Calling Warren White

Hey Warren,
I'm getting ready to start the carrera bumper trim project in the next few days. Being that you've been down this road already, can you give me some starting tips. Should I try to create the contour before attaching the trim or form it as I work around the bumper? Did you heat the curved areas to make the aluminum more pliable? What did you use to get the nice sheen to the trim (1000 grit to 3000 grit and then wax)? Thanks in advance for you help, Mickey

Mickey

I didn't wrap mine around the bumper like the original. When I got the trim from Carey, he suggested I cut the trim at an angle and fill the edge with filler. I still have the trim off the bumpers since the paint job and I haven't decided whether I am going to put that trim back on and just paint the edge or start over with something else. I have been meaning to drive down to JPS in North Hollywood and see how John does it, but just haven't had the time. As far as forming the trim, I just bent it from the middle out, tightening down the screws as I went. I used carraige bolts for this. I knew at the time I did this, I wanted to be able to remove the aluminum to paint or whatever. If you wrap it around, I would say if you ever take it off, you will have to start with new trim. For the shine, I just used aluminum polish to shine it up. Hope this helps.

Those of us contemplating doing this in the future would love to watch a step-by-step of this, Mickey. Take some pics, please.

Thanks Warren.
It looks like a pretty straight forward deal. The only thing I see is being that this trim is not "pre-formed" to fit the contour I may have to drill a hole for the mounting hardware close to both ends to keep the aluminum trim snug, hey, what's a few more holes? I'm debating on filling the old holes because they're just ridiculously off from mismeasuring. The trim hides them so it's no biggie.
On this subject of bumpers - what bumper brackets are you guys using? The ones on my car are crudely welded t-shape pieces of 1/4" x 2" steel stock. I'd like to get something little more adjustable for proper fitting. Are the VW ones ok?