Stainless steel bumpers and overriders

[jagnut66]

Hi,
I suspect this may have been raised before but if you raise things enough times, sometimes it can produce a result.....
My Minors hubcaps are now plain stainless steel (with an 'M'), as would my bumpers and overriders be, if they were produced from it for our cars.
Mini's and other classics have the option of stainless steel bumpers (instead of chrome), so why has no one ever considered this viable to produce for the Minor, considering how many rusty and pitted bumper blades / overriders there are out there, you'd think there'd be a good take up.....?
Personally I think chrome doesn't look any different to (or better than) clean and shiney stainless steel.
I may also post this up on face book to see if it gets a debate going.
Best wishes,
Mike.

[Bill_qaz]

There are re-chromed forsale on fleebay but never see stainless .

[59Elva]

In general stainless alloys have a higher yield strength than mild steel meaning they are more difficult to cut and form. I believe they are also more abrasive to dies. It comes down to applying nickel and chrome to the outside of the bumper or mixing it into the steel. I personally like stainless. As environmental regulations drive up the cost of plating chrome has mostly disappeared from modern cars. Remember the ‘50’s?

[MinorOCD]

The company that produces the classics SS bumpers is Group Harrington. I bought some for my other classic and they are excellent. I believe they are made in Malaysia.
I did contact them about Morris Minor bumpers, but they said they are not making them, but may consider it if there was sufficient demand. I imagine someone like ESM would have the market data regarding volume and also, sufficient purchasing power.
https://groupharrington.com/
All the best.

[svenedin]

I believe there are also stainless steel retainers and bezels for 7" round headlights as well given that the quality of the chrome parts is often very poor. Better chrome parts are available but they are much more expensive than the cheap stuff. I too have stainless steel hub caps and I like them.

The classic Mini community have a reputation for being big spenders on their cars whereas the Minor community tends to have the opposite reputation so that may be why Mini suppliers are prepared to invest more money in having parts produced.

Stephen

[michael4]

I note that Mini body shells are now being made in China to an apparently high standard.

There is no reason why s/s bumpers could not be made there as well. As to quality, 'you pays your money' etc. Not everything that comes out of China is rubbish.

I wouldn't be surprised to find that someone has already run the figures and found that the volumes required to arrive at a sensible unit cost just don't work and sitting on a pile of unsold stock is not an attractive proposition with the current cost of borrowing.

[jagnut66]

I wouldn't be surprised to find that someone has already run the figures and found that the volumes required to arrive at a sensible unit cost just don't work

You may be right but hopefully it's simply not been considered by the likes of ESM as a priority.
I may well raise it with them and see what they say. However I am aware that to make things worthwhile there has to be a 'minimum order',
plus, as stated above, we are not big spenders like Mini owners, so they may want to survey Minor owners to get an idea of take up before committing, for which they would have to commit to a sale price per item, so that we'd know how much it would cost us......
Still, worth a conversation.
Probably needs the involvement of our head office as well.
Best wishes,
Mike.

[les]

Stephen do you recall where you got your stainless hub caps from ? I too have stainless caps but disappointed as the rim area that folds over and clips over the wheel rim protrusions, is rough and sharp to the touch. I don’t like them and need better.

[svenedin]

Stephen do you recall where you got your stainless hub caps from ? I too have stainless caps but disappointed as the rim area that folds over and clips over the wheel rim protrusions, is rough and sharp to the touch. I don’t like them and need better.

Yes, Les they came from ESM but it was a few years back. They are definitely not sharp. I have taken them off enough times (and waxed them) !

Stephen

[les]

Thanks Stephen, that’s where mine came from, a while ago also. I have improved them somewhat I’ll have another go some time.