the rest of the night feeling quite ill.  Obviously some sort of heat stroke.  Sorry but I only managed to get the one photo. 

Perhaps I should have sold my left kidney and brought new bumpers 

Hopefully I will be back to full enthusiasm by tomorrow afternoon and make some more progress.   Off to drink some more water. 

[Peter van Es]

Andy…. we love the story… perhaps one day either JonB or myself will work it into a coherent series for Pagoda Notes with photos and all…. So please don't stop. It's almost like a real life soap followed by many members around the world. All of us are awaiting the next installment each day.

Peter

[Valvechatter]

Hope you are feeling better today!
Lin

[Tomnistuff]

Cheers Joe,  didn't think things like bumpers were that interesting to everyone.  Could come accross like paint drying!

That reminds me, Andy.

If you have anything to say about paint drying, put that in too.

Tom Kizer

[andyburns]

Thanks guys for your kind words. 

Woke up this morning feeling very ill.    Splitting headache and dizzy as hell.  A bit of goggle work and figured out I probably suffered heat stroke.  Reminder to self... stupid stupid idea to put overalls on and go into a stinking hot tin roof garage in the hottest part of a summers day and do heavy physical activity for hours on end.  Lesson learnt!

Taken the day off work which guts me as I am a contractor and loose the income.   Actually drove all the way to work and sat down at my computer and starting to see the screen spin.  Made it kinda hard to concentrate so half an hour latter I pulled the pin and came back home to sleep it off.   Just hope now I can resist going back into the garage for a cheeky tinker.

Peter,  I think you would have a massive job on your hands if you decided to use any of my material.   It would take months to correct all my atrocious spelling mistakes.  You should know full well IT guys suck at spelling.  You should see my code!

[getsmart]

Andy if its any consolation it was 43 here yesterday in Melbourne and only dropped to 30 overnight and I'm seeing quadruple screens this morning (since I have 2 monitors). Today is 41, tomorrow 41 and Friday 42....for  you Americans who go by Farenheit 43c = 110f.

One consolation is that in Melbourne the weather changes quickly and 3 or 4 days is about the longest streak of above average hot weather we'd get and when it changes it will drop rapidly. I've seen in drop 20 degrees in half an hour ! Which has its own set of problems !

I'm glad to be at work for a change and there's no way I can work on my pagoda in this weather. Heatstroke has an insidious way of creeping up on us too...a la Andys symptons !

Get well soon maestro ! and don't dare go out in that garage...instead put the vice on the kitchen table and do some work inside...just make sure your wife is out ! and be careful to cover your tracks well !

Joe

[Valvechatter]

Andy,
Sorry you weren't well, but hope you are now feeling better. I live in Virginia and we have our own southern (U.S.) colloquialisms, but what the hell is a "cheeky tinker?"

:-)

Lin

[andyburns]

Hey Joe,  I think we are getting the huge high that has sat over you guys for the past couple of weeks.  I dont know how you put up with that sort of heat let alone the fire risk that looms over you ever summer. 

Lin, a 'cheeky tinker' can be used in a number of different situations.  Some of them I wont go into    The one I was referring to is more geared around getting my ass kicked by the wife when she discovers me tinkering with my car in the garage when I shouldn't.    Normally this happens when she knows I should be mowing the lawn or cleaning the windows, or other such meaningless chores, where you be much happier in yourself in the garage than than slaving away.  You must know what I mean.  Isn't every man most happy in his garage or man cave?

[andyburns]

PRECIOUS

I couldn't help myself.  A day in bed and a few bottles of electrolyte latter my thoughts turned to the inevitable.   I truly feel some affiliation with Gollum.  Bare minimum my rapid hair loss during this restoration has me resembling him more closely.

Dragged my sorry ass out of bed and went down to the hardware supplied and sourced some brake pipe to replace some of the damaged pipes.   Quite a few of the fittings had been stripped over 20 years by owners using the wrong tools to tighten and loosen them.   Never use a standard open ended 11mm spanner on these or you will inevitably end up with something resembling photo 3.

Bent up the pipe and took it back to the brake specialist to put the fittings on.  Cost me the princely sum of 5 dollars.  All the new brake pipe is anodized this weird green color so I took it home and painted it.  Will repeat with all the other damaged stock.

While I was in the garage I decided to check out the temp to see what I had been in the day before.  Took it at around 4pm in the arvo about the same time as I started working yesterday.  It didn't -really feel that hot to me but when I got two separate thermometers in there I got quite a shock to find it about 42 c or 110 f.  No wonder I felt crook. 

[Garry]

Take it easy in the shed. We are sending you some more hot weather.  Was another 40c+ today and expecting the same for another two days.  Got to 55c in my shed on Monday that is why I gave it a miss!!!!

I can see why your helper isn't wearing any cloths

Garry

[Larry & Norma]

FYI Andy I think the green colour for brake pipes is the correct colour as supplied by Mercedes.

[Peter van Es]

Am amazed, you also seem to be running a server in a 19"er out there… that won't be cooling you down either...

[aussiebattler]

Andy, your postings and photos are priceless, so much info must be helping so many on the forum, me included.
I don't usually put many postings up, but read yours every few days.
The temp. in Tasmania has been a little less than in Melbourne but still a worry especially regarding bush fire risk.
My shed has only reached 33c yesterday and today.

Jack