Ashley James Posted August 9, 2011 Report Share Posted August 9, 2011 On the recommendation of Forum members I've just purchased stainless steel bumpers from Harrington and I'm not particularly happy with them. The finish is NOT identical to chrome, it is exactly like bright Nickel plating, the metal is probably half the thickness and weight of the original steel, so very flimsy, the fit isn't great, I've spent an hour getting ti to bolt together and the captive nuts are 10mm Metric Coarse rather than 3/8" UNF, which is a nuisance on an all UNF or UNC car. They'll look okay but not original and they'll be easily damaged. Ash Quote Link to post Share on other sites
wjr85 Posted August 9, 2011 Report Share Posted August 9, 2011 I detect a bit of dissapointment and rightly so, it just goes to prove that original/OEM parts are always the best way if at all possible. Good luck John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Norman D Posted August 10, 2011 Report Share Posted August 10, 2011 I was happy with mine until I read Ashley's post and he is right they are thinner, 1.5mm as opposed to the originals 1.9, not so different but certainly a little more flexible,and the front overiders are drilled metric but to be fair suitable bolts are included in the kit, mine fitted well after the original bumper irons were corrected and no they dont look like chrome they look like stainless steel, and they wont rust. I think I,m happy again. ps the repro chrome ones aint so hot. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Graham Harris Posted August 10, 2011 Report Share Posted August 10, 2011 I just purchased a set and i had to fiddle with the outer mounting hole for the domed bolt, it came with round holes whereas the original is sloted to take the flat sided shank of the bolt. I have been in contact with Thy and his sample bumper only had round 3/8inch holes so i sent him some photos and measurments , he said they can only get metric nuts in Vietnam? but in future he will supply both top and botom front overider bolts and offer sloted or round holes for future sales. Regards graham. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brett Posted August 10, 2011 Report Share Posted August 10, 2011 I ordered a set for my TR5 a while ago and had the same problem with round holes whereas the original is sloted to take the flat sided shank of the bolt. Other than that they were fine Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dave Larnder Posted August 10, 2011 Report Share Posted August 10, 2011 On the recommendation of Forum members I've just purchased stainless steel bumpers from Harrington and I'm not particularly happy with them. The finish is NOT identical to chrome, it is exactly like bright Nickel plating, the metal is probably half the thickness and weight of the original steel, so very flimsy, the fit isn't great, I've spent an hour getting ti to bolt together and the captive nuts are 10mm Metric Coarse rather than 3/8" UNF, which is a nuisance on an all UNF or UNC car. They'll look okay but not original and they'll be easily damaged. Ash Hi Ash If you look back about a week ago, I asked for opinions on the thread on my Steering ball joints which the nyloc nuts were loosened by a 17mm spanner. The long and the short of it all after importing 3/8" BSF nuts with 20TPI to better suit my joints instead of 3/8" UNF with 24 tpi, I finally found that the threads on the ball joints were 10mm x 1.25 pitch which equates to 20.3tpi and they fit perfectly. What one must ask is WHY do these manufacturers produce a ball joint with 1/2" UNF female thread to suit the control arms on the R&P steering with a METRIC male thread to pass through the tie rod levers. As I am not a purist it doesn't worry me that my tie rod ends have 0.3TPI more than a BSF nut which maybe preferable to a metric thread, but the 17mm spanner size might prove an embarrassment if I was to enter a concours competition, which I have no intention of doing anyway - my car was rebuilt to drive not to exhibit. As for your comment on them being easily damaged, is this an indication of YOUR driving or that of the general public, certainly would be a concern if your car was in USA the way they park, - by ear! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Alec Pringle Posted August 10, 2011 Report Share Posted August 10, 2011 (edited) Certain sense of perspective required here, perhaps ? There are times when it must be disheartening to be a manufacturer of repro components of whatever description. As in, can't do right for doing wrong. Correct me if I'm wrong, but a repro chrome sidescreen front bumper plus front and rear over riders won't leave much change out of £600, and isn't that wonderful a product. A good original set rechromed to concours standard are unlikely to cost much, if any, less - and a full set of mint new old stock originals probably won't leave much change out of a grand, if you can find any that is. The Harrington offerings are around £350 the full set, or were last time I looked. Not a fortune in comparison. I haven't inspected a TR sidescreen Harrington set as yet, but I have in the past looked closely at several other of their offerings in comparison with originals. Material thickness in each case was down by around 20%, which doesn't seem like the end of the world to me. Fit and detail finish wasn't perfect in any instance, but no worse than other repro items, and better than many. As for an odd metric nut and bolt or two, I reckon I could live with that at the price. Only Allah is perfect. As for strength ? An acquaintance of mine tested a Harrington Ford Escort bumper against a FoMoCo original - crude testing, 14lb sledge and an 8" vice and see what it takes to destroy the bumpers. He reckoned the impact absorption of the stainless bumpers was at least as good and probably better than Dagenham's finest, despite the thinner material. OK, just his personal opinion, but as a professional restorer and competitor not an altogether inexperienced viewpoint. Bottom line, as I see it, are the bumpers a reasonable buy for £350 or whatever - as opposed to are they a perfect reproduction of the original ? When you're dealing with micro production rather than mass production, the law of diminishing returns applies with a vengeance, each little increment in quality can cost a disproportionately large increment in spondoolahs. Need I add that I have absolutely no connection with Harrington or their products ! Cheers, Alec Edited August 10, 2011 by Alec Pringle Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ashley James Posted August 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2011 Alec I haven't measured them, but they look a lot thinner and feel a lot lighter, but they are very well made and nice looking. The use of metric captive nuts is annoying but the nickel finish is okay. New bumpers and very good ones for an AH3000 are £200 and overriders £40 each, so a similar price. Ash Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MikeTR-6 Posted August 10, 2011 Report Share Posted August 10, 2011 (edited) A complaint that stainless steel looks like stainless steel ? if the holes are too small you can enlarge them without the fear of it rusting. What if Triumph had made the origenal bumpers thinner and the re pros came up thicker It takes a huge press to form a panel like a bumper. So thinner metal may be the only choice they have for small run cottage industry type work for only a handful of cars at an affordable price.. I have seen preses in Coventry turning out / van panels for Land Rove - IBC they are the size of TWO houses They knock out hundreds of panels a day to earn there keep For a company to tool up for a small almost prototype volume run in this country would cost thousands . At least the small run low cost Not so perfect ( cosmetic ) re pros are an option we have . Brakes and the like are a different matter . You can re chrome a rusty bumper if you can get one but in time they will be all gone. so may be better than none. Mike Edited August 10, 2011 by MikeTR-6 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ashley James Posted August 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2011 Depending on the grade Stainless can look like Nickel as these do, or it can be blue like chrome. They are not made using a press, but hand beaten and polished and well done. Ash Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nylen Posted August 11, 2011 Report Share Posted August 11, 2011 Hi, I am happy with mine in fact. I ordered them a month ago. The weight (and thickness) is exactly what I had but the old ones were perhaps not original. If the bolt is 10 mm or UNF/UNC, how cares. They supplied the bolts. The total price is what I have to pay for recroming one bumper in Sweden if I can find anyone who will do it at all. The fit was ok too. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
helen_nguyen121 Posted November 30, 2013 Report Share Posted November 30, 2013 Hello Everybody I am Helen from PTT bumper company. How to get the beautiful stainless steel bumpers with best quality. Contact us: ptt-helen@sgbumperscar.com, we will deliver the best bumper to you as soon as possible. With over ten years in manufacturing these products. Therefore, we know how to serve customers best. PTT bumper is also proud to be the monopoly with our range of solid stainless steel grade 304, 1.5- 2mm thickness and polished. The back side of bumper is covered by 3 painted coats to protect bumper from chemicals, weather elements. And these paint coats will make back side more smoothly, wonderfully. The gloss of bumper is shiny like mirror polish, even better than chrome bumper. Especially, we are planning to launch the market some new models, so we are searching for samples from any distributors who can cooperate with us to expand some kinds of products in stainess steel, steel, aluminium, chrome or rubber such as: bumpers, mini bumpers, mirrors, mouldings, head-lamp rings, plate number frames for classic cars or mordern cars; any products for kitchen,house as Shelf, Lights, ect These products will be never rusty. And they are duplicated from original sample bumper for fitting, shape, dimension etc… If you have any bumpers or plastic one which want to be in stainless steel, please provide the old sample for us. We will copy them in stainless steel for you. We hope to satisfy your needs. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
billg Posted November 30, 2013 Report Share Posted November 30, 2013 I bought these bumpers and I think they were the best value part of my entire £15,000 restoration budget for my TR3A. Who cares if they have metric bolts? I changed as many of the fasteners on my car to stainless steel anyway as having taken a week to saw and grind off the old rusty originals ... What would you prefer to work on if you have to undo a wing or front apron? This company is amazingly enterprising and without them many classics would have no bright work. I wish some UK companies were as smart. My bumpers came Airmail! From Vietnam! Anyway lighter weight bumpers = faster car! Bill G@ NB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rodbr Posted November 30, 2013 Report Share Posted November 30, 2013 Have a little sympathy for the guy who has no original at all as with my early TR 2, where will I find find an original TR2 bumper now? Let alone bumper brackets that are even close to the originals. My Tr3a bumpers were rechromed in the USA 20 odd years ago and seem to have lasted OK but were not perfect by any means. The repro rear over riders seem to pretty good and the polished finishes i have seen are very good. Have to agree with Alec on this and the price is very reasonable in the big scheme of things. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jersey Royal Posted November 30, 2013 Report Share Posted November 30, 2013 Ihave Harrington bumpers on my TR6,well they were on the car now in the loft, Due to change in plan ie NO bumpers. I was happy with the quality of the product and also the service recieved. I plan to fit Harrington rear bumpers to my TR3 when the time comes Cheers Guy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
billg Posted November 30, 2013 Report Share Posted November 30, 2013 If you only want over riders you can get Mexican chromed ones via Macy's Garage in NY. They were good value as we're all their fastener packs. BillG@ NB Ps my car now has Korean, Vietnamese, Chinese , Mexican, German, Dutch, Austrian, German , US and Canadian sourced parts! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jimcwestie Posted November 30, 2013 Report Share Posted November 30, 2013 I fitted stainless bumpers to my tr6 2 years ago. I am still very pleased with them and have only needed one good polish to bring the finish back up since fitted. They were a big improvement over the originals. The quality of service from Harringtons was first rate. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
astontr6 Posted February 2, 2018 Report Share Posted February 2, 2018 Alec I haven't measured them, but they look a lot thinner and feel a lot lighter, but they are very well made and nice looking. The use of metric captive nuts is annoying but the nickel finish is okay. New bumpers and very good ones for an AH3000 are £200 and overriders £40 each, so a similar price. Ash Hi Ash! The appearance finish will be purely down to what grade of stainless steel is used. I purchased a set of new s/s wheel rims for my BSA motor bike made from 304 grade and you would be hard pushed to tell the difference between them and good quality chrome plating. They certainly do not look to be nickel or electro less nickel plated. What grade of s/s are they? Bruce. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lebro Posted February 2, 2018 Report Share Posted February 2, 2018 Perhaps not relevant, but I have stainless bumpers & rear overriders from the TR shop on mine, OK the fixings were metric, & not ideal, but soon replaced with correct ones. Happy with the colour, & they fitted well. Bob. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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