So the front bumper of my 54 Poncho has a decent sized crease in it. Since finding a replacement seems to be somewhat difficult, I've been kicking around the idea of somehow hammering it out... somehow. I would want to rechrome it after the repair, but in my mind this bumper is such heavy gage material I'm concerned that I would never get it straight enough to be worth of chrome. Anyone have any experience with repairing big, chromed bumpers? Any thoughts on this? Anyone have a 54 chieftain front bumper they want to sell me?
Scooter, I worked in a plating shop years ago and they used to beat them back into shape just like body work. They had templates to check their work but you can probably get it pretty close by eyeballing. A coat of paint will prevent confusing the eye on your finished product. Give it a try; you can do it. .....Bob PS: You might also make a cardboard template of the top and bottom edges of the good side to check the bad side.
I worked at a plating shop too and I know they can be straightened. But my suggestion would be to bring your bumper to the plating shop you're going to use and ask them to straighten it out. It might not cost as much as you think and some plating shops might not want to touch it once you've worked on it. If the plating shop you're going to use is cool with you straightening it, then I'd say go for it. A press might work to push a big dent out too.
Never though of using a press. Good idea. I'll check and see what the plating shop has to say. Maybe it's not as big of a deal as I was thinking. I would rather straighten this one than try to buy one and pay to have it shipped.
Yep. most plating shops will want to do the repair themselves. They usually have the templates and equipment to get it right. Nothing like sweating and pounding only to get a wavy job back that you just paid for.
Good idea too, Squab My thinking was that not many shops do straighting any more since there arn't many metal bumpers being used. Scooter, If you find a good plater here in town let me know; I have a couple bumpers that need plating someday. .....Bob
This is sounding promising! Thanks guys! Going to call a couple chrome shops to see what I can find out.
I certainly will!! I used Automotive Plating once to have a motorcycle frame chrome stripped. I may check with them. I'm curious about how you get the ripples out. Almost seems like it would have to be e-wheeled out or something after the general shape is there.
Scooter, The ripples will come out with disk sander with pretty heavy grit. After a couple p***es with the sander you'll see the low spots and can then tap them up with a pointed hammer and dolley. .....Bob
If you decide to fix the dents yourself and metal finish the bumper , be sure to have the chrome stripped from the bumper before starting the repair or doing any welding to the bar. I prefer to straighten my own before sending them to get plated . Getting it straight in metal is the key to not having wavy chrome.
This is a really good point, one that I should have brought up. If the chrome shop is cool with you straightening your own bumper, have them strip it before you start working it. The plating shop probably would have told you that too, but it's worth repeating. If you were to weld or grind on the plated bumper, you could get chrome into the base metal which would make it harder to plate properly.
Is there a preferred method to remove the old chrome, or is that something that should only be handled by the plating shop?
Electro-strip, it's not something you can do at home. Trying to grind the chrome off basically ruins the bumper.
WHOA! Good to know! I just ***umed that would be the way to get that old flaky chrome off. Is that something Eastwood or a similar company sells for home use?
Seriously not worth the h***le! It's pretty cheap to take parts to the chromer for de-chroming. And ditto on taking chrome off by hand. Never going to happen and would be a bad decision to try...
Im in the same process myself on my '51 Pontiac. Thanks for the additional information on how to fix bumpers guys!
I don't know if they take stuff directly from the public, but my brother had his 57 Ford rear bumper done at a place in Brainerd, Minnesota and it looked NICE. I think the company is/was called Keystone and/or Northstar Plating, and he had his local body shop send it up. Maybe a local shop could do the same for you.
Yup, they do nice work, although they are getting picky with the core bumpers they're willing to accept. Find yourself a Keystone paint/supplies dealer and he'll be able to take your bumper in and get it chromed. Cliffy here on the HAMB has an account with them and can get bumpers chromed, if anyone is near Oshkosh, WI.
Are there no other options to stripping off the chrome other then taking it to a chrome shop? I live out in the sticks and getting the stuff to a shop to get chromed is a pain but getting it to them twice, once to get stripped and then to get chromed, is a little more of an inconvenience. How about sandblasting the part? Neal
Since you are relatively close, I'll ask-who does plating for your shop? (I looked at your website-nice work !
A hundred years ago I did some work on a 35 Ford bumper...the plater had us sandblast the back side of the bumper to clean it up, then electro stripped it for us, then we got it back and did some small repairs. Brazing will work too as a filler the plater told us. we had some deeply pitted areas that we then filled. we filed it down, leaving some stock for the plater to work with. The bumper turned out looking like it had never been repaired. I also did some repairs on some bumper guards for a 57 Chevy restoration. Used the same process, had them stripped, then did the metal work. It's basically like doing body work, but working on a heavier guage part. I had to use some ehat to remove some of the dents, and ahd to TIG weld some cracks and splits. Once again, the plater finished up the metal finishing job.
Been using the "Finishing Touch Custom Plating " on Northwest Hwy. in Chicago. www.thefinishingtouchinc.com Their pricing is not for the faint of heart,( If your a cardiac patient keep your defibulator and nitro tablets on hand). but the workmanship and quality is unparalelled . I have not found another local shop that is at their level .
Like said before in this string chromers are getting real picky about what they take in. Especially someone elses welding and fabrication. My friend searched up and down the east side of the U.S. trying to find a chromer that would take his custom made merc bumpers and chrome them. They wouldnt touch them with all the welding he had done on them. All the bolts had been filled and cutouts for exhaust throught he bumpers. The chromer said we have to do it or we cant give you any warranty or anything it will work. He paid a welder to weld all the holes in with bolts in the holes and grind off the excess and then paid another to make the exhaust cut outs. He found one chrome shop that would even touch them in knoxville tn. They said all that previouse work needs removed and strengthened or we wont touch them. The built a jig for what he had then cut all the bolts back out, tig welded in new bolts leaving the outside sticking up and finish ground that. Then they cut out all the welds on the exhaust part and redid all of it. He had over $2000 in their work alone and they said the welds will hold but there might be some ripples in the chrome we cant guarantee them. They came out like diamonds, with a diamond price! There so nice he has them on his couch in his living room.
North star plating in Brainerd M.N. does great work i just got back a set of 57 ford bumpers and they are beautiful .the rear was pretty nasty when i sent it but they streightened it out great.I think you would be money ahead to have them straighten your bumper and chrome it. Some straightening is ussually already figured into theestimated price
does anyone know of anyplace/someone who does bumper re-straighting/chroming more close to the twin cities other than Brainerd? sounds like North star is the place to go, altho its a bit on the far side from my place. Need to know of a reasonably price bumper straightener in or more near the MSP area.
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