Bumper color

[jrich4411]

OK so next question (y'all were fantastic on responding to my post about strut braces!) So Kate is in the body shop getting another coat of clear as I type this... My body man is still trying to convince me to paint the bumpers the same color (crystal red metallic tint) as the car. So far I have stuck to keeping the bumpers black as a nod to the '70s heritage of the car.
As a background, I have a NOS front FHC bumper courtesy of Woody and refinished one of the rear bumpers I had in my basement. Both look absolutely perfect in black.
Opinions?? Opinions with pics earn extra Wedgie points! (which can be redeemed at ... umm... I will let you know on that one ):

'80 DHC
Chevy V8 up front
Ford rear end down back
Lucas wiring all over

[Hasbeen]

I once bought a very dark blue 7, with colour coded bumpers.

It looked fantastic, & much more modern than 7s with the standard black bumpers.

That being said I have not been tempted to give the same treatment to another 7, & I'm not sure how it would go with other colours.

The spiders in black give something of the same impression, have a look at some members albums with those.

I would definitely Photoshop some photos of my car, before applying paint.

Hasbeen

[john 215]

Hi,

Personally prefer black as original but that is only my personal choice.

The factory experimented with colour coded as can be seen on this genuine Exp. TR8 -





Cheers John




LIVE LIFE A QUARTER OF A MILE AT A TIME!

1976 Speke FHC Beauty Now with an overdrive conversion

1979 3.5 FHC(STATUS PENDING!!)

1982 2.0 DHC NOW A 4.6, BUILT NOT BROUGHT !!!!

[John Clancy]

Keep 'em black.

But it's your car and it's up to you. Putting them back to standard later though would require putting new replacement items on and I think that's worth bearing in mind.

<center><b>[url="http://www.triumphdvd.co.uk"]Triumph TR7 and other car documentaries on DVD here[/url]</b></center>

[Hasbeen]

Thanks John.

That rather confirms my suspicion that colour coded bumper bars do not work with light colours.

Hasbeen

[FI Spyder]

It's purely a personal choice here as there is no real difference in styling do's and don't from a design perspective. If you'r selling the car sometime down the line you are taking out the prospective buyers that want an original car. Fortunately I don't have to make that choice.[:p]





- - -TR7 Spider - - - 1978 Spitfire- - - - 1976 Spitfire - - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra - Yellow TCT

[supercass]

Keep them black. Somehow colour coding just doesn't look right. supercass

[gaz]

I also say black
I also prefer black cills....

www.classiccarrunblackpool.co.uk

1981 DHC 2.0 Litre
1980 DHC pedal car
1982 DHC TR-ailer in the making

[sydney.wedgehead]

The USA spec front bumper lends itself better to colour coding as it doesn't have the indicator lights flexible infills (YKC874) that are usually left black on UK spec bumpers when colour coded.

Although I prefer black I do think colour coding can look tasteful, particularly with the early rally style front spoiler.

Below are some pictures I've come across on the net of red cars with colour coded bumpers:






More pictures: http://s1282.photobucket.com/user/sydne ... %20Bumpers

[silverseven]

it does work well with the spoilers added ....

i'd also tend to think there would be better paint adhesion with the fibreglass euro bumpers as opposed to the rubber N/A spec.

Ron.

[John Clancy]

The reason colour coded bumpers were not adopted back in the day was because the technology did not exist (or at least did not exist at the price that could be shelled out on the TR7) to get the paint to adhere to the new materials being used for the bumper covers.

The reason for the black sills was simply to make the car look sleeker than it really was. Look at a yellow or white fixed head to confirm this. The fixed head looks too high and more cumbersome with colour coded sills and those red fixed head pictures Sydney posted make the point perfectly. Photoshop the sills in those pictures black and you get a much better looking car. Funny how the eye perceives things like this.

<center><b>[url="http://www.triumphdvd.co.uk"]Triumph TR7 and other car documentaries on DVD here[/url]</b></center>

[silverseven]

to add how ever, I'm not as convinced as John on the lower rockers..... I kinda like the solid colour on the sills. [:D]

Ron.

[trekcarbonboy]

Yeah I like the color matched sills also. Makes for a more modern looking car, IMO. Next time I paint I will leave them blue to see if I really like it. Easy enough to paint over.

As far as colored bumpers, on some cars it looks brilliant, and on others it looks like a cheap afterthought. It must depend on the color.

Craig '75 2.0 FHC

[jrich4411]

Fantastic pictures! For now I'm going to keep them black. They can easily be removed & sprayed later.
OEM resale value isn't a concern to me. There is very little left of this car that is OEM at this point!

'82 DHC
Chevy V8 up front
Ford rear end down back
Lucas wiring all over