they are ok if your bumper is shot. never give them your part. you wont get it back or you will get some one elses. when i use them i give them any core bumper instead of some thing that is worth something. kinda funny how you can give them a junk chrome pickup step bumper for a presentable chrome buick front bumper.
Needed a grille for my 40 chev they had one at a show in fla .The front of the bars looked ok ,but the tops and bottoms had a heavy coat of rust just plated over . I ended up buying two dented grilles cut them in half buffed the chrome and sprayed the top and bottom of the bars silver after sanding the rust off looked much better than there $650 piece of crap.
tri city plating in tenn. did my bumpers on all my builds and did a friends bumper on his 49 ford over 10 yrs agos still looks good. good people easy to deal with.
I went through this a couple of years ago.Bumper Boyz will screw your brains out.I had to get an attorney to send a letter of intent to sue if I didn't get my grill back.(They claim they lost it for 5 months)My suggestion is get someone close to home and has a good reputation.Chrome is expensive and with all the problems with disposal of the used chemicals it's hard to find a good plating shop.BB sends all their plating south of the border and it's usually crap if you're lucky enough to get your own stuff back. Good luck
Ran a search to help out, we get this thread every few months http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/search.php?searchid=3714229&pp=25
I had the bumpers and grille for my '56 F100 panel truck plated by Bumper Boyz a few years back. The chrome was nice, but the only part that I got back that was my original part was the rear bumper (different on panel trucks). Of course, they "lost" my rear bumper frame mounts (hard to find; repops are about $300), but did take $250 off the bill. I wasn't happy, but I was satisfied. Sort of. Needless to say, I'll never use them again. Verne's, on the other hand, are great!! I've taken tons of smaller stuff to them, always had it back before the promised time, and their prices for my smaller stuff were always fair. My only complaint about Verne's is that they don't take credit cards, last time I checked. Still, that's a VERY minor complaint.
Also look into newer powdercoating with the chrome-type coating. If not for a show piece that will look fine.
thats where they are all from.............. just take it to Advanced Plating in Nashville. they do some really killer work and they do work for some really big builders OCC being one of them. Denise (HotRodLadyCruiser) knows them pretty well so if you want a reference talk to her.
You can have them ceramic coated, it gives a "shiny aluminum" look. I got these lake pipes done for $175 with a 1 week turn around.
I got a smooth 55 chevy bumper in exchange for my nice orginal ,paided to much,got the first one ,had to return it, got the second one , a little better ,didn't fit right , Hung it up in the barn ,I'll have to go check it out later this week and look to see if theirs any chrome left on it! I wouldn't buy from them again.............
I've never bought anything from bumper boyz but I sold them many core bumpers over the years at top prices. I always bring a few cores with me specifically to sell to them to pay for my swap spot, expenses, etc. When you look at their product, you can tell its junk. The chrome looks like the plastic crap you get in a model kit. There is no substitute for a real chrome shop. They are getting few and far between and the prices are going up due to EPA regulations but its like anything else. You get what you pay for.
A life time ago I worked at Ford in Monroe Michigan,where they plated all there bumpers. So I seen a few,The Boyz were at a show and I went with a buddy that was ready to buy,I said NO! They are garbage And thats the nicest thing I can say Russ
G&H in paterson, nj. dont go to the boyz if you care about the chrome to last, i've seen chrome wipe off a bumper boyz bumper while being polished! but if your building the car to sell, be my guest and use the BOYZ!!!
I know people have all posted their horror stories of the BB before..... but I thought I'd just mention what I witnessed 4 years ago: I was at Hershey and an old timer went up to their big truck and display and started getting loud, saying they shipped him a bumper that wasn't his, it was bent and the chrome looked like crap. In the end he didn't get his money back, so he literally threw that bumper at them and their display....... he had plenty of back up by then and the Boyz were standing there looking like the ass's..........
okay, So we all know BB suck so!!! Who is more than above these clowns where we know that our bumpers will be nice and shiney in the end!
Thats insane. I had only used them once, but man seems I got lucky! What is crazy tho is that they do so much face to face business for a company producing supposed crap. Just looking for a problem!
I had a swap meet space across from the Bumper Boyz for several years at the Lowes Motor Speedway and judging from the steady stream of unhappy customers it amazes me they are still in business. As for me,, I had Tri-City Plating in Elizabethton,Tenn. do my 54 Ford Ranch Wagon bumpers and the look great,,,ain't real cheap but the price reflects the quality. HRP
There are alot of car folks out there that aren't on message boards or don't get recommendations from friends before getting work done so I can see where they can continue to screw people over and over again. The swap promoters need to be told by BB's angry customers and need to ban them from their swap meets. This might slow them down from screwing more people.
I use Keystone in Minnesota. You can send them a rusty, banged up piece of shit, and they'll straighten, patch and do a concours-quality plating job on it for prices that are comparable to Bumper Boys. I shit you not. I was turned on to them by John Balow, a guy who's shop has turned out MANY Mopar OE Certified and Best of Show concours Mopars, as well as restoring a bunch of Mopar factory lightweight drag cars, 1-of-1 cars, etc. etc. etc. His customers expect the best, and pay for the best, and they get the best. I've done two stories with them, before I used them. They have guys that do nothing but straighten bumpers all day. Another couple guys that weld and repair all day. Their sanders and grinders are 3- and 4-foot belt sanders on rigs that allow them to be moved at precise angles, meaning you won't get the grinder and swirl marks caused by small 7-inch hand held round grinders. several layers of copper, nickel, then chrome. They make their bread and butter doing work for the OEs--that's important, because the OEs don't have chrome truck bumpers that rust or have the chrome flake off. And they stand by their work, with no problems. I sent them the rear bumper for my '62 Suburban: it had been hit on both ends and bent. It was twisted radially, there were a dozen different sized holes drilled in it for trailer hitches, etc, and there was a hole about the size of a spray paint cap torched into it. When I got it back the first time, there were two holes they were supposed to fill but didn't know. They looked like factory mounting holes, but were in fact for a cheap bumper hitch. "We're sorry-send it back." I got it this weekend, and it's flawless, and fits perfectly. For less than $250. I won't EVER use anyone else. Not only is the price great, but even if it was more than that, I've seen the equipment they use, and I'd be very surprised to see if any other shop in the country was using anything like those sanders, grinders and pneumatic presses and hammers to straighten bumpers. And they are set up to do OE work for new trucks and vans--big volume, long lasting product. Finally, they know the details of your application--they knew the front bumper on a '60-62 Chevy truck is different than the '63-'66, and they knew the Suburban rear bumpers are unique, and how they're unique--without me telling them. They brought it up during the course of our conversation. Shipping my bumpers there wasn't expensive, either. (800) 432-3720. For small stuff like valve covers, brackets, fan shrouds, etc. I'd go local or Paul's Plating or someone similar. For something big that will show EVER flaw, you can't spend cheap out. But Keystone's prices are great. -Brad
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