repro bumpers

[67rcks]

Restoration of my OEM bumpers turned out too costly due to rust and am thinking again about going for repro bumpers.

Maybe it was discussed before but I am wondering about the their quality. Many mustang stores sells them. Is there just one manufacturer, or even repro bumpers vary by quality? Can somebody advise who has an experience with these?

About the quality: does anybody know what chrome plating technique is used on these? Is it traditional galvanization, or the manufacturer uses some chrome spraying technique; i.e. they are basically painted?

 

[zookeeper]

I bought Nordan-brand bumpers from NPD for my car. They are advertised as "The Best" bumpers available. While they do fit well, the chrome is a 10-footer at best. I would've gladly paid an extra $100 per bumper to get nice chrome, but these are so bad, that wiping with a paper towel sounds like sandpaper and leaves chunks of paper towel on the what's supposed to be the smoothest part of the bumper. The edges are extremely rough, which means they have never seen any sort of a buffer at all. I would guess they are stamped and dipped, period.

 

[j69302]

I bought repros from California mustangs for my 69. they finish is nice. The fit is good for the most part but on the front bumper some of the bends in the bumper dont follow the contour of the front end of the car.

If i could do it again I would have had my original ones re chromed though.

 

[Skymarshal]

I bought repops from NPD, and my only complaint is the edges aren't finished as much as I think they should be (but maybe that's how the OEM bumpers were). The chrome is just fine, and just as nice as rechromed originals. Maybe zookeeper got some from a bad batch.

Definitely try to find good repops rather than getting your originals rechromed. Unless you're doing a concours restoration and are fanatical about originality, you'll spend a lot less on repops. Getting stuff rechromed is getting more and more expensive due to environmental regulations on the plating shops.

The only parts on my '69 that are rechromed are the hockey sticks on either side of the convertible top (no one makes a repop). They were $80 each and one has a flaw in the chrome!

 

[67rcks]

so what type of chrome we talk about? traditional or painted? it is easy to scratch it e.g. with a needle?

skymarshal - chrome plating is the easiest and cheapest part. Surface preparation is the difficult one. Hours of grinding and fixing the pores of rust with silver. If I had OEM bumpers with dingless surface I would definitely have them restored. But mine are far from it.

 

[zookeeper]

I used to work part-time in a chrome shop, and I've never heard of "spayed" chrome. Chrome is done by dipping the part in a tank, then hitting the part with an electric charge. But to answer your question, it's hard as any other chrome, but the prep work sucks. Chrome is like paint, it doesn't hide poor prep work, it magnifies it.

 

[GNGREN]

Not to hi-jack...but,
If you could find them what do you think NOS bumpers would cost? I have a chance to get a suposed front NOS for my 67. The guy has had it since the 70's sitting on a shelf in his shop. Said to make an offer for it. What would be fair? It is supposed to be in the Ford wrapper/box.

 

[zookeeper]

I'd say $400 would be reasonable. If they are indeed Ford bumpers, they are worth whatever he's asking to a concourse restorer. I kep my oiginal rear bumper to have rechromed when I have extra money, and I'll bet it costs $300, so for a genuine Ford part, expect to pay for it.

 

[Skymarshal]

so what type of chrome we talk about? traditional or painted? it is easy to scratch it e.g. with a needle?

skymarshal - chrome plating is the easiest and cheapest part. Surface preparation is the difficult one. Hours of grinding and fixing the pores of rust with silver. If I had OEM bumpers with dingless surface I would definitely have them restored. But mine are far from it.

If your parts are pitted, you're right- the chrome shop is going to have to do a lot of work before chroming them. If the parts are actually dented or if there are tears, I would forget about it.

The best chrome shops do it the old fashioned way. They start laying down layer after layer of copper, smoothing and buffing between layers, and when the surface is perfect they plate it with nickel and finally chromium. I know there are some powdercoat products that claim to approach chrome in appearance while being cheaper and more tolerant of defects, but I've never seen a powdercoated part in real life.

GNGREN, I agree that a NOS bumper is worth at least 400 or 500 bucks. I don't know how scarce they are, and that's what really drives the price. Really hard to find items like shaker hoods can bring thousands, since the restorers demand only NOS and they're not making any more...

 

[67rcks]

I would say 99% of chrome automotive parts in the past 20 years, metal or plastic, are sprayed because it's cheaper and hard to distinguish from genuine chrome, and impossible if you have only picture. CJ pony store has $70 sale for a repro bumper, which is a very good price but not for a sprayed bumper. So for $70 what type of chrome could be there? Does anyone have experience with their bumpers?

 

[68EFIvert]

I have CJ bumpers on my car. The front was a bad fit but the rear was fine. The front was about 1.5-2" to wide. The metal was thin enough on the front bumper that when I dropped a socket from belly button height it dented the bumper. That was after I tried to catch it and assume broke some of the momentum from the fall. If I were to do it again I would wait for a bumper to come across craigslist that needed rechroming and buy it. I threw away my original becasue it had a dent.

 

[jlangholzj]

I have CJ bumpers on my car. The front was a bad fit but the rear was fine. The front was about 1.5-2" to wide. The metal was thin enough on the front bumper that when I dropped a socket from belly button height it dented the bumper. That was after I tried to catch it and assume broke some of the momentum from the fall. If I were to do it again I would wait for a bumper to come across craigslist that needed rechroming and buy it. I threw away my original becasue it had a dent.

isn't a bumper supposed to be a bit stronger than that?!

 

[Blu-Steel]

I have a set of nordan bumpers on my 66 and I am happy with them. The finish is smooth, except for the edges but they are not noticable unless you run your fingers over them. The thing to remember is that these cars were never perfect to begin with. They were mass produced (1 million Mustangs built by Feb 66!). I bought my first 66 Mustang 30 years ago and I remember noticing how the chrome had a lot of pits in it. Ford didn't care about making a perfect finish, they just wanted something inexpensive that looked good enough.