[ferson206]

I pulled my US bumpers off my Alfa a few years ago and have since been driving bumperless and contemplating a better look. Years ago I had a '76 Lancia Beta Coupe I bought from a guy who had stripped its US bumpers down to bare metal and somehow shortened the mounts. The result was a lean but sturdy flat black metal bumper that closely followed the lines of the car.

I'm wondering if anyone has tried that with the US Alfetta bumpers and would appreciate any tips on how to go about stripping down the bumper and the compression/shortening of the mounts. I'm thinking this option may give me close to what I want while using my existing hardware. Thanks!

 

[sidewaysalfa]

Yes you can. Miserable to do. I wish I had a plasma torch to get at the inside metal. But worth it IMHO. Needs lots of bondo finishing for all the pitting . If you can weld you can shorten the mounts.

 

[ferson206]

Thanks Paul! I don't weld but have friends who do. Could you share any more pictures so I can get a better sense what yours look like? And I'm guessing you did the same on back? And for starting to take off the rubber, any tips from how that went? I am picturing starting with an exacto knife and maybe a sawzall?

 

[sidewaysalfa]

Oh boy, come into my office and close the door behind you.
Think cold chisels, angle grinder, $100 in cutoff wheels, ear and eye protection, a special sawhorse to hold those darn things as you hack into it. Oh, when you finally get the rock hard rubber cut, chipped and ground off then you find that the inside of the basically C shaped channel has two 1'x1" steel pieces the length of it covered by a 1/8" thick cover, sort of boxed in This is where a lot of the weight of the thing is (my comment about plasma cutter applies here) so I spend another few hours and many wheels removing most of that metal.
Then you discover that they used the crappiest quality metal for the bumper so it needs to be ground down and sanded and a few places need holes welded up. Then bondo to smooth it out. I used bumper coater paint to make it look ok.
The "shock absorbers" I cut up (watch out for the exploding plastic pellets inside) because I wanted to pull in the bumpers to about 1" from the body. I seem to remember that I flipped one side over so that I could weld it into 1 piece, remembering to leave enough room for a wrench to tighten the bolts. Of course the bolt holes relative to the bumper and the car did not quite line up so a little work was required to "move" the bumper bracket holes.
So I encourage everyone to attempt this, ha, ha. But after all that work the "new" bumpers weigh almost nothing, much less than the original 100 lbs.
I bet if you had a full weekend, somebody bringing you drinks, lunch and an early dinner, and you have a healthy bladder you could get it ready for paint by then.

 

[sidewaysalfa]

Oh, I just thought of this idea. Buy my Alfetta, for sale right now, and I will toss in the bumpers with the car.

 

[ferson206]

Lol, I’m trying to fix up MY Alfetta not acquire another one. But that’s a great photo. Is the for sale posting listed somewhere I can check it out? I appreciate your candid description of what’s involved. I wonder if any difference in the internals of a 76 vs 79 bumper. Probably not.

 

[sidewaysalfa]

I guess that the bumpers were all the same. They were made for USA only, for 4 years, mine looked like it was welded up in the back of the Alfa factory out of spare scrap steel.
My car is for sale in the "For Sale" section. Scroll down near the bottom of the Forums list.

 

[Ron Avery]

What about some USA GTV6 bumpers pulled in. That is what I did. I would think you could find a set. Or Euro Alfetta bumpers are really nice. And lastly, some Euro GTV6 Bumpers. There are some suppliers in Europe.