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Building a smoothie bumper - how to

83K views 51 replies 27 participants last post by  Ezpilot 
#1 ·
Since 56 smoothies aren't available yet...and may never be, I have resorted to building my own. I'm sure Danchuck will come out with them as soon as I'm finished. ;)

I wanted to show the process I used to build one, and a few tips and tricks since our self-proclaimed resident expert (streaker, or slacker??) smoothie builder wouldn't divulge anything a couple years ago. :rolleyes: :sign0020:

I started by selecting good pieces from the bumpers I had, and separating them from the brackets and from each other by removing the rivets....



Then I removed the chrome and ground the nickel and copper back for welding. It's not easy to remove copper any other way, I have found, and a local plater wouldn't even do it for me. Next, I bolted the pieces to the brackets that I had bolted to the car to check for fit. I found that the bumper was anything but straight at the joint as this picture shows....



So I had to make some cuts in the bumper to get it straight on both sides of the joint. I hammered on it some, then I used a thick straightedge that I clamped to the bumper for tacking the pieces together. I checked for fit again, and you can see it's much straighter....





Once I was happy with the fit, and straightness of the bumper, I welded up the gap on front with a TIG welder and ground the welds some.....



Then I trimmed back the overlapping flange on the back of the bumper...



Then I continued to weld and grind on the front and back of the bumper, and "bodywork" it smooth. This is the result....






I'm leaving the two bolt holes unfilled until last, so I can use the bumper brackets to continue fitting it to the car until I'm happy with it.

Next steps are to modify the brackets on the fender and shorten the diagonal brace to fit the brackets that will be welded to the back of the bumper. The bolt holes will be filled later too.
 
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#34 ·
Thanks John! ;)

I have finished fitting and welding the bumper together. I checked the fit after I tacked it, and after welding and initial grinding. I didn't have to weld the backside on this like I did the front bumper, because the flanges allowed deep penetration of the weld bead when welded from the front side. I removed the flanges after welding the front side completely with one bead, then ground and welded repeatedly until I got the surface filled and smoothed. I also did some straightening as I went with hammer and dolly.

I moved the bumper closer to the body, and cut off the flanges that the stock bumper brackets bolted to, so I had to modify the brackets. They will be welded to the backside of the bumper.

The next step is to fit the diagonal braces, plug the holes in the bumper ends, and weld the bumper bolt brackets to the backside of the bumper.








 

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#37 ·
By law, we have to run a front plate here. They tried to change the law not long ago, but it failed. I've not had one on my Boxster for 8 years now :cool:. I decided to leave the two license plate bracket holes in the front bumper just in case. I will probably put a stainless fastener of some sort in the holes to plug them up until I need them. ;)

Everything will get plated, that's why I've been blasting the brackets and everything that's attached to the bumper. I'll probably blast the back of the bumper really well before I ship it off to the plater.
 
#36 ·
Looks great Laszlo! Between building C4 frames and now smoothie bumpers, you're going to be busy.:sign0020:
Do the platers have a way to keep the chrome off certian areas, like the brackets?
Or does it all get chromed?
 
#39 ·
The rear bumper is now finished, and I rolled the car outside to get some pics of it. I like how the elimination of the bumper guards gives it a cleaner look. The bolt heads are also all eliminated and I pulled the bumper closer to the body than stock by modifying the brackets and braces. Since I'm not sure what I want to do with exhaust tips yet, I'm holding off sending the bumpers to the plater. ;)



 
#43 ·
oh man! before I was thinking those smoothies but know its a MUST! btw how are danchuck smoothie fastened has those brackets also? and could they ever be so well inline with the body.
 
#47 ·
I am not interested in doing one of these for anyone else. You couldn't afford it. ;) I have a lot of hours in mine. I almost think starting with a 3-piece is easier than a 1-piece, but maybe not. A 1-piece has a dip in it for the guards that would need to be taken out.
 
#45 ·
finn210, the Danchuk 55 smoothie mounts in a similar manner to the brackets that Chevynut built.

Resto-world has some nice photos of those mounts in their online catalog.

I have seen bumpers that simply use a welded stud, and the threads on the stud were protected from plating so that plating thickness wouldn't cause problems. Trouble with doing it that way is that it's harder to avoid welding distortion with that method, so as a minimum it requires some metal finishing to avoid a "wave" on the front side of the bumper. I'm sure that Cnut's deal might require some metal finishing too, but I'd think a lot less.
 
#48 ·
thanks for reply! lets see how my version turnsout.I have few ideas and try to take pics of them.
to c-nut have you noticed where your porche is built...if I remember right
its made in Finland:tu
 
#52 ·
Smoothie...

Hey guys,
I'm like the rest of you...I wanted one as well.

I just bought one from the Bumper Depot in Palmdale, Ca. Nice work, took awhile to get it. But I don't have the Fab. skills to build one so the 700 or so I spent for it was well worth it. Talk to Janet...661-274-4400. And by the way, I am not affiliated with them...just a guy with a 56 Bel Air Hardtop.

Dana
56 Bel Air
427 508HP
Muncie M22
Ford 9 411/Posi
 
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