Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2004 04:52:37 EST
Reply-To: Oxroad@AOL.COM
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Jeff Oxroad <Oxroad@AOL.COM>
Subject: wrap around metal bumpers.Was:Re: NEW Fiberglass bumpers and s....
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In a message dated 3/16/2004 10:37:11 PM Pacific Standard Time,
jtharvey2@HOTMAIL.COM writes:
> What I want to do is is build a bumper very similar to the chrome bumpers
> but have it wrap around the body like the later bumpers. Simple, slim,
> sleek, black, euro, 8 lbs.
>
A fair amount of the Vanagons (Microbus in South Africa) built in South
Africa (SA) have a metal bumper similar to the style you are talking about. I
guess they stopped producing the Vanangon in SA in 2002 or thereabouts(?)
Anyway most SA models came with what looks like a black metal bumper that
wrapped around the Vanagon in one piece--no plastic bumper ends, but a continuing
bumper which wraps around the sides (this is on the SA Microbus 1.8L and 2.3i
of say 2000). On the more upscale model (the SA Microbus 2.6i) the front
bumper wrapped around the sides as did the lower models but this upscale model had
addition "bumpers" which matched the style across the bottom of the front
doors. This gives the effect of the bumper wrapping around the side and
continuing through the front door. The rear bumper in this configuration wrapped all
the way around to the back of the rear fender wells with the bumper remaining
metal all the way around. (there is also the full upscale vanangon in the SA
brochure from VW called the Caravelle which has what looks like the fiberglass
"aero" bumpers on the upscale Vanagons here in the USA. Possibly these were made
of a more modern material in the SA models than fiberglass, but this I don't
know. Where's James Cohen when you need him? Time for him to make another fact
finding mission to SA.)
I have a Just Kampers catalogue which is a UK company and they sell the front
and rear wraparound metal bumpers along with a front air dam like the air dam
in the US as a kit called "Bundle Kit. just kampers styling kit." This kit
also includes skirt sills which look like black covers for the seam at the very
bottom of the Vanagon body and run underneath the Vanagon from the back of the
front fender well to the front of the rear fender well. Part number for the
styling kit is: JK2541. The catalogue I have prices the kit at 395 pounds. I
think the catalogue I have is about 4 years old. According to the catalogue they
have a website at www.justkampers.co.uk
The kit Just Kampers shows does not have the addition metal pieces that
continue the bumper through the bottom of the front doors. As near as I can tell
the Just Camper kit is merely the South African bumper configuration from the
lower scale Microbus models as the pictures show the "standard" 4 light South
African grill and longer South African lower grill on the same pages of the
catologue with the styling kit pictures. In addition the photos seem to match the
photos I have seen of South African Vanagons in the VW brochures from South
Africa.
I myself am particularly intrigued by the sill covers and they would cover
that body seam which on my Vanagon is partially undercoat, partially chipped
undercoating and partially dented from the previous owner. None of this is even
noticable to anyone but me, but I'm always looking at it.
Also the wrap around rear metal bumper reaches right up to the rear fender
well and would meet a certain style SA mud flap that is designed specifically to
go with these style bumpers. The mub flap mounts inside the fender well as
opposed to the more popular mud flaps you see here in the US that mount about 3"
or so behind the fender well. The SA mud flaps designed to go with the metal
wrap around bumpers have a contour to match up with the rear bumper's
front-most edge and create a smooth line.
In short I'm guessing the bumper configuration you speak of is readily
available in wrecking yards all over South Africa. Or more than likely available
from VW of South Africa. How one gets them here is another story. And then, like
I said, possibly the bumpers are still available from Just Kampers in the UK.
Maybe an e-mail to them would clear it up.
That's about all I know, and as you have seen some of it is speculation, but
I have seen the photos and the all metal black bumpers (which by the way have
no rubber strip) do look pretty cool. And the constant line--that is the wrap
around being configured all in metal--is, in my opinion, much more pleasing to
the eye that the frumpy plastic bumper corners we're used to on the metal
bumpers in the US.
Somewhere someone had posted a brochure for the SA vanagons but I don't
recall the URL. The brochure shows the bumpers.
.....time passes.......
OK, I just checked the Just Kampers website and couldn't find the "styling
Kit". My Just Kampers hard copy of the catalogue is from 1999. And I see that
the Bus Depot catalogue (the hard copy) has a limited view of the south african
wrap around metal bumpers in a photo which shows the South African grill which
BD sells. It appears BD does not sell the bumpers and so the views of the
bumper package in the BD catalogue are pretty limited--you can only see the front
of the front bumper and can't see how it wraps around the side. And of course
you can't see the rear bumper in these photos at all.
That is all.
Best,
Jeff
83.5 Westy
LA,CA
