The bumpers for my 54 are the 3 piece stock. If I welded them to make a one piece- would that affect them getting re-chromed? I would be using my mig. It is either that or buy a one piece. I just wonder if the welds would not take the plating like the original metal or cause bubbling later...
You need to talk to whoever is going to do the chroming. Some places will weld it for you, but won't touch it once you've started. Also, I think the pieces of a 3 piece bumper overlap, so you'll want to ask if you should cut those off or keep them. As a rule, you never want to do any work to a piece that will get chromed without consulting the plater first. Every shop has their own system and it would **** to do all that work just to find out that they'll no longer plate your bumpers once it's done. I don't know what you have for prices, but the welded bumper would run about $450 to have rechromed up here. So if a new one is cheaper, you might be better off just buying the new one and selling your old 3 piece to someone.
I am sorry that I don't have any chroming advice... but if you should happen to want to sell the three-piece bumper, I am looking for a real nice original 3-piece for mine... If your rear bumper is anything like the original teeth on the car in your album, I am very interested. Drop me a line and picture, arb225@comcast.net Cheers!
Unless your a certified welder used to doing "perfect welds", I would buy the aftermarket bumper. Most of them are slightly thinner gauge & if you keep it waxed it should be OK. If the China quality is not your thing, they are getting $1000 to $1500 on the West Coast to weld, smooth & plate. There was a '63 Galaxy in the Portland Roadster Show this spring that had a SOC 427 and perfect paint & bumpers. The bumpers had the license plate areas smoothed & were absolutely flawless. The fab/restoration shop did the modifications & metal work & sent them to the local plating shop for a heavy copper plate in order for them to block out all imperfections. Each bumper was plated 4 times at $400 each time & the fab shop had over 100 hours in modification & hand blocking. At $75 shop time, that adds up to over $10,000 for 2 bumpers. But they were stunning.
Just find some orginal one-piece bumpers or buy the repops, it's just easier and cheaper. Here's a little trivia: 3 piece Chevy bumpers are east coast bumpers. 1 piece bumpers are west coast bumpers.
Get the new one piece bumpers and save yourself a lot of time and money. You would be better off buying a new 1 piece and then having it replated with good thick plating here at a custom shop. That is what I would do and I do my own plating. Welding 3 piece bumpers into one AND not showing it is a tricky and expensive endevour, especially with your specific Chevy bumpers that don't line up perfectly from the factory and overlap.
I used the EBAY repops and was very impressed,they were better than I thought they would be and at $599 for the pair it was a great deal.
yes they can be welded with no problems just use steel wire not stainless. i have filled in many rust pits and holes even built up some corvette bumpers for a local crome shop.
Thanks for the info guys. I am not looking to have them perfect. The majority of the original plating has or is flaking off. I just like the look of one piece bumpers. I would prefer to keep the older simply for the thicker metal. Not a ton of difference in protection with the way people drive these days, but it puts my mind at ease. So one piece bumpers are easier to find from the west coast? I will check them out anyway just to see- if not I will find a one piece from something that will look alright on the front.
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