How to Build the Ultimate Push Bar 

"FJ80WaitinForaLSV8" (fj80waitinforalsv8) 01/29/2016 at 13:49 • Filed to: panther, bumper, fabrication, welding

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I recently started school again. Up until this point my primary vehicle had been my trusted land cruiser. However, due to an ongoing LS swap on my truck, I was forced to find a plan B car to take with me to school. Luckily, I found a minty fresh Mercury Grand Marquis. However, this new car lacked anywhere to mount a set of steer horns. While I could have simply purchased a surplus police push bar, the little welding devil in my ear convinced me to create something more grand and completely from scratch.

First step, figure out how the bumper is going to attach. For me this was pretty easy as the frame rails have 4 holes each and a flat mating surface. I then started to frame out the structure of the bumper.

As you can see this was mostly made from a 2" pipe and some large 2x4 scrap pieces I had left over from making rock rails on my truck. An annoying part of this whole build were those extrusions you see next to the front wheels. They were welded in place and so I had to work around them when designing the bumper.

Next came the up rights that would serve to mount the steer horns and protect the grill. These were made from 2x2 rectangular metal.

Also at this time, I decided to work on my suspension to better support the mass of the new bumper. Some $10 rubber coil spacers from auto zone did the trick. These were actually more tricky to install than I expected, I had to disconnect the shock from the lower A-arm and the top to get the spring to decompress enough.

Then the fun part, bust out the plasma cutter and start ripping sheets of plate steel. I used 3/16" plate which is probably a little overkill, but it is what I had lying around from a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

Once everything was test fit, it was time to weld up all the seems. As you can imagine, this took FOREVER.

Since, I still hadn’t made my car heavy enough, I decided to tackle the rear. The vast expanses of plastic out back led to use the easier solution and leave the stock bumper in place and just create a cage in front of it.

Fabrication started by bolting some 1" by 5“ solid stock steel to the trailer hitch. From there I just used 2x2 rectangle to mimic the lines of the stock bumper.

The only tricky part to this was notching everything and getting the angles to line up. As you can see I notched the pipe to it wrapped along the lines of the car.

Last up was paint. This also took forever because of all the nooks and crannies in the bumper. I decided to use this bed-liner product that removes all the rubber particles for a smooth finish. It’s held up decently but still scratches when heavily abused.

Of course, how could I build these sweet bumpers and not add a bottle opener?

Overall, I’m really happy with how these turned out. I get a lots of stares and comments. When ever someone asks “why?” I simply respond: Life’s too short to drive boring cars...

PhilKesselRun > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 14:56

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What school?

UI Class of 09

Bengal55 > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 14:57

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Not sure if this is awesome or horrific, so I’ll go with awesomely horrific. You have a very good start on a mad max car there, though I can only imagine the sucttle shake.

Party-vi > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 14:57

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I came for the bottle opener, but stayed for the herringbone.

Comfortably Dumb > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 14:59

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That’s way too awesome

aae42 > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:01

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it’s like you took the same attitude towards your 80 as you did towards your panther... LC owners are a strange bunch

by driving a pink panty 80 i can separate myself from you lot...

who am i kidding OP, i’ll meet you back on mud for next week’s brainwashing...

Ratchet when he's all hopped up on synthetic energon > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:03

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So how much weight did all this add? Have you noticed any effect on people’s following distances? Have your bumpers ever been surprise field tested?

Burnernating the Countryside > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:03

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One question: why did you do this? Just curious.

HammerheadFistpunch > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:03

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Great Stuff! When do we get to hear about the other project and its status?

Patrick Nichols > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:05

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Man those horns are awesome

SyrianLanister > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:06

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excellent. could use this in dc

The World of Vee > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:07

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You had me till the rear

or well I guess my real question is how much does that horn weigh and why couldn’t you simply weld it to the hood? I’m guessing it weighs a lot and that’s the answer but I’m also imagining the horns in place of the roof rack on a surplus light bar rack instead of lights and I’m dying at the possibility.

You gotta debadge the thing now, or at least replace the badges with those chintsy chrome (or nickel) longhorns logo, like that one but not so expensive

jepawa > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:07

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I should do this on my 370z.......not!

Abap > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:09

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Bitchin.

PatBateman > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:11

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There’s quite a few people down here in Texas that would pay damn good money to have that done to their trucks. Just in case you want to start a company, of course.

450X_FTW > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:12

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There is so much winning in this article it’s amazing

alan > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:13

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one car i will always regret not owning is a crown vic. thanks for making me more jealous

Stygian Blue > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:17

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But, WHY?

WiscoProud > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:17

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I'm horrified yet interested in the end product. Congrats. That is certainly one of the most battle ready Panther platforms I've seen.

benJAMIN > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:18

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I’ve wanted to get into welding for quite awhile... Any advice on where to even start?

Buckner > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:18

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Life’s too short to drive boring cars...

I use this all the time! This usually is only said after I have to get one of my “future classics” towed home. Or when I move the fire extinguisher into the vehicle we are choosing to drive that day. Or when my moto bursts into flames. Or double checking the travel tool kit to make sure it has that 5mm triple square for the you know what.

Point is- not sure what all of a sudden.

Big Block I-4 > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:19

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What welder do you use? After buying my house with a lift in the garage I have been trying to outfit it into a nice work space. Recently got a medium duty compressor and some other hand held tools and have been looking into a medium duty welder, maybe light depending on the pricing. Also the last time I welded was about 11 years ago in High School Shop class. Would also love a plasma cutter, but I think that is a little further down the line.

Cool project! Looks aweseome BTW!

zeontestpilot > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:22

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I've been wanting to do this with my Grand Prix.

AfromanGTO > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:26

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You should think about doing an exoskeleton on it next. That would look pretty crazy on a Panther platform car.

10 cc's of Nitrous - STAT! > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:27

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I’m sorry, but I think “why?” is a legitimate question in this case and “life’s too short to drive boring cars” is an inadequate response when this is, in fact, a Grand Marquis. You could cover the entire car in 20 inch dildos and it would still be boring.

sgtyukon > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:27

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Very educational, thanks. I didn’t know you were legally allowed to drive a car with horns like that outside of Texas.

zhaktronz > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:29

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This way if you hit a pedestrian you know they're dead and impaled

Have Jeep, will travel. > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:29

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Thats awesome man. Way to DIY too! Cant wait to see your 80 series. Heres my deer/rock/Prius killer. OR Fab. 1/4" and 3/16"

Wohnson89 > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:30

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Awesome job, welds look good too! I had a friend in high school do something similar to an old Buick. Made some simple bar bumpers, strapped a roping bull head to the front and modified all the badges to say “HICK” instead of “BUICK.” Had fun with that car. I believe he finaly killed it by jumping one to many train tracks...

Blondude > HammerheadFistpunch 01/29/2016 at 15:33

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I just want to know if an FJ80 with an LS becomes an LSJ80.

vondon302 > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:33

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Awesome!

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:33

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This is fabulous. I love your car.

Frank Grimes > Party-vi 01/29/2016 at 15:35

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i am also a fan of the herringbone whether tweed or brick.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:35

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That looks absolutely awesome.

Saabster > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:40

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Dude, steer horns are ONLY appropriate on a Cadillac made before 1980, otherwise they’re kinda tacky.

Brian, The Life of > alan 01/29/2016 at 15:40

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It’s never too late!

jminer > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:40

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Way to go, I definitely dig it!

HammerheadFistpunch > Blondude 01/29/2016 at 15:43

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exactly

HarryF > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:44

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I've heard these numbers mess with the airbag sensors. I want to get one for my Explorer but this rumor has kept me away. Anybody can confirm/deny

redseca2 > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:48

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Dang! I had a steer skull mounted on my Peugeot 504 when I moved to San Francisco in 1979. Some asshat stole it when I was parked in from of Mabuhay Gardens for a punk show.

Gary Yogurt > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:48

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This is awesome, I hope the rear keeps you somewhat level with all the sweet jumps you’ll be making.

shop-teacher > PatBateman 01/29/2016 at 15:50

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Heck, I’m thinking of doing it to my truck up in Chicagoland.

drdude > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:53

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The front bumper is exactly what I would expect a 4x4 offroad fabrication guy to do. Other then the welds, its good... The welds, well, either you got rushed and lazy (BAD!) or.... a quick book followed by 15mins of your time practicing what the book said would make them 300% better....

The rear bumper... I dont get. You dont seem to have it attached very well, so it wont make a good offroad bashing bumper, it wont be a good bumper in a crash, it will always just fold up.

That Guy From Idaho > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:54

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I absolutely love everything about this post. Well done.

 > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:56

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shop-teacher > alan 01/29/2016 at 15:57

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They made lots of them, go buy one!

Manic Otti > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:57

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I think you really need to go “Full Mad Max” with this. It looks weird because it’s just a regular GM with a bunch of weird stuff on it. This thing is begging for a rattle can paint job and simulated rust/battle damage/battle crest thing or other markings on the doors, etc..

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:57

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How did you get a Roadkill bumper sticker?

shop-teacher > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:59

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I’ve already told you how much I love that front bumper. Thanks for showing us the in-progress shots!

Spoon II > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 15:59

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That’s a very seamless integration, well played!

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > alan 01/29/2016 at 16:02

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I’ve owned four of them and they were, ultimately, disappointing. The P71 has good brakes and suspension, but is underpowered and slushy shifting, even with a cop-equipped shift kit. Boring car.

Nice fabricating on FJ80's bumpers, however. Very nice.

Dake > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 16:04

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Glorious! I feel like it really needs white steel wagon wheels with knobby rubber now though.

NateDogg4d4 > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 16:07

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This is really cool! But, plan on eating through tires 2-5x faster than normal. Had a friend in college who put a grill guard on his SUV. He needed new tires at alarmingly short intervals after that addition.

wagonwood > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 16:10

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At first I thought, “why?” but then I remembered mods are always fun, especially for no good reason. A man after my own heart

Mopar4life > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 16:15

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Forgot to fill those tubes with concrete.

Friend had a bumper on his 78 Chevy 3/4 ton. 2 8" round tubes, filled with concrete. Frame reinforced. That thing was indestructible.

Andrew P. Collins > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 16:16

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Dope. How does your airbag feel about this? Deactivated? Or would it still work?

Jim is one of KFCs secret ingredients > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 16:22

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I dont see the point to this and I love it.

But you know those extrusions could be cut off easily. A ridiculous pre-runner style tube bumper up front on one of these would be hilarious.

bbutle01 > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 16:23

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Oh God this is so refreshing after reading that stanced Baja article.

gawdzillla > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 16:25

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I would not want the horn to be up that high

any chance there would be an accident i dont want anything like that flying through my own windshield

HackerPschorr16 > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 16:31

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My first post college car was three year old just off lease certified 1999 Grandma Quis LS. At 25, the sales guy at Hines Park Lincoln in Plymouth, MI said I was the youngest he sold a GM to by 10 years. Fun car heading up 41 to Copper Harbor and on the Brockway Mountain Drive / 26. I didn’t have the handling package, so only single exhaust.

I ripped off the stock muffler and installed a DynoMax Ultra Flo that dumped ahead of the rear axle. Instant 3 MPG gain in fuel economy. And, it sounded bad ass at startup.

I was going to change the stock 2.73 rear end to a 3.27 or lower and spend more time on the Grandma, but ended up buying a new Mustang GT Conv and F-150 instead.

PhilKesselRun > Brian, The Life of 01/29/2016 at 16:32

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And it’s not like they’re hard to find, work on, get parts for or cost prohibitive.

HackerPschorr16 > Andrew P. Collins 01/29/2016 at 16:34

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Acceleration at the air bag sensors wouldn’t change...so they’re probably fine.

zwill23 > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 16:38

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Holy shit I love this nonsense.... time to learn to weld!

Stevo777 > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 16:51

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Wow, this is fucking amazing

GreenN_Gold > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 16:57

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I’m as big a fan of Smokey and The Bandit as anyone, but I still couldn’t do this. Plus, I just know I’m the guy that’s going to impale himself on these while I walk around the garage.

Nathan > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 17:08

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This will be great for driving out to gastown to pick up guzzolene

Snozzberry > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 17:09

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Hooray Idaho!

Daryl > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 17:16

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It’s a Mercury Grand Marquis...you should have incorporated a left turn signal into the bumpers that just continuously blinked, powered by a small solar panel and battery so you didn’t have to wire it into your real turn signals.

foxbody > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 18:12

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Idea: 7/10

Execution: 2/10

MM54 > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 18:43

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What roof rack is that?

Delta88 > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 01/29/2016 at 19:04

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Shiiit...I had a 92 and 94 bubble Chevy Caprice with police packages and they were awesome. Mad power, and I just loved the car all the way around... especially the second one that was a police chiefs car and not a patrol car. Mint condition with only 37,000 on the clock...and ice cold a/c to boot! Still want another :)

Scary__goongala! > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 19:11

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Love your response about life is too short to drive boring cars. Last Friday when storm Jonas first started to roll in, I went out driving in my NA with the top down. Got plenty of weird/confused looks and some thumbs up. Even had a nice cougar give me a compliment at a stop light. Ended my cruise with a stop to buy some beer. Because of the snow I had to pull off some pretty solid oppo pulling into the parking lot before stopping in a spot. This dude outside made a comment about rolling hard which made me laugh, but all I could say was life is too short to be boring.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Delta88 01/29/2016 at 19:13

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The Caprice outperformed all of the competition in accelleration, braking and fuel economy. The Crown Vics are indestructible, but they’re nowhere near the car the 9C1 was in 95-96. Gosh, 20 years since they made the last one...

TheBlightOfGrey > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 19:21

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College? What for? Move to Australia where you’d instantly become king of the custom hopper-stopper market. And if things go bad in the world, you’d obviously have high status in any post-apocalyptic scenario involving autos.

George McNally > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/29/2016 at 22:06

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Holy shit...I love this.

CrownVictorious > alan 01/29/2016 at 22:35

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What are you waiting for? Go get one.

Tohru > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/30/2016 at 02:16

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Now I know what Nana Buick needs.

John_Harbinson > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/30/2016 at 06:40

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I now really want to make a custom bumper like that for something... Nice sign, by the way! Now if only i could do one out of aluminum for the Jetta and lift it a few inches...

OneHeadLight > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/30/2016 at 08:14

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I just saw this awesomeness that you’ve created. Just please don’t ever tailgate me. I don’t know what year your Merc is, but IIRC they ran about 220 hp max in later editions and were a bit prone to push when cornered hard. so,

Q: How’s the handling and acceleration after strapping 500 lb on?

Your boy, BJR > Delta88 01/30/2016 at 10:11

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That's because the Caprice was an amazing car, unlike the crown vic.

FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 > HammerheadFistpunch 01/30/2016 at 12:24

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I did a bunch of work over the holidays. That will have to be my next write up.

FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 > PatBateman 01/30/2016 at 12:24

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Fall back profession for sure.

FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 > The World of Vee 01/30/2016 at 12:30

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I added this recently, off an F-150

AmericaRocks > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/30/2016 at 12:31

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I don’t understand this project. Seriously. Why did you do all of this work? What is the purpose of the big front bumper and the rear frame thing?

FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 > gawdzillla 01/30/2016 at 12:33

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Interesting point that I would have never considered. Not that I’m going to change anything, but a good thing to have in the back of my head.

FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 > Andrew P. Collins 01/30/2016 at 12:35

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Umm, the sensors are still there. They weren’t located in the stock bumper, something I was very shocked to find when I took everything apart. I assume they should still work, it would probably just take a bigger impact to set them off.

FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 01/30/2016 at 12:36

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They sell them on their swag site, they are like $3. I didn’t like the way it looked (came as a rectangle) so I did some trimming with an exacto knife.

FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 > MM54 01/30/2016 at 12:37

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Its a old Yakima, It’s usuing for excursion mounting hardware, because they never made on for the panther. The stuff on top of the bars is a ATV loading ramp from harbor freight that I modified.

FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 > Big Block I-4 01/30/2016 at 12:40

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I use a miller 211 MIG, its been a great welder. Make sure to get someting 220, don’t waste your time with 110. I also would stay away from the made in China stuff. Save up and get a quality machine.

FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 > Manic Otti 01/30/2016 at 12:40

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It only has 40,000 miles on it though! I kinda wish it was in worse shape so I wouldn’t feel bad going full Max

FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 > AfromanGTO 01/30/2016 at 12:41

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Now there’s an idea. I think it needs a lift first.

FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 > Dake 01/30/2016 at 12:41

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http://oppositelock.kinja.com/new-tires-for-…

FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 > OneHeadLight 01/30/2016 at 12:45

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Its was less than 500 lbs, I’d say total its about 250. I can tell the difference, it handled like a pig before and it still does haha

Dake > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/30/2016 at 12:45

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Yeah - those were fine before, but now the Mercury rims just don’t look right.

FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 > AmericaRocks 01/30/2016 at 12:46

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To mount horns and a bottle opener.... duh

FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 > zwill23 01/30/2016 at 12:48

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Do it! its one of my favorite hobbies.

FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 > HarryF 01/30/2016 at 12:51

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I’m not sure about this. I was happy to find out that there weren’t any sensors in the stock bumper.

FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 > Saabster 01/30/2016 at 12:51

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100% tacky and I love it. Always wanted a bigger boat, I’ll own a Cadillac at some point.

FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 > benJAMIN 01/30/2016 at 12:55

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Take a class. Learn to MIG first, it’s the easiest and most applicable. You could also probably teach yourself just from watching youtube videos. My dad taught me at first, and then I took a couple of classes to get a strong foundation.

FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 > Stygian Blue 01/30/2016 at 12:55

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For the horns, duh.

FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 > Burnernating the Countryside 01/30/2016 at 12:57

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Lifes to short to drive boring cars. Wanted something different.