Bumpers
Both bumpers are present and not bent - but have little chrome any more so will have to be silver-painted
August 06:
The original grille was in good condition but looking rather rusty.
a bit of Bronze-Beige paint off my BMW smartened up the grille and black Garage Door paint from Finnegans smartened up the cowl.
April 07:
the rear bumper was initially painted with a chrome finish paint - looked really good BUT to be fair it was not an outdoor paint and soon started to wash off!
So I had to resort to silver paint which looks reasonable.
May 2007:
the clever bit! Upmarket cars had lead weights in the ends of the bumper bars which tended to damp out the oscillations when the wheels hit road bumps. It certainly worked on an Alvis 14 many years ago which shuddered and bounced all over the road when I took the bumper bar off - but would it work on the Austin?
I turned down some steel bar and araldited short lengths into both ends of both bumpers. Though not as heavy as the leaded bumper bar ends in the Alvis, they did make a noticeable improvement, and the smooth running of the Lichfield has been commented upon by others who have driven it - and it has Andre-Hartford friction dampers too!
the finished front end with silver painted bumper bar and the bonnet fitting snugly on the new tapes.