Joined
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1,776 Posts
Well is it?
Actually, its not. The first is original, the second pic is a REPLICA. Now before some of you go off on one, there's a reason and a story to this.
I had some problems with the original GHO bumper fitted in May: this was the pukka item. It fitted really well. Then we had a hot summer. And one hot July, this appeared:
And within a few days, a lump fell off
If you look carefully, you can see whats happened. In the second image, you can just about see the woven glassfibre section. Unfortunately, there's not enough of it. GHO, presumably for expediency (so they don't have to reject too many bumpers out of the mould) have used a lot of a filler-like chopped fiberglass layer. It has no real strength. The other problem is the way GHO chose to mount the bumper. It uses the existing brackets that go through the wings. But whereas the original bumper (and some other aftermarket bumpers, like the RS Aizawa bumper) makes use of a support bracket to mount the bumper to the slam panel, GHO decided to replace this all by a single fiberglass piece. So the bumper is only fixed by the side brackets, and 4 highly stressed bolts on the slam panel. That in itself isn't such a big issue. But its not helped that a bare GHO bumper clocks in at a hefty 7kg; and remember, most of that mass is concentrated to the bottom, for the lamp housings. This produces a fulcrum effect on the fixing mounts. So its prone to vibration. Hence lump broke off.
So what to do? Didn't really want to go through this again with a fresh bumper. So I thought about a remade bumper; addressing the problems of the original. Paul at http://www.mx5roadsters.com agreed to this route, and offered to make it in kevlar and carbon fibre, thus addressing simultaneously the problems of strength and weight. It took a while; this is the first bumper he has made (and probably the last; he says he doesn't really want to make any more of these as they are so labour intensive), so purists can rest easy; this will be the only GHO 1001 copy bumper about.
I went over to MX5roadsters in Ireland, to get a fit and to return the old bumper (these are big things to ship). MX5roadsters has an impressive facility; dedicated workshop producing all manner of parts. Paul also sets himself high standards in finish. It was interesting to see how much work went into producing even little items. The bumper was the biggest car project he had tackled, and a cracking job was done.
The bumper he had made in Kevlar and carbon fibre, with unidirectional strands set into particularly high stress areas. He had put some meat into the driving lamp bowls, as I intend to put in some slightly different lamps into this (as soon as I've done modifying the mounting brackets). From the copy, it was clear where else GHO had skimped. For a start, the original is resin-rich; again, to achieve a low reject rate,, GHO used a bit too much resin in the bumpers. Paul also used black dye in the resin and a british racing green dye in the gel coat. The result was a bumper that if you had a brg car, wouldn't even need painting. For me, it means a bumper I don't need to get repainted on a annual basis; GHO use a plain ass white gel coat, and even with plasticiser in the paint, chips showed up really bad. Also, when they are popping these out of a mould, they are mass producing them, and using an airline. So on the original bumper, you have little airline marks. The replica bumper was taken out by hand; a painful, slow experience. Eye watering when you hear the creaks. A little bit of sanding was needed to get a perfect finish; nothing major, just the mould marks. Then a rattle can finish just to seal it, until it goes into the shop (which actually doesn't look too bad considering its Montego Blue, Satin Black, and some left over Ford Green all mixed in).
The other cool thing about the construction; even with the extra layer around the lamp holders, this bumper weighed in at 4kg. A stock dressed bumper is 5kg. A very useful saving over the original GHO bumper (but this is at a cost; that Kevlar and carbon fibre isn't that cheap).
So there's a lesson to be learned there, somewhere. Reputations can sometimes be a matter of perception and myth....
If anyone is handy with glass fiber, and fancies a challenge, the original bumper is now on ebay. Will be a bargain, if you can get it shipped.


Actually, its not. The first is original, the second pic is a REPLICA. Now before some of you go off on one, there's a reason and a story to this.
I had some problems with the original GHO bumper fitted in May: this was the pukka item. It fitted really well. Then we had a hot summer. And one hot July, this appeared:

And within a few days, a lump fell off

If you look carefully, you can see whats happened. In the second image, you can just about see the woven glassfibre section. Unfortunately, there's not enough of it. GHO, presumably for expediency (so they don't have to reject too many bumpers out of the mould) have used a lot of a filler-like chopped fiberglass layer. It has no real strength. The other problem is the way GHO chose to mount the bumper. It uses the existing brackets that go through the wings. But whereas the original bumper (and some other aftermarket bumpers, like the RS Aizawa bumper) makes use of a support bracket to mount the bumper to the slam panel, GHO decided to replace this all by a single fiberglass piece. So the bumper is only fixed by the side brackets, and 4 highly stressed bolts on the slam panel. That in itself isn't such a big issue. But its not helped that a bare GHO bumper clocks in at a hefty 7kg; and remember, most of that mass is concentrated to the bottom, for the lamp housings. This produces a fulcrum effect on the fixing mounts. So its prone to vibration. Hence lump broke off.
So what to do? Didn't really want to go through this again with a fresh bumper. So I thought about a remade bumper; addressing the problems of the original. Paul at http://www.mx5roadsters.com agreed to this route, and offered to make it in kevlar and carbon fibre, thus addressing simultaneously the problems of strength and weight. It took a while; this is the first bumper he has made (and probably the last; he says he doesn't really want to make any more of these as they are so labour intensive), so purists can rest easy; this will be the only GHO 1001 copy bumper about.
I went over to MX5roadsters in Ireland, to get a fit and to return the old bumper (these are big things to ship). MX5roadsters has an impressive facility; dedicated workshop producing all manner of parts. Paul also sets himself high standards in finish. It was interesting to see how much work went into producing even little items. The bumper was the biggest car project he had tackled, and a cracking job was done.
The bumper he had made in Kevlar and carbon fibre, with unidirectional strands set into particularly high stress areas. He had put some meat into the driving lamp bowls, as I intend to put in some slightly different lamps into this (as soon as I've done modifying the mounting brackets). From the copy, it was clear where else GHO had skimped. For a start, the original is resin-rich; again, to achieve a low reject rate,, GHO used a bit too much resin in the bumpers. Paul also used black dye in the resin and a british racing green dye in the gel coat. The result was a bumper that if you had a brg car, wouldn't even need painting. For me, it means a bumper I don't need to get repainted on a annual basis; GHO use a plain ass white gel coat, and even with plasticiser in the paint, chips showed up really bad. Also, when they are popping these out of a mould, they are mass producing them, and using an airline. So on the original bumper, you have little airline marks. The replica bumper was taken out by hand; a painful, slow experience. Eye watering when you hear the creaks. A little bit of sanding was needed to get a perfect finish; nothing major, just the mould marks. Then a rattle can finish just to seal it, until it goes into the shop (which actually doesn't look too bad considering its Montego Blue, Satin Black, and some left over Ford Green all mixed in).
The other cool thing about the construction; even with the extra layer around the lamp holders, this bumper weighed in at 4kg. A stock dressed bumper is 5kg. A very useful saving over the original GHO bumper (but this is at a cost; that Kevlar and carbon fibre isn't that cheap).
So there's a lesson to be learned there, somewhere. Reputations can sometimes be a matter of perception and myth....
If anyone is handy with glass fiber, and fancies a challenge, the original bumper is now on ebay. Will be a bargain, if you can get it shipped.