A Series bumpers replacement

[titchfield9]

Hi all, My little Frontera is in need of new bumper corners as the previous owner seemed to think its a good part to put filler in.
I might be able to salvage the rears with some welding, the fronts are shot and I cant seem to get any from salvage that are not a fortune.
Has anyone changed the front bumper for anything else on an A series or got any suggestions or pictures. I have the matching front colour nudge bar with built in lights so want to keep that.

[snapper]

Yeah, I changed mine for this....

[Rifleman]

Yeah did mine a few years back. Dead easy mate.
See here, near the end of the thread.

viewtopic.php?f=46&t=19883

[titchfield9]

Thanks guys for the ideas, I am ok with the grinder though cant weld to save my life, was hoping for an off the shelf solution or a way to cut and fettle a B series bumper back on.
suppose attempting to weld patches to the rear side of the bumpers may be an option and then fill the fronts with dreaded filler.

[fogman]

you could place a post in the parts wanted section and try contacting gregster via the link below as you never know whats floating about
viewtopic.php?f=26&t=56207

[titchfield9]

Thanks tried both these routes, the wants nothing has come up, the other guy had some though very expensive have managed to pick up some fronts this morning for £10 each, its the backs that are now the problem ones, may try my arm at plate welding them on the rear.

[snapper]

If you already have a welder then I would suggest welding the back ones and treat it as practice for welding something more important later like sills or chassis rails.

All else fails, there's a 2.5 and a 3.2 (both lwb) currently sat in the scrap yard in Bicester.

[titchfield9]

Just got the off side one off, is beyond saving once I knocked the filler out. I must admit, AldI have a nice arc welder in for £39.99 that may be worth a go.

[drinksoptional]

Arc welders not good on thin metal it can blow holes
If you can patch and smooth with fiberglass on the corners its should do the jobs most of A series rust at corners on the front.

[robbie]

Hi bud I think I may have a pair I don't need any more. Can you give me a day or two to have a look

[titchfield9]

Cheers, that would be great, its the rears I am after.

[robbie]

Hi bud can you set up your Pm's so i can pm you info bud

[DarrenH_2.2]

aldi arc welder is rated at 20% duty cycle, which is why its so cheap.

[titchfield9]

PM should now be sorted, what about this mig welder

Sealey Mightymig100 Professional No Gas MIG Welder 100Amp 230V

• One of our professional MIGHTYMIG range, this compact no-gas welder offers excellent performance at an extremely competitive price.
• This unit is set up ready to go.
• Supplied with comfort grip non-live torch, 1.8mtr earth cable, 0.45kg flux cored wire and 1.0 mm contact tip.

1 Extra roll of TG100/1 Wire Included .

1 Extra Pack of 5 Tips TG100/2 Included.

​
Model No: MIGHTYMIG100
Maximum Current: 100A
Wire Capacity: 0.9kg
Duty Cycle: 60% @ 55A, 20% @ 90A
Cooling System: Forced Air
Gas Type: -
Torch: Non-Live
Supply: 230V - 1ph
Absorbed Power: 3kW
Case Size: Compact
Weight: 14.5kg
Gasless Consumables:
Flux cored Wire (0.9kg x Ø0.9mm): TG100/1 sold seperately see above

Replacement Tips 1.0 mm (Pack of 5): TG100/2 sold seperately see above

For use with 0.9kg Gasless Wire Reels only.

[DarrenH_2.2]

100 amp mig will weld about 3mm steel in bursts, more importantly that one only goes down to 55amp which will be pushing it on wings and stuff that thin

cheap mig welders are absolute minefield, because of the complexity they way are less value for money (like for like) than equivalent spec arc (like you aldi arc welder for instance, would cost 350 quid to get a mig that powerful) or to put it a better way, a cheaply constructed mig welder can be way worse than a cheaply constructed arc welder.

the clarke unit you linked is gasless too, if it were a bike and you were 4 years old again making your first attempts to ride, learning on gasless is like having a bike with one stabiliser, square back wheel and you are blindfolded. someone who already rides bikes could do that, but it will make you want to give up and make you feel like its your fault you cant weld very well (to start with)

mig welders are a horrible situation to advise on because the only real answer to all the questions are spend 300+ or you'll be disappointed, which sounds snobbish and dismissive but largely based on fact :/

[gregster]

Agreed....you would do better buying a secondhand "decent" mig, than a new cheaper one...

[titchfield9]

Thanks all will have a look around

[hipo1024]

I bought that arc welder from aldi. Yes the duty cycle is only 20% but it doesn't have a fan, so I'll fit it with a fan out of a old microwave and that should give it a good boost.

Besides that, mig is definitely the easiest to learn on. I weld gasless on mine and it's fine as long as you know how to weld gasless (not the same as gas welding)

And I have 2 front corners that are in ok condition if you still want them?

[titchfield9]

Thanks for the offer of the fronts, I had a pair arrive yesterday so when I get home from working away hopefully they are good.

Have welded with both arc and mig (gas) in the past. Though did find arc just blew holes in the sheet metal.
Had a garage weld a patch on the seal and to be honest its not great and concerned when I grind it down it may well not have a very good seem.

[DarrenH_2.2]

i think the issue with "hobby" arc welders is you can only go as low as the sticks allow, without them sticking to the metal. and that minimum power setting usually ends up being more than material thickness of car bodys will tolerate