I have a pair of stock '39 Buick bumpers I want chromed for my resto-rod sedan. It's not going to be put in shows and will be driven but probably only in fairly good weather. I can't afford show chrome and there aren't many chromers left in the EPA-stricken North East. I see these guys at car shows and wonder if they are any good. Anyone?
its a fact of life, chrome is extremely expensive... i have never had the need to rechrome but i havent heard ANYTHING good about bumper boyzzz. try a search here... couple yrs back there was a huge thread about it with experiences, none were good.
i don't usually say this , but....a quick search will tell you everything you need to know about bumper boyzzzzzzz
I have used them and for the price you pay they are alright the bumper on my 67 BelAir started peeling but only after I put a ding in it, they have fairly quick turn around but for intricate stuff they are not that great. Pauls Chrome in PA is very good but chrome costs, he is the most professional and honest plater I have used and would go back to him again. Nu Chrome in RI is never good at their word on when parts will be done and gets top dollar
Friend of mine had those guys chrome a 34' windshield frame. When he got the frame home and unwrapped it, he was already peeling. He ended up taking it to Vern's Chrome in Gardena, Ca. My wife always saids, you get what you pay for........
I also have never heard anything good regarding Bumper Boyz, in fact they have SCREWED a bunch of pals of mine way back when. Words is out...bad news. Advance Plating is the only place I'll use now 800-588-6686
Ive used them and for $200 could not have been happier. Put it this way...I had a bent up shitty rusty rear Merc bumper, I gave them $200 and they gave me a nice shiney one. Show chrome? Hell no. Nice and bright? Yep.
Maybe there is more than one outfit going by this name??? If you are talking about the one in South Central L.A., they screwed up a custom chrome moly subframe I took to them for chrome plating so badly that I had to trashcan the frame an build a new one. After they screwed it up first time, they then tried to copper plate over the first already peeling chrome coat they had laid down and then nickel plate and chrome plate over that. By this time the danger of hydrogen embrittlement was so great that the part was unusable and it looked like a total piece of crap. They had rendered a perfect, newly built subframe into prime scrap metal. Remember that they have no obligation to do a good job. They are only responsible for taking your money and screwing up your perfectly good original parts, and they are under no obligation to make good financially on the parts they have destroyed.
years ago my buddie gave "the boyz" a German VW front bumper to plate. 2 weeks later they gave him a repo-made in Tiawan bumper wraped in paper with the " made in Tiawan sticker still on it. he never did get his $$ or bumper back.
A friend of mine sent all his trim down to have rechromed, a year later they told him they fired a bunch of guys and can't locate the trim. They "found" some of it and the rest he had to eat.
I think you'll be less likely with BB to get your "nice cores" back as a finished product. Have heard quite a few horror stories of people losing their rust free and straight, original parts, to something else that's been patched up.
my dad and i picked up a pair of bumpers for his 50 ford conv from them at a show. when i went to tighten the bumper bolts the chrome popped up/ peeled by the bolts. the first thing i did was get a lump in my throat and told my dad. he just looked at me and said "dumb ass", kinda like the way Red Foreman would say it. a few minutes later i hear my dad say "dammit" and i went to see and the same thing happened to him, and before i knew it i had blurted out "dumb ass"......
After years of reading these Bumper Boyz stories, I was just glad I lived in the Midwest and would never have to deal with them myself. But at the Lincoln Nebraska swap meet they had a large truck and display, so I went to take a look. Expected the worst, and got it. Semi trailer filled with rusty and bent "cores" jumbled in a huge, tangled, pile. Display table with some shiney partially plated examples. And a '60's grille hanging up for you to check over closely. This grille had HUGELY bent bars, gouges, stamped detail ground flat, and CRACKED and PEELING CHROME! On their DISPLAY PIECE!? Do not send your stuff to them, at any price.
Hi ....STAY AWAY from them my grill and bumpers have peeled in a short time,...very poor work manship,...I will NEVER have anything chromed from them,...GM made chrome parts that lasted 10-20 years and Bumpers boys can't do it for a year or two?????....Miller
saw them at a local swap meet a year ago..they had a set of bumpers for my O/T charger..i looked real close at the rear bumper..crome peeling from the back side to the front..i pointed it out to the guy..he said.."what do you want for 350 bucks at a swap meet" I told him "Not that crap! for sure!" saw 3 other guys put down what they were holding.
being sellers at the swaps, they go around before the rest can get in and buy up every core they can get their hands on that is decent priced, hence all the rusty junk they have. every time i see them at a swap meet, i look out or morbid curiosity, and without fail they have some kind of grille on display with very visible defects, usually crappy mig welds (almost) filling in rust HOLES.
Vern's in Gardena, Ca. is the place I use. Bob Barns, owner, is an old member of the L.A. Roadsters and knows what customers expect. Like any good shop he's not cheap but you get what you pay for. Lots of luck, The FOGGER
Unfortunately, yes. The HAMB is sort of like a family. We like to warn each other of the bad actors. From what I've seen, they have earned their bad rep.
bumper boyz suck!! did a core exchange for a 70 monte carlo, i put the bumper on the car and hand tightened the bumper bolts, the chrome came right off, was i pissed. they didn't want to know anything. i've been using keystone automotive here in ct and the quality is unbelievable, a little pricey but well worth it!
The last actor bad actor I warned you about was Wesley Snipes and I'll be darned if he ain't on the news today. Bumper Boyz suck, shoulda stuck to making tacos. The 56 Chevy bumper ends I bought from 'em looked real good but the second I tightened up the bolts and put normal stress on 'em the chrome peeled right off.
The Jalopy Journal
