Painting bumpers

I am thinking about painting my bumpers a brushed nickel finish. They have been blasted and are currently in primer. Has anyone tried this? How does it look and what product do you recommend?

I don't have access to a paint facility, so I am leaning towards areosol.

Anyone have any suggestions?

 

Hey,

Ya won't produce very exceptable results for your bumpers using rattle cans!

These ''spray-type" chrome finishes count on a full wet spray coat using good spray gun patterns to pull them off.

 

Doesn't look good, if it did you'd see it all over. People spend a lot of cash on plating for a reason...

 

Powdercoating is fairly tough but even the best 'silver' is not quite chrome-like. But it's available in various colored metallics if you want to go that way.

Paint works but looks like paint, and it chips with road debris. Chrome is good looking and tough but expensive.

No easy paths to good looking bumpers, sorry.

 

Thanks for confirming my initial thoughts, but I want the look to be like brushed nickel not chrome. With the brushed nickel I was hoping for more of a dull look. The body of the car is in grey primer and I am looking for a little contrast.

 

give it a shot and show us how it goes..hard to say without seeing it

 

What he said.
"AND THE BOWTIE ROLLS ON"

 

I have used stainless spray coating on them before. it looks like a painted bumper but its durable. What it resembles most is a funny car or Thunder Bolt bumper. Not a bad finish but it will never be chrome or even compair to it. You either like it or don't.

 

I used rust-oleum silver hammered finish on my bumpers. Not a bad look for an unfinished car. Can be applied directly over rust the can said. Don't know about that though. I like the finish. I used it on the heater cover and other small parts.

 

In your pic it looks like the aluminum paint we used when I was a kid. No one liked rusty bumpers and painted silver was a low buck option.

Hey Rebel did you ever use that Rustolium copper paint? it came in a can and you either thinned and sprayed it or brushed it on.

 

Until I could finally got my bumpers and Grille Chromed (about $1000 ea.) I painted mine using Duplicolor Chrome paint and after much research and test panels found that minwax makes a spraycan waterborn clear in either satin, semigloss and gloss. I used the gloss and it came out a perfect brushed stainless with a gloss finish. You could use a satin and get closer to what YOU want. When you spray over the chrome paint do a fog coat first ( it will look like its not going to flow but just let it flash then spray a good wet coat (evenlly so it won't run) Let dry and enjoy your beautiful work.
It'll last a season then you can do it again or hopefully by then you can afford the real thing. Brushed steel chromes very nicely! Hope this helps,BUCKD

 

Hammerite makes some paint that is not chrome, but looks very close and doesn't have that dull satin finish. It's shiny when done, unlike some that just look too dull, and don't hold up well.

 

Philadelphia rust proofing can nickle plate your bumpers and their prices can be pretty fair too. We just plated pulleys and brackets on a motor.

 

Here's a pic.

 

I like nickle plate myself. It doesn't have the same depth as chrome but I like the look of it. Very old timmey.

 

Just have them nickle plated not chromed

 

If you do your own prep, I can plate them for $145 each, maybe less. Nickel is a beautiful finish, I like it alot.

The nickel plating will level the brushed finish somewhat, depending on the final grit used. It can be gone over lightly after nickel plating to regain the fresh brushed appearance. Unlike chrome, nickel plating is quite thick when plated properly.

If you are interested, give me a PM, and I can make sure you prep them correctly, so as to avoid any extra cost beyond a plate-only job.

 

All good advice.....I don't want the chrome look. I am leaving the body in primer and want the bumpers to be offsetting without the shiney chrome bumpers and I can't afford to chrome them anyways.

Once I decide which way to go, I will post some pics to this thread.
Thanks all!

 

can't wait to see what you come up with!

 

******

That's why I did it. Didn't like the rust and haven't progressed much in my building practices in the 50 years since I was 17.

Never wanted anything copper. Maybe an engine. How does it work?

 

As an alternative idea...I had sanded my front bumper to bare shiny metal and clear coated it with rattle cans, about 5 cans all together. After a few months it barely started rusting but stopped. The look of it in the sunlight is cool. Kind of a coppering sheen under a thick clear coat.

 

I think that´s a cool idea, but instead of a solvent based clear, a water base clear should be use, if you have never used one you will be surprice to find out that they are rea CLEAR coats, as if you clear a mate paint it will remain mate... yes that´s right it clear not shiny and that´s why its going to work in a bare metal piece as it will not alter the effect at all, you can use it over real chrome and you will not know its not there...