Hot Rods Can stainless 32 Ford bumper brkts be shortened?

I have a set of the stainless original style Bob Drake front and rear bumper brackets that I would like to shorten. Can I heat these and bend them using a fixture without ruining them? Any suggestions on how this can be done would be much appreciated.

 

Stainless will heat and bend but don't expect it to be like mild steel. It can also be cut and welded and if you have someone TIG it then it can be ground and repolished.

 

Like PB said , stainless doesn't "work" easily , but it can be done , I have quite a few SS parts on my car that were stick welded ,ground & polished..
dave

 

Dave
Damn that's old school right there. I haven't stick welded a piece of stainless since the '60s and it take a good hand to make a weld that can be polished with a stick welder. You must be a glutton for punishment, but cool none the less. I applaud you my friend.

 

Heating some alloys of stainless is risky in an appearance sense as they may change color.

Shortened polished stainless bumper brackets are readily available from many parts suppliers.

 

Ya' gotta do what ya' got to do with !! I've been called worse LOL
dave

 

Karl, I think the new short stainless run about $250. This may be the best option, but I just hate to buy another pair. The original length ones are paid for, but I may ruin them trying to re-bend them from what I am reading here. As Karl mentioned, I may also discolor these even if I was able to reshape them. If I go with modifying what I have, can someone suggest a tig rod that would match up to the stainless material these are made from.

 

Just standard Stainless filler will work. Or if you are cutting a chunk out of them use that to make your own filler. They are going to discolor no matter what you do with them but that will polish back out.

 

should be able to sell ones that you have to offset cost of new ones

 

I don't recall ever seeing front "shorty" brackets, you made me do a search and they are indeed produced. If you can do all the modification and repolishing your self, go for it. If you have to pay somebody you are probably better off selling yours and buying new.

 

You can buy stainless stick rod these days; ask for E308-16 and/or E308-16L. The rod I have is made by McKay. I used this to build a custom sissy bar for one of my bikes out of 5/8" stainless rod, once smoothed and buffed the welds disappeared.

 

FYI If you know a shop with an induction heater it will not discolor s/s. It would be a mfg shop of some kind that has one. I'm lucky. A friend has one and we have done s/s beautifully. Shame you're not in Northeast Ohio

 

I may look at selling these. I will look into the induction heater too. I was hoping someone had reshaped a set and could give me details.

 

I stick welded this stainless exhaust manifold. I didnt know it was a weird thing to do