Marlenstein bumper finally complete

[Marlin]

Well, the old thread was starting to take a while to load, and there were a ton of side topics, so now that the major part is done, here are the final results:
Alright, the bumper is done. I installed grade 8 bolts through the tubing for the cross member for backup to the welds, better safe than sorry. I still need to run the wiring in the conduit, for permanent install, but I got everything wired up. Blue Halo LED around driving lights, LED turn signals and side markers all operate at normal speed. Driving lights and side markers on with parking lights.
I am mildly retarded and dropped one of the driving lights, and of course it landed lens down. It shattered, so I need to buy another set sometime this week. Maybe I will mount the odd one out on the hitch as a reverse light?
I will post video of the light operations tonight after it gets dark.
I told ya it wouldn't be so bad once I got it all black, and mounted up. I still need to build the cosmetic stuff to fill in the gaps. Maybe I will work on that tomorrow.
Check out the angles on the turn signals and bumper cutout, it all lines up with the fender angle. I also trimmed off the extra on the driver's side. Everything is nice and symmetrical now.

[VXorado]

I think it looks great Marlin, I really like the agressive "ARB" styled bumpers. The side markers are a very nice touch .

Are you planning to use the cladding from the old bumper to fill in the gaps?

I bet PBkid will be happy to see this, he had posted a thread on ARB styles bumpers a while back.

[pbkid]

well buddy... + and -....

i have mixed feelings, one thing, your grill is crooked...you can see it when you look at the joint of your grill and your hood.

1. im very impressed that this is how your first project turned out, for all you naysayers- it took the wright brothers over 300 tried to perfect the plane to fly less than 40 feet!
this is pretty damn good for a first experiment
2. i would not consider this a finished product... i think if you kept tinkering with it you could make it look amazing, you have the intelligence and dedication to do it, so dont give up before its a 'finished product'

but, it looks like it will do the job, and if you hit someone, they are definately gonna be the sorry ones...

[Marlin]

Thanks Jack, the grill is crooked cause it is ziptied to the radiator support right now, when I do the sheet metal work, I will straighten it out.
As for the bumper, in and of itself, it is done, but I need to do the filler stuff and the super heavy duty skid plate.
As for the lighting, it looks like a UFO! It is so bright that I need to add a manual switch to shut off the driving lights, and I haven't even upgraded them to HIDs yet! All the lights are controlled via the factory stalk as of right now. I will add a switch for the driving lights tomorrow so I can turn them off if I need to.
Here is a short video of how it looks, I just shot it and edited it rough, so bear with me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyUh4Zxcj0A

[Marlin]

I think it looks great Marlin, I really like the agressive "ARB" styled bumpers. The side markers are a very nice touch .

Are you planning to use the cladding from the old bumper to fill in the gaps?

I bet PBkid will be happy to see this, he had posted a thread on ARB styles bumpers a while back.

Thanks, I was shooting for road armor, but eh, no complaints from me. I put a third and fourth coat of bedliner on it today, I definitely would not want to fall down on it...lots of flesh would be removed. As for the cladding, it is long gone, this way there is no going back, although I was flirting with the idea of ordering one of the generic front pieces that do not match perfectly and cutting that up. I am just going to bedliner it anyway. I will see how the sheet metal thing works out first.

[tomdietrying]

I applaud you! Guys like you push the envelope and makes others want to aspire to do better. I guarentee if you hadn't done your bumper Orion wouldn't have done his bumper yet.

Thanks for making us better.

Peace.
Tom

[Sprey]

I agree with the above, I think it looks choice! and very unique to add to a unique vehicle!!

And the fact when you come up to some big nasty rocks you want have to worry about killing your front bumper!!!

As you said once with the extra cosmetic stuff itl look even better!

Once again

[Marlin]

I agree with the above, I think it looks choice! and very unique to add to a unique vehicle!!

And the fact when you come up to some big nasty rocks you want have to worry about killing your front bumper!!!

As you said once with the extra cosmetic stuff itl look even better!

Once again

Thanks. I like when you guys say "I agree with the above"...I have my view setup that the newest posts are first, so I have to look below!!

I am gonna finish up the final wiring today, look at the mount for the skid plate, straighten the grill a bit and see where the day leads me before 1030...

[Ldub]

I am mildly retarded and dropped one of the driving lights, and of course it landed lens down. It shattered, so I need to buy another set sometime this week. Maybe I will mount the odd one out on the hitch as a reverse light?

I was thinkin' maybe mount it on the roof basket to prevent damage.

[Marlin]

I was thinkin' maybe mount it on the roof basket to prevent damage.

Then I would have to tape the wires inside the door jam

That is a project for like NOV or DEC, I have enough to keep me busy for a bit.

[Ldub]

Then I would have to tape the wires inside the door jam

That is a project for like NOV or DEC, I have enough to keep me busy for a bit.

I figured since you spelled your own username wrong in the title...
You could use all the help you could get...

[Marlin]

I figured since you spelled your own username wrong in the title...
You could use all the help you could get...

No, I was going from Frankenstein to Marlenstein...

[Marlin]

I finished cleaning up the wiring, straightened the grill, fixed the Zu emblem, still upside down...
I also moved my inverter to where the taurus cup holder was, thanks for the idea Bart.
I also temporarily mounted the VX plate to the front pending my permanent mount arrival. It fills in the hole very nicely.

[Griffin]

Can't wait to see it with the skid plate.

[Ldub]

No, I was going from Frankenstein to Marlenstein...

Uhhhhh.. yeah...thanx for the heads up on that Marlen.