Rechromed bumpers

Paul Steinberg

PCS Life Member President
Staff member
Super Site Supporter
After a very long wait of almost 6 months, the bumpers for my 1963 Chrysler have arrived back from the platers. The front bumper was grossly mangled by auto and tire shops lifting the car with large bumper jacks that lift from the bottom edge of the bumper. The entire weight of the car was never meant to be supported on this bottom edge. In the picture below, you can see how it is curled upward all the way to the bumper mounting bracket bolts.



The first thing that amazed me was how well it was wrapped from the plating shop. It has a heavy paper outer covering....



I clipped the nylon strapping thinking that the bumper would be exposed at that point. Much to my surprise, I found that it was wrapped again in another protective layer....



I clipped the nylon straps on that layer, expecting that I would find the bumper, but it wasn't to be...



to be continued.......
 
AHHHHHH, I cannot take the suspense of waiting another moment and will sit by the computer until I hear "The Rest of the Story".

Looks good!

Richard

PS: Any chance the rear one would fit my Lifeliner? :D
 
In the picture below, you can see how it was straightened. Since the back side of the bumper isn't visible, they don't do anything to hide the hash marks from the straightening tool. What I was also impressed with was that the backside of the bumper has a good plating job on it also. It isn't polished, but you can clearly see that it is plated over the sand blasted finish, just like it originally was done by Chrysler. Most replated bumpers that I have seen you have to paint the back of the bumper just to keep it from rusting.



Here is a picture of the front side of the bumper guard after plating.



and the back side of the same guard...

 
Looks good Paul, now you have to get them on the car before the Antique Fire Truck show on June 7th. It would be nice to have a couple old ambulances at the show. Also you don't have to worry about the cops bothering you for driving the car with no bumpers!
 
now then this was the place out in minnesota? my man in neb can't take anything that big.

Yes, this is the place that I had told you about in Minnesota. The work is great, but you better not be in a hurry to get anything back quickly. When I called 3 weeks ago to inquire when they were going to be shipped, they told me that they were 6 months behind in getting work out. They didn't come right out and say it, but they did give me the impression that they were so far behind that they were not accepting any more work for a while. I had asked about sending some more work it, and he told me to hold onto it till at least September.
 
Re-Chromer's

Not that its any of my business, But what kind've a Price did they charge you for that work??

As I've got some various Chrome Bumpers and Trim Pieces that I'd like to have Re-Chromed at some point, Just a Little Nervous about it due to all the Horror Stories I've heard of Bad "Re-Chroming's" but it appears you've found a good place, and I'm sure that good of quality Work comes at a Hefty Price.

Most everything I've got thats in need of Re-Chrome'ing is Straight but is etheir suffering from Surface Rust or "Pitted" pretty bad.

Thanks for Sharing this with us all Paul!
 
I prefer not to mention cost. Suffice it to say that it wasn't cheap, and I could have had them done for less elsewhere. If you are looking for good work that isn't expensive, then give Sandy's Bumper Mart in Syracuse NY a try. I have seen their work, and it is quite good. I didn't know about them, when I sent my bumpers.
 
I prefer not to mention cost. Suffice it to say that it wasn't cheap, and I could have had them done for less elsewhere. If you are looking for good work that isn't expensive, then give Sandy's Bumper Mart in Syracuse NY a try. I have seen their work, and it is quite good. I didn't know about them, when I sent my bumpers.

Paul,

I respect your Wishes to keep the Cost Confidential, as thats really no ones business but your own.

But as they say "Good things come at a Cost" or more Commonly "You get what you pay for!"

I thank you for providing the Link to the other Re-Chromer/Bumper Shop. I will be sure to give them a Shot when that time Nears and I've got a bit more of a Cushion built up
 
Paul,

But as they say "Good things come at a Cost" or more Commonly "You get what you pay for!"

the other thing is the price reflects what they had to do on it also. but needless to say if you get your bumpers done for under a grand all together, shipping both ways your doing good. it will also depend on the number of pieces you have done. a single bumper of only one piece no guards is going to be cheaper the the 20 piece caddy one. I have 125.00 each in 4 headlight doors. the door handles are running around 85 each to re-plate. why no one is making the replacement square ones I don't know you can get the rounded one for the cutlass tempest Malabo body. for around 24 bucks new made in a southern country. but as of yet not the ones for the big body. supply and demand I guess. if we had modal A's or mustangs we could get the whole car from JC Whitney new.
 
I forgot how much fun it is to install a bumper alone. There was no one handy to help, so I tackled it by myself. I won't reveal the secrets of the trade, but as you can see, it is mounted, and there are no scratched fenders.
 

Attachments

  • MVC-011L.jpg
    MVC-011L.jpg
    96.5 KB · Views: 127
Paul,

I respect your Wishes to keep the Cost Confidential, as thats really no ones business but your own.
I disagree. Asking Paul how much money he has in his bank account is no one's business, but asking how much he paid to have work done on a bumper by a public company isn't being nosey. I can simply call them myself and ask what they charge for a bumper to be re-chromed. What's the big secret?
 
I disagree. Asking Paul how much money he has in his bank account is no one's business, but asking how much he paid to have work done on a bumper by a public company isn't being nosey. I can simply call them myself and ask what they charge for a bumper to be re-chromed. What's the big secret?

The big secret is that I have a commercial account with this company, and they have a multi tiered pricing schedule. What they charge me to do bumpers, isn't the standard list price. The list price is what the customer will pay the shop for the same service, and the price that the shop pays, depends on other factors.
Example........ I go into NAPA to buy spark plugs.. They charge me $2.25 each. A repair shop orders the same spark plugs, and is charged $1.75, and the NAPA driver will drop them off. If a high volume shop has an account with the same NAPA store, and orders the same spark plug, they might only pay $1.40 and get delivery service.
Jim...... remember your door handles? The chrome shop that you took them to, wanted a lot more money for them that I was able to get them done for. It is my relationship with these shops that factors into what I pay.
 
and that is what is know as the food chain in the business. the secret is to try to not be the last one paying the mark up. :eek: those of us working in a retail shop pass the last mark up on everyday. it's how we stay in business to be there tomorrow. being a small time operator and living off my rich uncle I was able to only mark my stuff up 10% to cover shop expenses on the last big job I did. saved the man a little over 2 grand on the total bill over retail cost of materials. if you do a volume of business with most any supplier they will cut you some. every little bit helps.
 
Back
Top