aa-fords.com

Need to know if anyone knows if the two bar stainless bumper sold for the AA truck is actually made of spring steel. I have a set of original chrome bumpers that need re-chromed badly. The nearest chrome shop wants $250.00 for each bar. The stainless bars are $300.00 for the pair. If the new bars aren't spring steel the extra $200.00 might be worth it because they might bend easily. Anyone else have any experience or thoughts on this?

N. Reed

I have a stainless bumper for a Model A that I am putting on my 28 AA. I do not know if it is spring steel or not but it does bend a little and has a kinda bounce to it if you pick up one end. It has a real nice finish to it and looks great. I am happy with it.
Hope this helps,
Pat

The AA two bar bumper was spring steel and chrome plated. I was not aware of anyone offering the AA two bar bumper in stainless steel.

Thanks to both Pat and Neil for your responses. Bratton and Mac's both offer the stainless bar bumper for $300.00 plus shipping. The others may as well, I just haven't looked in their catalog yet. I haven't found the bolts for the ends so I made two new ones which are supposed to be painted black but they need a little tit under the head. I'm going to try welding a spot under the head to duplicate this tit. It's there to keep the bolt from turning when tightened. Just hope I never hit anything hard enough to test them.
N. Reed

I see that Bratton's has the "A" bumpers in stainless. I do not see the AA two bar bumpers. Where in the catalog have you found them?

The AA bars are not the same dimensions as the car. They are wider and probably thicker. That bumper is hard to find . Enjoy it as is. Best, Ed

The bumpers are listed on page number 141, the second item up from the bottom on the left side in Bratton's catalog. The order number is 24341.
They are in Mac's catalog on page 196,top right. Number is AA17750BS.
They are listed in Bratton's catalog as $300.00 each but I called them and they said it was a misprint and it should be per pair. They also said they didn't know if they were spring steel or not. I had them measure the bars and they are the same size as my original bars. Mac's are $25.00 less but I've had really good service from Bratton's so I'll probably get them from there.
N. Reed

If you are looking for the bumper bars like those on the truck in your avatar, then those are actually AA bumper bars. I suggest that you ask Bratton's and Mac's to give you the height and thickness of what they list in their catalog. I am sure you will find that they are for the A and not the AA.

Note that the AA used the A front bumper into late 1930.

Bratton measured the bars that they had in stock and they said they were the same length, height, and thickness as the ones shown on my truck as seen in my avatar. They are about $60.00 more then the ones for the A. Can only hope they are right.
N. Reed

That is great to know. Let us know how they match up with your AA when you get them please

Here is a link to the bumpers http://www.brattons.com/product.asp?P_I ... &PT_ID=all

Bob

Anyone have a good rusty original ?

Stainless steel is by definition not spring steel, although it is stiffer and more "springy" than mild steel. (I just wrote 1/2 page essay here on high and low alloy steels and realized that I am an incurable bore, so I decided to delete it in the interest of everyone's sanity.)

spdway1 wrote:Anyone have a good rusty original ?

I do.

Just got the new bumpers from Mac's. The $25.00 difference got the better of me. They turned out to be $285.00 instead of $275.00 as listed in their latest catalog. If this was the only issue it would have been fine but as it turned out there were several things wrong with the new bars that made them un-usable. First was the fact that they were 1/4 inch less on the height. The thickness was slightly less then the old bars, which I could live with, but the hole was oversize and was not the teardrop shape it needs to be to accommodate the bolt with the tit under the head. Also, the overall profile was completely wrong in that they would have to be bent to shape them to the existing hardware which would probably have ruined the finish. The shipping to me was $30.00 and the shipping back was $28.00. I've taken the original bars to the chrome shop. All in all this has been kind of an expensive lesson in repro quality.
Next time I'll pay attention to Neil and others before I go off the deep end.

N. Reed