bumper metal gauge question

[autokunst]

Hello all. I pulled the bumpers off the car to bring them back to life. As I learn more about what is there, questions are developing. Hoping someone might know a bit about what the bumpers "should" be...

Here is the bumper right off the car:

After a little bit of elbow grease, it is surprising how much of the oxidation disappears (at this photo I've worked on the flat center area but have not polished the left area where it wraps up to the bumperette. I have a long way to go, and it is apparent this will not fully come back to its original luster...

But my first questions are regarding how thick the bumper metal is supposed to be. This entire bumper feels very light and, frankly, pretty flexible. In some areas, it looks like the metal is about 18ga. But in more than a few edge areas it is closer to 22ga. It is almost as if it was sanded/ground down to a thinner profile. Would this be original, or has someone ground this down and re-chromed it in the distant past? Are the bumpers typically this light and flexy?

Thanks for your input!

 

[Stevehose]

Cool German plate!

 

[Belgiumbarry]

Stephan, i measure ( difficult ) 1.6 mm ,so sure 18ga ... never seen this , but in my front bumper there's a rectangular steel tube welded in on some places , simply cut to follow the curves . Not OEM i wonder...

 

[autokunst]

Cool German plate!

Thanks! Do you (or anyone) know more about the plate? We were trying to research it. I "think" it is period correct (early 70's). We were reading a bit about what the letters mean, but honestly I don't know that we figured it out. It was easier to find information about the current plates and stickers.

i measure ( difficult ) 1.6 mm ,so sure 18ga

That confirms my assumption that the bumper is probably around 16ag to 18ga originally. It is hard to believe that this bumper had been reworked in the past (the thin edge areas) - it is pretty rough looking. But maybe...

 

[Stevehose]

"B" is for Berlin I believe, where the plate was first registered. It's rare to have both stickers in tact, the upper one should have the last inspection date on it. Here's mine before a touchup, from Munich, last inspected in 1979:

 

[richn123]

The tubing in the bumper were used during federalizations of a uro car during the ‘80s. The rear bumper has them also.

 

[Belgiumbarry]

thanks Rich ! that explains alot. It is a Italy car from '70 but 'ever' imported to the US. Oldest document i have is a private sell invoice from 2000 in SF so obvious that car was sure already there , perhaps from the '80's. Imported back to Europ in 2015. Must check the rear bumper....

 

[Belgiumbarry]

indeed , the rear bumper has it also . Does this mean in the 80's the bumpers were not strong enough according US regulations ??
I will try to remove those extra tubes.... to much weight

 

[HB Chris]

Coupes that came to the US through the 73 model year wouldn’t need reinforcements but a euro 74 may have as we got 5 mph bumpers that year. I have seen quite a few grey imports here but have never seen that added angle iron.

 

[richn123]

My ‘74 CSI had it added during federalization.

 

[HB Chris]

That makes sense.