Rechromed Bumpers?

[4speed]

Where is the best place to get bumpers rechromed?

[Big Lebowski]

  Try a Mopar parts event or a local classic car paint shop, they know who's the best in your area.

[moparsuebear]

For my '70 I had them rechromed up here in AK, $175 for the front and $125 for the rear, they came out great. When I moved to VA the local chrome place wanted over $700 to do 1 bumper  so I used Auto medic supply and did a 1 for 1 swap at $225 each...I was happy with them, they're at most big shows and you can save shipping

[THE COLONEL]

I have heard nothing but bad things about the Bumper Boyz.  Most say after a couple years, you will wish you didn't go with them.

[rudyjrusa]

Where is the best place to get bumpers rechromed?

i used a local place - they came out great - not sure what they will look like years from now.

[ITSA426]

Bumper Boyz are garbage.  I don't even want to go into it again, but their quality sucks and their business practices are worse.  Do NOT give them your credit card info!!!

[4speed]

Bumper Boyz are garbage.  I don't even want to go into it again, but their quality sucks and their business practices are worse.  Do NOT give them your credit card info!!!

thanks for the heads up ITSA426, i had considered them,thanks again harold

[NHCharger]

Tri-City Plating, Elizabethton, TN. 1-800-251-7536. Lifetime Warranty. Have done three bumpers for me, very happy with service and quality.

[moparsuebear]

I have heard nothing but bad things about the Bumper Boyz.  Most say after a couple years, you will wish you didn't go with them.

Well if auto medic supply and bumper boys are the same I guess here's one good story. I put them on in Sept '05 and their fine. they shipped the rear and I picked up the front at Carlise...no troubles for me

[69hemi]

Tri-City Plating, Elizabethton, TN. 1-800-251-7536. Lifetime Warranty. Have done three bumpers for me, very have with service and quality.

Tri city is thebest.  A lot of platers prep the bumpers people send them and then send them to Tri-City to be chromed.

Cut out the middle man and send them in to those guys.

[y3chargerrt]

I've have always used Paul's Chrome with great results.

[challenger70]

Tri-City Plating, Elizabethton, TN. 1-800-251-7536. Lifetime Warranty. Have done three bumpers for me, very have with service and quality.

Tri city is thebest.  A lot of platers prep the bumpers people send them and then send them to Tri-City to be chromed.

Cut out the middle man and send them in to those guys.

I wouldn't say the best, but they are a great value, they did my Challenger bumpers and will do my Chargers as well when I get around to it.  Not show quality by any means but very good for the price.

[Finn]

I know a place in CA called "the bumper shop"...
They straightened and re-chromed mine and they look great imo.
Granted I don't know what a "show quality" bumper holds over another...  

[73rallyecharger]

I had a few bumpers done buy Tri City and I can`t complain. They look great and I have had one for over 5-6 years. Mike

[69hemi]

Tri-City Plating, Elizabethton, TN. 1-800-251-7536. Lifetime Warranty. Have done three bumpers for me, very have with service and quality.

Tri city is thebest.  A lot of platers prep the bumpers people send them and then send them to Tri-City to be chromed.

Cut out the middle man and send them in to those guys.

I wouldn't say the best, but they are a great value, they did my Challenger bumpers and will do my Chargers as well when I get around to it.  Not show quality by any means but very good for the price.

I guess I should have qualified that by saying that the job they do, cost for the chrome, lasting quality and straightening are the best for the money.  The job they do is as nice/better as they originally came from the factory. 

Now if you want show chrome, you know the kind of chrome that looks like it is dripping from the part, Pauls Chrome is the best guy I have found.  They did some chrome for us on a historic race car resto and their work was stunning!

[Needa68]

Excellent experiences with Auto Medic Supply. Great guys, great quality, cool shipping containers too.

[4aThrill]

where is Auto Medic Supply located at? got a number?   

[BlueSS454]

Tri-City Plating, Elizabethton, TN. 1-800-251-7536. Lifetime Warranty. Have done three bumpers for me, very happy with service and quality.

X2 

[bull]

It seems to me that the price of chroming is directly related to your geographic location and the environmental regulations therein. Typically a big city chromer is going to charge way more than a rural chromer simply because of all the red tape involved.

That said, the thing that makes chroming bumpers too costly is the prep work involved. If the bumper is bent and tweaked you're going to spend a lot getting it ready for chrome. If not it can be pretty reasonable.

[440mag]

Tri-City Plating, Elizabethton, TN. 1-800-251-7536. Lifetime Warranty. Have done three bumpers for me, very have with service and quality.

Tri city is thebest.  A lot of platers prep the bumpers people send them and then send them to Tri-City to be chromed.

Cut out the middle man and send them in to those guys.

I wouldn't say the best, but they are a great value, they did my Challenger bumpers and will do my Chargers as well when I get around to it.  Not show quality by any means but very good for the price.

I guess I should have qualified that by saying that the job they do, cost for the chrome, lasting quality and straightening are the best for the money.  The job they do is as nice/better as they originally came from the factory. 

Now if you want show chrome, you know the kind of chrome that looks like it is dripping from the part, Pauls Chrome is the best guy I have found.  They did some chrome for us on a historic race car resto and their work was stunning!

I put Tri-City bumpers on my car.  They are the best I seen for the money and like said above are better than what came from the factory.  I have them on my car and they look and have no complaints.

[chargerscott]

does anyone know about the guy from ebay? sounds a bit fishy

[superbirdtom]

in seattle i go to queen city plating>    just like body and paint you get what you pay for,

[68beepbeep]

I now someone who used Bumper Boyz and a year later the plating cracked and started to peal around bolt holes. That ment the nickel was to brittle. I worked from May '76 to Jan 2001 at a plating shop in Stamford CT and thanks to the EPA we were forced out of biz. Im not joking when I say this, we were the first to do chrome in the country. This was the mid 1920s. So from a platers point of view, I don't know were to go anymore. Definitly, not the "Boyz" Any questions on plating, I can help you on, but were to go.~Steve~

[Captain D]

I apologize for going too off-topic, but I was just curious to ask about the repro chrome bumpers.

The reason why I ask is because my front bumper is not only pitted, etc, but somewhat bent. The cost to straighten er' out, and re-chrome it may be a bit pricey. I've heard that repro bumpers may fade more quickly than having the originals re-done, but it appears that even originals that were re-chromed is no guarantee that they will last neither. So, is there really a difference between the re-chromed originals and the repos? To those who have the repro's, how well do they hold up to fading, chipping, etc?

I don't have much experience on this topic, so please forgive my ignorance...
Kindest regards,
Aaron

[68beepbeep]

 I don't know much about the re pro bumpers but chrome is chrome,  I don't like straitened bumpers because, bumpers are spring steel and when they straiten them their usually not perfect. If bumpers are done right ,there is first, copper plating, which is like a primer, then there is the body or the shine which is the nickel, and then there is the top coat, the chrome. Chrome is the coating that protects the nickel. Without it that shiney nickel will dull. nickel is also a tittle yellow looking, chrome makes the nickel white. So if the re pro bumper looks correct and fits good and is correctly plated I don't see the problem.

[superbirdtom]

I am no expert on chrome at all but I remember year one selling repo cuda bumpers and then they stopped as the chrome went to crap in a couple years. maybe the supplier was scrimping on some of the process. but there is chrome and show chrome and there is a big difference in prep and material and price , there is a term triple plated. i wish someone on here that is a chrome expert would chime in. SBT

[Ghoste]

Triple plated is smoke and mirrors for the process 68beepbeep mentioned.  Layer one is copper, layer two is nickel, and layer three is chrome.  Show chrome used to mean the same thing, triple plated and it applied to all shiny chrome plating.  Regular chrome or non triple layered was more about industrial chroming sometimes also called flash chroming.  Chromium is a very hard material and is used to plate high wear surfaces in industrial applications such as flash chromed driveshafts in various pieces of machinery.  Today the terms have become well blurred over and misused to the point that triple plating and show chrome are more likely used to tell you that teh cost is going to be higher becuase they'll (hopefully) spend more time in the preparation phase.  Prep is everything.

[superbirdtom]

PREP! is the key word we all have used, also fit . I had a 70 coronet rear bumper that was in pretty good condition dent wize , the chrome just wore off.. so took to local chrome shop near seattle , they re formedit , and rechromed it . took it home didn't fit, took it back they said it will be 300 dollars to get it just right . @#$%^ went to queencity plating and it came out beautiful, they even chromed the inside. hey it was 500 bucks . and that was back in 1990. the other fools were 175. . I believe it is all in the metal straightening process,  tnks for the info I am learning more than going to the chrome shopand picking up my chrome.

[68beepbeep]

Triple plating is copper, nickel, and chrome. Some places put very little of the three. Some only strip the chrome back to the nickel and ad a small amount of nickel, then chrome it. When plating anything chrome, its all in the prep of the base metal (the bumper).Chrome amplifies what it is applied to. A rough surfice or a sandbast finish etc. The correct way to plate a bumper is to start with a decent amount of copper, plated to a shine or polished, then a "good" amount of nickel, applied in a cyanide nickel solution, "not an acid solution", and a liberal chrome plate on top. Yes, chrome is very hard but, what dulls the finish the fastest is extremes, meaning~hot to cold (the chrome moves at a different rate than the nickel), driving,(sand and stone pits), weather, (acid rain etc.) and last, harsh cleaning (fine dirt on rags or in cleaners or wax).  Nothing last forever but with care you can make chrome last.  And yes, the bumper is completely submerged in all three of these steps, so it will be plated on the inside. The inside base metal was not polished so it will look rough, some shops will spray a silver paint over the unfinished side just to give it a cleaner look, this is normal. Plating is electrically applied so remember, just like any current, it finds the shortest path, meaning, those deep or resest areas will have less plating, so make sure you clean and apply a good wax to those areas.~Steve~

[superbirdtom]

thank you steve. what i notice about factory new chrome like ford truck bumpers. about two tears ago they started to hose down the backside with something like ziebart. a thick waxy substance. Up here in alaska the elements are severe especially here where it rains 200 inches a year.

even trucks 6 years old the inside of the bumpers and brackets and bolts are so rusted when we replace a bumper we just go ahead and order all that stuff as it is less time than breaking knuckles and pb maxing bolts . I use hammerite silver to coat the inside of bumpers.  anyway thanks for the good insight.  SBT

[Captain D]

Yes, very good insights. If I may ask further...with all of the chrome "cleaners" out in the market today, which of them would be good to clean/maintain the life of the chrome, yet, not be harsh that would damage the chrome as Steve has mentioned?

He mentioned "harsh cleaning," and I can definitely understand fine dirt used in a rag that may hinder the chrome, but what would be the best wax cleaner out in the market today to preserve the life of the chrome?

Thank you again,
Aaron

- With all of the repro chrome bumpers out there today being sold by different sellers at different prices, especially on e*bay, one wonders if they're all from the same factory (for lack of a better term), yet sold by different distributors. Therefore, in buying repro bumpers, is there really much of a difference in whom to purchase from?

[68beepbeep]

A good way to clean chrome that has no wax on it (or very little) is to use DuPont #7 polishing compound (not rubbing compound). Use the can that's round and not the upright rectangular can. The round green can has a white paste compound, the other is a brown liquid, not the same. First , wash the surface, then with a clean slightly wet rag apply a little compound. When finished just wash with water, dry, then use a good spray wax, remove the wax with a clean dry cloth. I use a soft tooth brush to remove dried wax in those tight areas. On a new chrome surface, just apply the wax and skip the compound. I hope this helps to answer your question.~Steve~

[superbirdtom]

Yes, very good insights. If I may ask further...with all of the chrome "cleaners" out in the market today, which of them would be good to clean/maintain the life of the chrome, yet, not be harsh that would damage the chrome as Steve has mentioned?

He mentioned "harsh cleaning," and I can definitely understand fine dirt used in a rag that may hinder the chrome, but what would be the best wax cleaner out in the market today to preserve the life of the chrome?

Thank you again,
Aaron

- With all of the repro chrome bumpers out there today being sold by different sellers at different prices, especially on e*bay, one wonders if they're all from the same factory (for lack of a better term), yet sold by different distributors. Therefore, in buying repro bumpers, is there really much of a difference in whom to purchase from?>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

GO WITH WHAT 68 BEEPBEEP SAYS!

[Ghoste]

As far as comparing where various repro parts come from, Mike at BEA and Bill from A&M seem to have the inside track on what was made where and whether or not it's junk.

[resq302]

As far as comparing where various repro parts come from, Mike at BEA and Bill from A&M seem to have the inside track on what was made where and whether or not it's junk.

  two of the best people in the restoration parts business.

[Captain D]

Great info! Thanks guys! I'll save this information, for it will definitely be useful down the road. I also sent Mike, from B/EA Parts a question regarding his suggestion/recommendation. Thanks again!
Aaron