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MG MGA - Aluminum front Bumper

Does any one know what year of MGA that Aluminum Bumpers were used or put on from the factory?
Tom Peotter

Are you sure they are OEM? If so, you might have a specially prepared "works" car.
David werblow

I believe that for a period of time....around the mid 70's?, JCWhitney/Warshawsky supplied replacement aluminum bumpers. At least front bumpers. I have seen aluminum front bumpers but not in recent years. I have never heard of them being from the factory.
C Schaefer

Factory bumpers were always steel, unless as Tom suggests they might have fabricated some special aluminum ones for works competition cars.

There were some aftermarket replacement bumpers made with stamped aluminum. Those are generally rare, and any surviving parts would like be damaged as they were for decoration only with not much strength.

There were also some front bumper end pieces that were cast aluminum, heavier than the original steel pieces and also ugly (only good for the trash or for historical interest).
Barney Gaylord

April 24, 1975 I bought a 3 piece front aluminum bumper from Warshawski. That is one of the oldest bills in my file and I'm sure that bumper is in my garage attic because I don't throw much away. I paid $58.45 for it. Norb
N Wessely

An aluminum front bumper was just posted on the US eBay site, item number 350156606912.

John
jjb Backman

I've never seen a stamped aluminum bumper as Barney mentions. I've seen tons of the JC Whitney bumpers. They were cast aluminum and all three pieces were available. I've never seen cast overriders.

Because the JC Whitney bumpers were cast, they are quite a bit thicker than OEM steel. I have't weighed any, but I suspect they're about the same or even heavier than their steel counterparts.

--Carl
Carl Heideman

I have one too, a three piece bumper that was with the car when I bought it in 1979. And it stays on the car as long as I have it. I think its J.C. Whitney.

I have another set of oddities, two rear overrider bars that connect back down to the rear bumpers using the already provided bolts, these are chromed steel, I think made by AMCO (spelling?). Holes were drilled on the top of the overriders for the bar to bolt on to. They are great for hanging badges.

My front end had been smashed long ago, the aluminum bumber was the replacement. The rear overrider bars were just someone's bit of customization. I have only seen one other set in a photograph of a car owned by Mr. Graham who used to be on this board fairly frequently.

Hey, trash? no way, it has character!

My photo files are too large to attach, sorry.

Cheers, all

Ted
Ted Persons

Ted, I'm interested in seeing your rear overrider bars. I have the AMCO front bar on my car. I have never seen the rear bars. Please e-mail to c-schaefer at sbcglobal dot net. I can reduce them and place them on this thread.
C Schaefer

Ted, - If you can't figure out how to compress the picture files you can send them to me and I will do it for you. I would also like to have pictures of the rear badge bar and/or any aluminum bumper available to post on my web site.
Barney Gaylord

I don't think these would be used on any "works" car as all those I have seen were each lacking bumpers of any sort. Most likely an aftermarket item as has already been suggested. Gees..I wonder if they fit better than many of the current reproductions?
Robert Maupin

Funny, I actually bought my 3 pc bumper from Warshawsky ( or JC Whitney, same company!) way back when in 1981. At that time they were selling chrome plated steel bumpers. Somewhere between '75 and '81 they must have changed over. I paid 71.96 for the 3 pieces at the time. Many people think mine are rechromed originals. The profile is much better than what was being supplied by Moss in the 80's and 90's. The fit where the end pieces meet the center piece was very poor and required a bit of grinding to fit the indented shape but it has held up on the car for the last 8 years (plus the 20 years or so in storage before it was installed).
C Schaefer

A promised, here is 1 of 3 photos of Ted's car. Note the Alum front bumper.

C Schaefer

And the 2nd of 3 showing the rear overriders.

C Schaefer

And the last photo. Nice looking car. Thanks Ted!

C Schaefer

This thread was discussed between 22/01/2009 and 23/01/2009

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