Bumper Blow-out!

Early E-Types – especially 3.8’s – can have their bumpers torn out of the bonnet in even a minor accident. That leaves you with a big hole with cracks and tears…

Last week, another restoration shop asked if we could make some patch panels for this area. They have a Series 1 bonnet where this has happened, been poorly patched, and the rust set in and made that hole REALLY big. Here is what we came up with…

: Here is what we are trying to fix – this is a 3.8 OTS bonnet from earlier this year that had the same issue. This is a very common problem…

: Here is what we came up with – the other shop said they needed to go from the side flange that takes the chrome beading, over to the edge of the lip – and up two inches! We gave them 2.25.

: We’ve used the proper radius head in our forming machinery to make sure that this piece follows the bonnet contour exactly. This is an absolutely perfect bonnet panel from a ’67 2+2.

: Another angle.

: They only needed to go up to this seam, but we gave them extra so they could fold in the seam if they chose. We also did a complete flange on the bottom edge.

: This shot shows the very slight – but very important radius.

: In the end I made 4 new pieces that went past the mouth lip, and included a beefier flange. This is the RH top and bottom pieces clamped together.

: Another shot showing the radius and the lower piece moving in at a sharper angle than the top.

: This shot sshows the arc of the piece from side to side. and you can also see the radius from top to bottom.

: The customer will cut in the bumper holes once the pieces are welded into place. Also – the 3.8 and 4.2 cars have the forward bumper holes in different locations and I didn’t know which the car was.

: Here is the pair showing the flanges themselves. These will be nice when they are in because the factory flanges on the center section and lower valance are never even CLOSE to matching up like this!