For those who go bumperless

[stevebn2bj7]

I am starting to plan the restoration of my BN2 and am trying to decide to go bumperless or not. I have them but of course they are bent up and need rechroming. The question I have is what to do about the holes in the rear shroud. I so not want to permanently close them off and I think I have seen some with a sort of plug in the holes. Any ideas or leads would be appreciated.

 

[Cottontop]

I faced this same question when I decided to go "bumperless" over 10 years ago.

What I did was to TOTALLY clean and rough sand (so that it would have plenty of "tooth") an area about 2" bigger than the bumper strut hole.

Then I found a round, fairly shallow (1/2"-3/4"), plastic cup (a cut-down foil muffin cup would probably work), filled it with Bondo body filler, and stuck it over the hole on the inside of the shroud, pushing so that the Bondo flowed through the hole and duct taped it in place until the bondo cured.

After the Bondo cured, I finished, primered, and painted the shroud.

The plug has held up VERY well, with no cracks or non-adherance in the Bondo or around the hole, for over 10 years and yet could easily be knocked out with a sharp hammer blow.

It worked for me.

Tim

 

[glemon]

Some people use bumperettes such as from a bugeye instead of going comletely naked, I though about it on my car as well, but ended up using the repro bumpers I bought.

Greg

 

[Patrick67BJ8]

I believe that a '67 is the only Healey that can't go bumperless without drilling holes in the rear shroud for the license plate?
Patrick

 

[Lin]

Steve,
As Greg mentioned using Bugeye rear bumpers is an option. I got my mounting bars from Cape International. This is one of those "to each his own" topics.

Lin

 

[Editor_Reid]

The transmission tunnel plugs for a square Sprite (or a Midget, I suppose) are <span style="font-style: italic">perfect</span> for filling the holes. No modification necessary. See photo of my BN2.

 

[Editor_Reid]

...using Bugeye rear bumpers is an option. I got my mounting bars from Cape International.

I tried the Bugeye bumperettes and mounting bars from Cape Intl on my BN2 and found them to be awkward-looking since they stand off too far, for my taste, from the rear shroud. See photo. I returned them.

 

[dougie]

I like Reid's solution, if your able to solve this problem without cutting or drilling I'm all for it. My '57 100-6 had aluminum covers made and installed over the opening prior to my purchase. I painted them to match the body color to minimize their placement. I'm happy with the final results, but if I were to do it again I think I could achieve the same results with Reid's method using one of the new flex-additives to paint the rubber inserts he used.

Dougie

 

[stevebn2bj7]

Reid,
Thanks that was exactly what I was looking for. I will be doing a white over black car so I would likely paint them to match the body but the look is what I was after.
Steve

 

[RobWarren]

I'm planning on going bumperless and my concern at the rear is that I have a '67 BJ8 and need to figure out a way to mount the light and licence plate.

Lin has shown me how he did his but I'm always keen to see how others have managed theirs and get as many ideas as I can.

Anyone else given this a go?

Rob

 

[Keoke]

Hi Rob, with the exception of the 67 year car the rear shroud contained two holes which accepted what is called the British plate holder. These parts are readily available from the usual parts suppliers.---Keoke

 

[Lin]

Rob,
I have forgotten the chap's name, but this is one of your race cars from down under that was in the U.S. for the Challenge races a couple of years back. It looks like he just mounted the lamp directly to the rear shroud and then fabricated an aluminum bracket for the license plate. I think you could skip the fabrication and just use the BT7 bracket from one of the usual vendors. Hope this helps a little more.

Lin

 

[Cottontop]

35 years ago, my license plate light and holder was just bolted to the rear shroud. When I replaced my trunk floor, I had neither the ability, money, or tools to use real Healey replacement parts.

Rather than try to reproduce the 90 degree mating fold at the edge of the floor and shroud, I flattened both and overlapped them.

When I totally redid the car 10 years ago, I didn't want to punch unnecessary holes in the visible portion of the rear shroud, so I made a license bracket (using the original light) that bolted to the trunk floor and the unseen area of the shroud.

The green wire comes through a pop-rivet and powers the light.

There is a strip of foam at the top of the bracket (behind the light) that keeps the bracket off the shroud.

Tim

 

[RobWarren]

Lin, Cottontop you're both champions.

Thanks for this. I've ordered a bracket and if it doesn't fit, well I'll make it fit.


Rob

 

[healeynut]

The only thing about all of this is when someone even so much as taps you in the back, you're talking about $$$$$ to fix. I've been rear ended in the BJ8 at least three times - if you drive your call all the time like I do, taking the bumpers off isn't such a great idea. It does look nice though!

 

[Michael Oritt]

Lin--

That's Peter Jackson in the foreground. The red car belongs to Paul Freestone.

 

[dougie]

My mounting system appears to be similar to Lin's and Reid's. A simple piece of aluminum flat stock is used to make a bracket to mount the light to the stock license plate bracket. It's race proven.

Dougie

 

[TomFromStLouis]

Healeynut: Is your driving mostly urban right there in Hong Kong? If so, minor collisions are unavoidable in dense urban traffic and you are right to keep your bumpers. Just wonderin'.

 

[healeynut]

Well, before that I was living in San Francisco, where most of the accidents happened.

2 of the 3 incidents were caused by people driving an unregistered vehicle, who themselves were undocumented, unlicensed and uninsured citizens of a particular country which shall remain nameless (hint: they weren't Americans).

Had a couple of rear enders here in HK also, but thankfully not in the Healey. Actually the rear enders here tend to be less severe - people don't drive so fast here.

 

[Lin]

Michael,
Ah yes! Two very fast Aussies. Actually the color choice for the paint on my car was inspired by Paul Freestone's car. Two very nice gentlemen and two great cars - both added tremendous power but also paid attention to esthetics.

Lin