Austin Princess bumper overrider repair

[Fazerruss]

Here are some photos of a recent repair I did. It's for an Austin Princess. It a Vanda Plas with a factory fitted 4 litre Rolls Royce engine.
The overrider had been badly bodged in the past with tons of brazing rods used to fill the giant rust holes.
I cut out all the crap and made a new repair piece out of 2mm steel sheet. It took some fighting to shape the tight compound curves but I got there in the end

 

[Fazerruss]

 

[indy4x]

My Dad had a brown 2 tone 4l VP in the late 70s, dont think the rear seats had ever been sat in

Had stupidly low miles, he bought it off a local chap called Dai Millionaire

 

[Wozzaaah]

Nice work!
How long did that take you? Looks like a fair few hours went into it?

 

[Fazerruss]

Nice work!
How long did that take you? Looks like a fair few hours went into it?

About 12 hours

 

[Fazerruss]

Just to give an idea of how much brazing someone had pumped in to this. The piece I cut out weighed just short of 700 grams.
Although the repair piece doesn't have the mounting bracket on yet it only weighs 178 grams.
After the whole thing was completed it weighed less than the crap I cut out.

 

[Fazerruss]

 

[ian f]

superb workmanship. i can see it now when handing it back "here's a fiver, keep the change"

 

[MattF]

Impressive work.

 

[Bobupndown]

Proper craftsmanship

 

[mechman]

Excellent.

 

[Morris]

Stunning work

 

[colnerov]

Good work on a poor design. Putting the mounting across the curve, creating a dirt and water trap. But the manufacturer doesn't care.

 

[Fazerruss]

Good work on a poor design. Putting the mounting across the curve, creating a dirt and water trap. But the manufacturer doesn't care.

Originally there is a gap so water can drain out but i suspect dirt has clogged it up. The other problem is chrome plating doesn't go inside so there will have been zero rust protection and it will have rusted from the inside out.

 

[RWD3M]

Originally there is a gap so water can drain out but i suspect dirt has clogged it up. The other problem is chrome plating doesn't go inside so there will have been zero rust protection and it will have rusted from the inside out.

That last bit has confused me, surely the whole thing would have been submerged in the plating tank so everywhere would have been plated

Edit: Sorry, should have added, nice work!

 

[Fazerruss]

That last bit has confused me, surely the whole thing would have been submerged in the plating tank so everywhere would have been plated

Edit: Sorry, should have added, nice work!

No unfortunately plating doesn't work like that ( although you'd think it should). The plating gets attracted to most outward facing and prominent areas. Even though it's completely submerged in the acid bath so not everywhere gets covered. If you were to place a large hollow metal cylinder like a piece of pipe in the tank only the outside would plate and not the inside. It's makes no sense at all.
With awkward shapes the platers have to move the anodes closer or change position mid way through the process to try and get an even coverage. It a bit like shining a torch

 

[RWD3M]

No unfortunately plating doesn't work like that ( although you'd think it should). The plating gets attracted to most outward facing and prominent areas. Even though it's completely submerged in the acid bath so not everywhere gets covered. If you were to place a large hollow metal cylinder like a piece of pipe in the tank only the outside would plate and not the inside. It's makes no sense at all.
With awkward shapes the platers have to move the anodes closer or change position mid way through the process to try and get an even coverage. It a bit like shining a torch

Every day's a school day!

 

[colnerov]

No unfortunately plating doesn't work like that ( although you'd think it should). The plating gets attracted to most outward facing and prominent areas. Even though it's completely submerged in the acid bath so not everywhere gets covered. If you were to place a large hollow metal cylinder like a piece of pipe in the tank only the outside would plate and not the inside. It's makes no sense at all.
With awkward shapes the platers have to move the anodes closer or change position mid way through the process to try and get an even coverage. It a bit like shining a torch

Yes, that's right, like electrolysis it works on 'line of sight'. Plus Chrome is porous so has to be kept covered in polish, which is why it's used in cylinder bores or piston rings (but not both at the same time) so it carries oil.

 

[Bobupndown]

Good work on a poor design. Putting the mounting across the curve, creating a dirt and water trap. But the manufacturer doesn't care.

I'm sure BMC have long since stopped giving a **Language** about corroding over riders on Princess bumpers!

 

[colnerov]

I'm sure BMC have long since stopped giving a **Language** about corroding over riders on Princess bumpers!

Other bumpers they don't give a **language** about are available.