Tried em out in MDF first. Flame cut, ground, sanded, polished and chromed these, front and back. Not trad but I liked them.
I hope people don't mind me bringing this back to the top. I was thinking something like this for my 36 5 window. Can anyone tell me the size of the round rod and flat bar on this type of nerf bar? Thanks
I really like these.......Rus Daily, in the red shirt, built them and everything else cool on the car.
Thanks. I'm getting some great inspiration from this thread. I'll be doing some kind of nerf bars for mine over this winter.
Last ones I looked at seriously were 1 3/4" X 1/4" flat stock, and 5/8" rod. I found the nerfs in your post on that evil auction site for around $165-170 a pair in stainless. So, I'm thinking, hey! I can go to the store and buy the metal to build my own for about $30. Then I started talking to the chrome people around here who wanted $150 each!!??!! to chrome them! And stainless will come closer to matching the trim on my 47....
We had a lot of fun making the nerfs for my Son's rpu and it was actually pretty easy. He used (I think) 3/4 inch solid round stock and made a simple jig to hold the metal in alignment. I heated it cherry red with the torch and he bent the steel around the fixture. He had to use a hammer on some portions of the bend to get it to exactly conform. Here is the jig and the first piece of round stock in it. Then I heated it with the torch and he started the bending process. We kept clamping it down to minimize distortion and continued the bending. This is the final hoop shape, after welding the ends together to make it one continuous piece. For the brackets he cut and shaped flat stock and two round pieces for the crossbars. And after welding it all together this is how it came out. He still hasn't had them chromed as it will cost about $ 300 for the one on the back and another $300 for the front one, so he just polished the metal and clear coated it for now and it has been holding up pretty well for 2 years. In hindsight he thinks he should have done it out of stainless steel as he could have just polished them when done. Don
Amazing what some of you think are nerf bars. Post #124 is the only NERF BAR that I've ever known to be a NERF, BAR. Not a nerf bumper.
A google search says that nerf bars are fitted to the sides of stock cars to prevent wheel rubbing and body damage, when I raced dirt track we called them rub rails. The ones in post 124, I allways heard them refered to as T bars. I guess we are all wrong and right. I guess the name depends on the time frame and geography.
I think one of the biggest mistakes made when building "nerfs" is having too big a space between the top and bottom bar if your incorporating a horizontal oval into the design. The best looking ones (IMO) have tighter spacing between the upper and lower bars. Frank
OK. So bumpers are for the front and rear and nerf bars are for the sides. I guess this setup combines the best of both worlds.
I made the nerf bars for my '40 about twenty years ago. I saw a design and modified it to fit my purpose. The serpentine cure is very important if you are following the curvature of the splash panels. I have had mine on the back, then the front with fog lights attached, then back to the back. I now have them back in front and adusted low for one reason. To keep the peaked nose of my '40 from hitting those damn parking stops! My nerf (crash) bars are 3/8" thich solid steel and powder coated silver. the attaching area has 2- 1/2" holes drilled and grade 8 3/8" bolts with star washers and thick body washers attached. This allows mw to angle or raise & lower these nerf bars about an 1.5". Several years ago, I was coming back from a show and a few of us were pulling into dinner. Normally, I would stay way clear of those parking stops but I was tired and after hearing a thud, I immediately slammed on the brakes and backed up. I just knew I crunched the nose of my '40. The thud was really loud and was transferred straight through the car. When I got out, I was amazed to see the nose chin of my '40 was un-touched. The whole underside of those 3/8" thick nerf bars were ground clean. They did their job and know make me really aware of pulling in too much. Raprap
The nerf bars in post 124 are not upside down, they can go anyway you want. I would prefer them to be the way that they are shown so people don't keep hitting their chins on them at car shows. But I'll leave that up to whoever is building the car.
I'm originally from Northern California and I have to agree that I always thought these "nerf" bars were a customizer's piece that really has no purpose other than looking kool!
We need to get this thread going again. I'm building mine for my 31 tudor, and have had to scrap two sets so far. Trying to make something that looks right and doesnt look like an afterthought.