1952-59 Ford Got my new rechromed bumper on

In checking for chrome shops in my area I found there are several in the Portland area, much as I hate to go up there (yes, I was packing, legally). I checked the online reviews and decided to go with Star Bright Finishes. It turns out they don't chrome anything, they prep everything and then send it out to be chromed. Their prep work is excellent and so is the chrome shop they use. I had them do my bumper and the plane on the hood. I'm very happy with both of them
The bumper was $850, they had to take out a s****e on the side and a dent. The plane was $450 for both pieces, it was pretty pitted.










While the car was apart I put in new gauges. I had Stewart Warner Wing gauges and was never happy with how they worked. The gas gauge needle bounced around and I had to use a resistor inline with the temp gauge to get it to read correct.
I have a Speedhut GPS speedo so I decided to use their gauges. The gas gauge is programmable and can be used with any sending unit as long as you know the ohm range, it takes less than a minute to program it.
Lastly, I had put an aluminum panel in the dash to hold my gauges and was tired of the plain look so I engine turned the panel. I tried several methods starting with a ¾'' rubberized abrasive rod but that was too small and looked too busy on the panel. I ended up using 2 "Scotch-Brite Roloc Medium Surface Conditioning Disc with a holder shank which was too big and I ended up t******* them to about 1½".
I'm happy with how everything turned out.

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Chrome looks great! Awesome work.
I worry when its time comes to do the chrome on my 54 here in I.E SoCal.

 

I've used MJB Chrome (909) 875-1910 in Rialto before and was happy with their work. If I remember, they have weird, short hours. The bracket on the M/C is a piece they did for me.

 

Man, that new chrome looks amazing! Makes my old worn our **** look pretty bad. But, the cost of chrome today keeps me stuck with not so nice chrome. Looks great on your car!

 

The chrome looks gorgeous!, as does the rest of your car. I have speedhut as well, GPS speedo and tach I designed to match my old TPI gauges. Great company. LOL, I used the al***ude function on the speedo in Florida..... only 18 feet where I used it!
I've got the same problem with the TPI gas gauge jumping around. Let me know if the new Speedhut gauge fixes that please.

 

My Speedhut gauge does not jump around.

 

Thanks for the recommendation!

 

Man that’s Purdy! Those prices are why I’m gonna hafta paint mine.

 

Looks good! The chrome shop that did mine way back when has gone out of business...now the closest is 6 hours away from me!

 

Thanks, it was only three hours from me so six hour round trip, twice.

 

The previous owner rechromed the bumpers on my car but they really look ****ty. I've been trying to find someone but no one's recommended in Portland because it's all sent out somewhere. The word around here is you might luck out and your stuff will come out great but more often it's bad. So someone did some really nice chrome work for you but Star Bright is taking credit for it and probably getting a healthy mark-up.
I live in WA just a bit north of Portland. There's just no fun left in the old car hobby here in the NW because I have to send out for nearly everything. There's really no one left here that rebuilds or sells good parts for old cars. My local NAPA is ****.
I just had to send out a carb to Sal Cicala (a really great guy) in Michigan since there aren't any good rebuilders here. He rebuilt one for me a couple of years ago and it turned out beautiful.
My plane was pitted too but I found a perfect NOS one for $300 on epay. I still need to find some good unpitted parking lamps. I've been looking for about 8 years but none yet.

 

Star Bright told me they sent it out, I happened along between two chromers so it took a little longer. They said their last chromer had some of their work peeling so they changed.

 

I hope your bumper doesn't end up peeling. Did they offer any guarantee? It would ****, if say, they guaranteed it for a year and it started peeling in two.

 

I didn't ask, I'm too trusting.

 

That's too bad. I don't trust anyone anymore unless they are really well recommended.

 

I don’t know it this will help you and others but then I had both my bumpers rechromed I painted the back sides with Eastwood cast iron coating same with the bumper guards. The front had pealing where the guard hit the bumper. I bought some rubber molding from Mc Master-Carr and lined the guard edges before putting them on. It has a square design. I liked the finished look .

 

smart move re the painting of the backside.....many years ago my chrome platter man suggested i do the same thing and i have been doing it ever since

 

My bumpers were done my Tri-City Plating in Elizabethton, Tennessee and have been on the car since 2011, they did a excellent job even with the front bumper being twisted & bent due to a earlier accident, you can't see any indication of the previous damage.

They were 400 dollars apiece which I thought was a bargain. HRP

 

The dent that was in my rear bumper is really noticeable in this video.

 

My bumpers look almost as good as yours in photos. They're not as good in person.

 

Nice!

 

While I was having the bumper redone, I had some body work done on the driver's side quarter panel. I was wiping the car down today and noticed this. I called the body man and he will fix it tomorrow. I don't know how it went unnoticed so long.

 

Ok, I've driven the car several times and none of the Speedhut gauges jump at all, very happy with them.

 

I'm looking really hard and not seeing anything your bodyman has to fix. ???

 

Yeah, all I'm seeing is the flipped shackle.

 

Rear quarter and door seem to be a shade off from the front fender, but could be just the lighting/pic, and he did not say anything about the door being painted.

 

Haha, you guys are as bad as me. The side trim is on backwards. The flipped shackle is so the tires don't rub.

 

Now that is funny. Totally missed that.

 

Haha...sticks out like a sore thumb........that is, once you're made aware of it, lol

 

Yep, it's all fixed now, took almost five minutes.