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Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 170
CEG\'er
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CEG\'er
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 170 |
So how are things looking with the other bumpers? Let me know if I have to throw in some more money for shipping..
Midnight Red '95 Contour SE.
YoDude quasi-dual cat-back w/ Dynomax muffler.
SVT UIM and TB.
KKM True-Rev CAI.
Pre-98 SVT front and SVT rear conversion, YEAH BABY!
Alpha Kappa Psi
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Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 422
CEG\'er
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OP
CEG\'er
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Posts: 422 |
I havent shipped the other bumpers yet due to time, and weather. we are having an artic blast right now with tempatures no warmer the -5. I will be shipping possibly friday sence they said it will be warmer then.
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Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 422
CEG\'er
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OP
CEG\'er
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 422 |
have you recieved the bumper yet?
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 652
Veteran CEG\'er
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Yeah, I got mine on Sunday. Thx for that. Looks good as far as your concerned. But as far as the manufacturer is concerned, the quality isn't what I had expected. The material is not near thick enough! I figured they'd at least be as thick or strong (resistant to flexibility) as OEM bumper is. The bumper I got is about as rigid as, and reminds me just like a model RC car hard top shell/body. That is too thin for me. I must thicken it up before it would even come close to being rigid enough to make me feel comfortable having it on a car's front end as a body part.
The mold's form looks very nice though. I give it an A+ there, but there are several surface flaws, and a couple of flaws on the sharp corners, in the wheelwell area. It looks like not all the fiber got covered up fully in resin on one corner. They are repairable areas, but you can definitely tell the manufacturer was in a hurry and level of perfection on this job was not first on their list of priorities. This is just my finding. I have no idea how all the others turned out.
So I hope I can fiberglass a couple more layers inside the bumper without totally distorting or ruining the form of it or anything. Because I don't want something so thin that it will flex from the wind at 100mph or anything like that. I just want it to be as rigid as a stock bumper. Hopefully I, (a novice plastician'er), can figure out how to do this. Or I could pay another several hundred dollars more for somebody else to do this for me at a local bodyshop here. All for a car that books out at $2315 retail (kbb.com). Oh well, the things people do for a dream. Although, completing this one almost seems very illogical, I will likely finish it, so I will be able to have closure from this goal I had previously set out on. I'm sure it will pay off, if I keep the car for a nother 2-3 years more to be able to reap the fruits of my labors.
As for YOU Micah, thank you for completing your end of the deal. You did your part. Everything turned out ok in the end as far as you're concerned. You got us our bumpers, and I realize we got impatient at times, and communication was poor at times, but nevertheless, all went through. Hopefully we all learned something from this GB, be it patience, the need for communication, or that you may never want to do any type of GB again, whatever it may be? Anyways, thanks for your undying effort to bring us these bumpers. Mine may not be exactly what I thought it would be, but it's basically the foundation (which is what was worth all the price I guess). I'm sure I'll get it to work just fine as long as I can make it more rigid.
Anyways
Thanks again,
Josch 
'95 CONTOUR SE
-Enkei 16s
-SVT wannabe
-Dual escapes w/ 2 1/2" stainless tips
-True LED taillight conversion
- Audi Xenon Projector Retrofit
-Mp3 deck, dual 10s
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 1,806
Hard-core CEG'er
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Hard-core CEG'er
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 1,806 |
Originally posted by Micah:
I havent shipped the other bumpers yet due to time, and weather. we are having an artic blast right now with tempatures no warmer the -5. I will be shipping possibly friday sence they said it will be warmer then.
Was just wondering if you shipped anymore bumpers???? Was just wondering if I would be getting my bumper soon because I'm next on the list.  Thanks in advance.
Adam
Electric Red
95 Ford Contour GL
ATX Zetec
Born on 11/01/94
(The Official SCCEG Beater.) 
Coming soon... Micah's Pre98 SVT Front Bumper and SVT body kit. 
**1BADTOUR**
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Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 3,627
Hard-core CEG'er
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Hard-core CEG'er
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 3,627 |
Originally posted by Josch:
Yeah, I got mine on Sunday. Thx for that. Looks good as far as your concerned. But as far as the manufacturer is concerned, the quality isn't what I had expected. The material is not near thick enough! I figured they'd at least be as thick or strong (resistant to flexibility) as OEM bumper is. The bumper I got is about as rigid as, and reminds me just like a model RC car hard top shell/body. That is too thin for me. I must thicken it up before it would even come close to being rigid enough to make me feel comfortable having it on a car's front end as a body part.
The mold's form looks very nice though. I give it an A+ there, but there are several surface flaws, and a couple of flaws on the sharp corners, in the wheelwell area. It looks like not all the fiber got covered up fully in resin on one corner. They are repairable areas, but you can definitely tell the manufacturer was in a hurry and level of perfection on this job was not first on their list of priorities. This is just my finding. I have no idea how all the others turned out.
So I hope I can fiberglass a couple more layers inside the bumper without totally distorting or ruining the form of it or anything. Because I don't want something so thin that it will flex from the wind at 100mph or anything like that. I just want it to be as rigid as a stock bumper. Hopefully I, (a novice plastician'er), can figure out how to do this. Or I could pay another several hundred dollars more for somebody else to do this for me at a local bodyshop here. All for a car that books out at $2315 retail (kbb.com). Oh well, the things people do for a dream. Although, completing this one almost seems very illogical, I will likely finish it, so I will be able to have closure from this goal I had previously set out on. I'm sure it will pay off, if I keep the car for a nother 2-3 years more to be able to reap the fruits of my labors.
As for YOU Micah, thank you for completing your end of the deal. You did your part. Everything turned out ok in the end as far as you're concerned. You got us our bumpers, and I realize we got impatient at times, and communication was poor at times, but nevertheless, all went through. Hopefully we all learned something from this GB, be it patience, the need for communication, or that you may never want to do any type of GB again, whatever it may be? Anyways, thanks for your undying effort to bring us these bumpers. Mine may not be exactly what I thought it would be, but it's basically the foundation (which is what was worth all the price I guess). I'm sure I'll get it to work just fine as long as I can make it more rigid.
Anyways
Thanks again,
Josch
I know what you mean man I got one from a guy that got it from micah and the whole thing is gonna have to be resurfaced with bondo and get cleaned up a lot before its ready for paint. its on the car now for its test fit but its comming off as soon as its warm so I can start preping it
Trollin the boards as of 9/23
Originally posted by GS474:
stock hp is never enough
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 652
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Originally posted by Big Poppa:
I know what you mean man I got one from a guy that got it from micah and the whole thing is gonna have to be resurfaced with bondo and get cleaned up a lot before its ready for paint. its on the car now for its test fit but its comming off as soon as its warm so I can start preping it
Yeah, tonight I finally got my wife out to look at it (what this 'gift' was she had gotten me for my birthday last June was). She got mad at me, and said $450 for that cheap lookin, flimsey, POS??? Then she asked me how come it looked so ugly. Then I had to sit there and defend it for like 15 minutes or so and try to get her to see the 'vision' of what it will look like all painted and on. She even noticed right off the bat that it was way flimsier and flexible/squishey material than the original OEM bumper is. Then she sais, "what if your friend comes over like he always does and rests his foot on it like he always does when he comes over and you guy sit and bull$hit?" Then that dawned on me, that I really need to somehow thicken this thing up and make it stronger and stiffer! Right now it's only strong enough for a car show, but I doubt it would survive the real world. I also am remembering way back when my insurance company said my old back bumper needed to be replaced way back when somebody had rearended me and it just had a TINY little gouge in one little spot (because they said it would cost more to fix the gouge in labor than the bumper was worth), and this pre-98 SVT bumper is all crude lookin just about anywhere you look at it. So I can tell that I really need to learn plasticianing so I can do all this myself, or it's gonna cost me like a grand or 2 to prep and paint this thing. Because I want the perfection level to be like OEM new. Not all rigged lookin. I still wonder if it wouldn't have been cheaper to cut and paste 2 OEM bumpers together to make an SVT one? Oh well. I hope all this trouble is worth it in the end? I'm having trouble seeing the light in the end of the tunnel at this point. It's hard to ignore my wife's points, because her judgement is not clouded by the 'want' or the 'desire'. She just talks 'logic', in that it's just a car
....gasp
'95 CONTOUR SE
-Enkei 16s
-SVT wannabe
-Dual escapes w/ 2 1/2" stainless tips
-True LED taillight conversion
- Audi Xenon Projector Retrofit
-Mp3 deck, dual 10s
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Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 422
CEG\'er
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OP
CEG\'er
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 422 |
Well josch,
sence you are being so blunt, I think I am going to. Plastic is different then fiberglass, really different I dont know if you know that or not. oem bumpers are made alot at a time not 30 total, my orginal bumpers that I made for the first GB were just as thin and felt the same and guess what, I could sit on them when they were on the ground. at that time I was pushing 280lbs so I dont think you know what you are talking about at all. 2grand? give me a Fn break, I hope the place includes some type of lube before they ram you in the a$s. these bumpers must have flex in them or else there will be trouble. you see plastic has a flex in it, these have more of a flex due to different material. if the fiberglass was as rigid as the oem there would be problems, we already tried it. you see the 1/4 panels will bend down instead of pulling the bumper up, which means damaged 1/4 panels. these bumpers use plane fiberglass, and resin. ever been on a plane? if so how bout window seat by the wing? ever noticed how the wings move like crazy? although differnt material then oem and my bumper still the basic reason is the same. But go ahead and make it stronger then oem. spend 2grand, I dont care. But dont talk out your A$$ if you dont know what exactly you are talking about, and next time you have time. try to make a limited quanity bumper and see how they turn out. my bumper has survived 5mph accidents and being hit by animals, to me thats strong enough considering these arent even the safety bumper thats behind this bumper.
Micah
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 652
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Micah,
Sorry if I was unclear before, but I never claimed to be an expert in custom bodywork. I know little about working with fiberglass. I am a certified master automotive technician, and even though my specialty is in automotive repair, I do know a little about a lot of other things, and I understand the whole thing about not wanting to be too firm just fine. But just a little firmer than what I got would have made me possibly feel more comfortable? This is like RC car shell thin. I WILL definitely go talk to my bodyman connections and get some professional opinions first before moving on with the install and painting process. I worry that fiberglass can only flutter and flex so many times before the fibers start to separate. It IS true that some things can flex forever and it is good for them to be able to absorb shock, I don't know if fiberglass that thin should be stressed that much. Even look at the old Corvettes that were mostly fiberglass bodied. They had rigid panels that resisted too much flex. I understand that you wanted flexibility around where they unite to the front quarters, but I just wonder if I should strengthen it in other areas is all, or even mount some auxillary support brackets in some places to give extra resistance to deflecting in some places. I will have to figure out the best approach. Maybe your right, and I don't need nothin, but I will make sure I know this before I move on to make a decision on what to do and what exact approach to take. What I got though is good as I got the foundation, and again I say thanks to YOU for that. Like I said before, you did your part ok, and I got the bumper. I'm happy for that. It has a very nice nice shape. Read my first response about the bumper since after I got it. That is the one I stand to. The second response was after my wife had just got done chewing me out for this bumper. I sit down now, and realize that for the money it was still a good deal, just be it for the mold to get this look on this car. I realize that it is expensive to hire out companies to do work on such a custom level. But CLEAR that it is NOT ANY OF YOUR FAULT, I wonder why the manufacturer couldn't have spend like 10 extra minutes on all the corners and done a better smoother job.
I will survive. I WAS indeed being blunt as I was just trying to give my honest opinion of what I thought of the overall workmanship of the bumper. This does not mean that I don't like it, but I'm just trying to figure out what I need to do to make this project get done. I will figure it out don't worry. I'm sure I will likely be an expert in glasswork when I get done with this project. Which will be good, because I have a 25' boat that I need to install a new fiberglass/wood deck to this spring.
By the way, sorry if I agitated your earlier, as you have every right to get defensive. I will try to go collect all the data from pros before I go rattling my trap about anything.
'95 CONTOUR SE
-Enkei 16s
-SVT wannabe
-Dual escapes w/ 2 1/2" stainless tips
-True LED taillight conversion
- Audi Xenon Projector Retrofit
-Mp3 deck, dual 10s
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 43
New CEG\'er
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New CEG\'er
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 43 |
Hey Micah i was just wonderin if you sent anymore bumpers out? If so How many? I was just wondering cause my b-day is on the 9th of feb and it will be cool if i can get mine by then. i should be four or five on the list so if everything goes to plan MAYBE i will have it by then
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