Tengu3 Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 Howdy Gents and Ladies, I'm hoping there are some ladies here, too. Can those of you with experience with the MSA fiberglass front bumper please tell me ahead of time what the quality of it is like? I'll be fitting it to a 1973 240-Z, which the MSA site says will take some adapting. Is MSA the only show in town when it comes to a fiberglass front bumper? Is there anyone offering a better one? I've got a 1973 240-Z in gorgeous shape and I found a body/paint guy who, thank god, is a stickler for quality. So I'm confident of a good result, but I want to start with the best pieces I can to help that happen. I'm going without a rear bumper, and want to balance the look with a close-fit fiberglass frontbumper. The photos at the MSA web site and in their catalog for their products often aren't very clear, but I've seen plenty of great looking fiberglass front bumpers on Z cars, and presume they come from MSA. I did a search for this topic before posting, and read what I could find, so I hope I'm not repeating too closely anything that's been covered already. Help is much appreciated. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benitoz Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 I just bought mine and I have got alot of fiberglass parts from motorsports and wasnt that happy but these bumpers are really really nice really takes no trimming and looks great. i would give them 9 out of 10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dreco Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 mine were ok, although I had to replace my rear bumper because of a fender bender.. the second one I got, the mounting brakets were not centered correctly.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tengu3 Posted January 16, 2007 Author Share Posted January 16, 2007 Thanks for the help, guys. I guess as long as there's no other source for them other than MSA, quality is a bit of a moot point. Good, bad or otherwise, what'cha gonna do? But I'm glad to hear the reviews seem to range from, "Very Good", to "Minor problems" at worst. That's still pretty darned good! I'm calling them today and putting in my order. I hope they've got stock. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cegrover Posted March 5, 2007 Share Posted March 5, 2007 I've found some decent info on bumper swaps involving 240 bumpers on 280s, but haven't seen a lot of info on fiberglass bumpers on 280s. Obviously, the mounting methodology should be the same if the fiber bumpers are designed to be direct bolt-ons for the 240; but I was wondering if anyone had experience and photos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Juday Posted March 5, 2007 Share Posted March 5, 2007 John Washington, a.k.a. Reaction Research makes fiberglass 240 bumpers. We're all pretty familar with his quality. He doesn't list them on his site so drop him an e-mail. FYI: He also makes FG headlight buckets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted March 6, 2007 Share Posted March 6, 2007 I bought their prototypes when they were doing development work on them, and even those are fine. The production pieces are better, and have proper brackets. But I'm cheap. Hey, I got mine for $5 at the 'scratch and dent sale' so I'm not complaining. For the cost I paid, I could rate them 'outstanding'...LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdk4219 Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 How much are the ones from Reaction? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheeler Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 Dont remember if they have bumpers or not. Good looking stuff though.. http://zfiberglass.com/id10.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Challenger Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 It was commented on putting the FG 240 bumpers on a 280 and this is a picture I had drawn up for a similar thread. http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=114735&highlight=fiberglass+bumpers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deja Posted April 20, 2007 Share Posted April 20, 2007 I have a fiberglass front bumper on my 280Z. I got it from Showcars which I DO NOT recommend. The quality was horrible and I basically had to do a lot of rework on the bumper to make it look decent. I also had to glass in mounting brackets since there were no provisions for them on the bumper when I got it. I made a curved 1/8" piece of aluminum with stand-offs for mounts and glassed it inside the bumper. I then made brackets to bolt onto the stock 280Z bumper mounts. I also added studs at each end to go though the fender in the stock locations. I'm sure it is totally useless for protection but looks much nicer than that ugly 280Z bumper. I am pleased with it now but would not buy anything from Showcars again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Challenger Posted April 21, 2007 Share Posted April 21, 2007 Deja dont you have a 2+2, could you post some pics with the rear bumper on it you have one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deja Posted April 21, 2007 Share Posted April 21, 2007 Deja dont you have a 2+2, could you post some pics with the rear bumper on it you have one? Good God no, LOL. I really don't like the 2+2, just my opinion. My rear bumper is still stock 280Z but I bought a 240Z one I plan on using when I get the beast back on the road. I removed the stock one, its shocks and supports when I pulled the old gas tank out so I'm committed to using something else. However the 240Z one I bought needs work so we'll see if I can use it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Challenger Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 When I got my bumpers from MSA they had big scratches and inperfections/edges from the mold. Most I can just sand down or grind off. Good God no, LOL. I really don't like the 2+2, just my opinion. Yeah most people dont but I think thats because not many people restore them to look good. And the people that do dont really show them much. Is your car the stock 306 silver? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunar240z Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 2+2's probably could look good its mostly just the roofline/rear quarter thats different Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deja Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 When I got my bumpers from MSA they had big scratches and inperfections/edges from the mold. Most I can just sand down or grind off. Yeah most people dont but I think thats because not many people restore them to look good. And the people that do dont really show them much. Is your car the stock 306 silver? Its just personal opinion for me. The 2+2 was built for marketing because sales were dropping on the 2 passenger car, baby boomers were having kids, LOL. I don't think it works very well with the basic design of the original car. My car was painted when I bought it so I don't know if the paint is Datsun or not. I've use Honda satin silver met NH623M touch up to repair some chips, its very close. The original color was 306. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silviaguy240 Posted April 27, 2007 Share Posted April 27, 2007 eh, maybe soon i'll sway your opinion on a 2+2. im going to build mine with xenon style front fascia, 240/260 bumpers(its a 280), ZG flares, fender mirrors, BRE style spoiler and watanabe rs-8...its what everyone does to their coupe but im doing a 2+2. im thinkin it will look just as good, with the little extra length it will make the Z look totally different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jknc90 Posted April 27, 2007 Share Posted April 27, 2007 deja, 306 (paint code) was silver btw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Challenger Posted April 27, 2007 Share Posted April 27, 2007 eh, maybe soon i'll sway your opinion on a 2+2. im going to build mine with xenon style front fascia, 240/260 bumpers(its a 280), ZG flares, fender mirrors, BRE style spoiler and watanabe rs-8...its what everyone does to their coupe but im doing a 2+2. im thinkin it will look just as good, with the little extra length it will make the Z look totally different. Thats pretty close to what I have planned. Ive got the air dam and bumpers and will probably get a bre style spoiler too but Im planning on rewinds. Yeah everyone has coupes, 2+2 are different and still look good. (with modifications) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silviaguy240 Posted April 27, 2007 Share Posted April 27, 2007 yea in my head im thinking the 2+2 will actually make the car look lower and sleeker because of the flatter surfaces and not as much roundness on the back end, and as i messed up in the other thread im planning on getting the watanabe r type and not the RS-8 in the ZG flare sizes.(16x8.5/9 -13 and 16x9.5 -19) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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