14 replies to this topic

[Beefmalone]

My metal fab skills are severely limited so I was wondering if anyone could build me one in exchange for some of this...



p.s. - probably not nearly that much though.

[JKNLWUD]

My metal guy had offered in the past to build copies of the one that I had done. If you are serious, I can check with him and see if he might still be interested in doing that.

The problem is my pushbar is built to the specs that were used on the real bars, so its really heavy and not inexpensive in the least. I believe the whole thing ends up just over 85 pounds when its finished. And with the price of steel these days, I'm guessing its going to be well over the $450 it cost me to have built. (Most of the structure is 1/2" plate steel. And it requires some bends in the steel that are not easy to do. I went through 3 fab shops before I found someone that had the equipment to do it correctly.)

If you are serious about it, shoot me a PM and we can discuss it further.

[yellowrr]

JKNLWUD, I hate to be contrary to what you just said, but my push bars were made at a local muffler shop for about $50. I had to supply the metal, but I just hit a local scrap yard, and they usually have GREAT stuff that you can use, cheap! The guy at the muffler shop is a serious metal fabricator and makes parts for local motorcycle guys and hot rodders while he's not doing exhaust work. I made mine out of thinner plate and round bar, and just bolted them to the bumper where the old bumper guards used to be and they work great! (Not 1000% accurate, but darn close!) I just covered the upright bars with some black rubber hose that I got at a local rubber shop. The guys at the rubber shop were glad to help me when they saw that it was for a Bluesmobile, and suggested some hose that they use for marine engines radiator hoses (but there are a LOT of boats around here, and they have a lot of that kind of thing in stock). The "I hate Illinois nazis" scene and the Holiday Inn parking lot (just before the Murph & the Magictones scene) are probably the best for getting a good look at the bars.
I just paid a lot more attention to the faded paint, the door star, and the P1's on the rear doors and it looks EXTREMELY convincing! My biggest gripe with replica Bluesmobiles is that people like doing SHOW CARS with shiny paint and nice chrome, and my car is a faded & dirty POS just like the one in the movie!!! THAT is what people tend to notice!

[Beefmalone]

I don't mind paying extra for something extra-heavy-duty just in case i do feel the need to run into something, but $500+ is going to be a little out of my budget.

[yellowrr]

Look for "metal fabricators" or something like that in the yellow pages in your area. Or, go to the local muffler shop and ask if they will weld you up something if you get them some measurements and a sketch of what you want. Are there any folks in your town that build racing cars? They usually have to modify parts, frames, make roll bars, etc. (especially the dirt track guys!) Most of them are die-hard "car guys" and would love to help someone with a "fun" project! Worse comes to worst, let me know and I'll ask my guy at the muffler shop if he'd do another set for me. Again, they won't be EXACT copies, but sometimes "close" will fool 90% of the population!
(I don't get the time to get on here a lot, so if you don't hear back from me right away, please don't think I'm ignoring anyone!!!)

[yellowrr]

Here's a close up of my push bars at a local show. Compare them to the close up scenes in the movie, and you'll notice that they're a little different. NO ONE has EVER mentioned that they noticed mine being "wrong" though!

Attached Files

•  push bars.jpg   95.02K   42 downloads

[JKNLWUD]

If you can get them done for $50, and they are close enough that you are happy with them then more power to you. As long as you are happy, that's the important part. My car had a set of pushbars on it when I got it that were made out of square tube. The public didn't know the difference and they looked Ok from a distance, but it bothered me because *I* knew they were not right. (And people always tend to stand, lean, push on them at shows, and they were not really sturdy enough for that.)

I enjoy the research portion of the process, and getting the pushbars correct took alot of work, all of which I enjoyed. I wanted accurate pushbars on my car, as I'm working to make my car as accurate as I can get it. To do that, I was willing to spend the money to get them done accurately. That's not everyone cup of tea, and that's totally fine. I even tracked down the correct rubber bumper pieces for the pushbars because that was important to me. On the bright side, I know that I can push just about anything I want to at just about any speed I want to go and I wont damage the pushbars or the car.

I was just letting the original poster know that I had plans for a screen accurate set of pushbars, and I'd be willing to talk to my fabricator if the original poster was interested. Not everyone is as concerned with the same things I am. No big deal. Whatever works. As long as we are having fun, that's the important part.

[ChiTownJohn]

Very nice bars Yellowr and JKNLWUD,
I know when Dave Weaver a man here who know's was looking my bars over I felt like Uh oh what the hell's wrong we/ them. Ive since realized the tops are not horizontal but vertical, as JKNLWUD has them. but if I gets around to it fine. The good part is mine arent bashing bars but they can push and most certainly w/stand any drunkin idiot anywhere, well not a neanderthal type guy but close enough, Ha!

Only thing they cant endure.... Monster gimungus pot hole by the drive in the ****in mobil station.....

[Beefmalone]

I would definitely prefer to have the "correct" pushbar. I just don't have $500 to drop on it. I do have a buddy with some fab skills that might do it cheap, but it's hard to get him motivated. Just need to find the metal pieces to do it.

[TK826]

Dave Arnold has some nice photos of the pushbars he built for his CHP replica, over on copcar.com

I emailed him to ask if he could perhaps share some measurments.... and never heard back. :-(

[59 strat]

Hows it goin Beef?The price of iron is very high compared to just a year ago.Down here on the coast it is about impossible to find any scrap as it has all been shipped to Communist China to come back here as tools that break in half ,copy cat diesel generators etc.
Looks like you will need a 20 ft shot of what ever size flat bar you need .Bet its at least 75.00.Im getting ready to go on the shipyard around tha first of the year.If you still need them then take a ride down and the metals supply house is right down from the yard we will be at .I have a steel boat so ill have all the equipment there as well as a big blasting rig .You especially have to sandblast new iron before you paint it. Later 59 strat

[Brother Zee]

well a friend of mine got a deal with his car, his came with a pushbar

[Beefmalone]

thanks for the offer. I'll keep you in mind. If you pick up my '74 then we can just build 2. :D

[Capt Muxlow]

Hate to dig up an old thread but!

Would anyone know ho to buld one of these style of bars for a 03 crown victoria?
Been searching the net and cant seem to find anything

[TK826]

Maybe one of these?

http://manikled.manik.com/pdf/I331880C-RV-H.pdf

PB-Car-Crown-Victoria

GO RHINO PUSH BAR