i love reading your posts...... are you planning on any trips to the sierras above fresno this summer? would love to wheel with you
Thanks!
I would love to go up there and wheel, but probably wont for a long time. I'm in school and still working off the cost of the tube bender, so I don't get to do long trips very often. I will be up at Bass Lake for 4th of July, but I'm not bringing the Toyota
UPDATEYesterday I made a plate for the front of the crossmember out of 2-1/2" flat bar (3/16). I drilled two holes where the stock bumper bolts used to go and bolted it into place. Then I tacked the main bumper onto that plate. This made it removeable (temporarily) so I could do some more welding and paint.
Here it is welded on. I used some degreaser and sprayed everything down with a hose.
Yesterday I ground a lot of the welds smooth. It took quite a bit of time. I think it was worth it. Most of my welds looked okay, but I being new to tube welding, there were a lot of starts & stops.
I hung it from the rafters and primered/painted. This took a really long time, a can of primer, and two cans of paint. I did my best to be systematic, painting all the way around short sections of tube to make sure I didn't miss anything. The finish is Rustoleum Hammer Silver.
After spraying the core support black and stripping the front crossmember, I bolted the bumper up and adjusted the position. Then I welded the plate to the crossmember on all sides near the tubes. Between the tubes, I spaced out some two inch long welds to finish attaching the plate to the crossmember.
(below) Yes the hood clears, although I have to use one hand under and one hand over to pass the hood up to myself when openning. It's a minor hassle I can live with. You can see where the radiator is with respect to the bumper upper hoop: they are pretty much level with eachother.
Another picture from further away.
(below) Here you can see where experience would have helped. If I had it to do over I would have moved the corner bend apexes inward so the tube would hug closer to the marker light areas. There is some ugly space in there that makes the bumper look a too big/wide.
Here is a shot from behind. Yup - too much gap.
(below) A view of the bar from above. Where the hood buldges in the center you can't see it from the driver's seat. But on the two ends you can see it.
(below) More pictures because bandwidth is cheap. Still have to paint the crossmember/plate black - the silver is drying.
That's where I'm going to "finish" for now. I'm moving for the summer, but when school starts in the fall I will start adding support tube. I know it really needs it.
