So I am going counter clockwise around the car. Time to pull the primed right fender off the car to paint the door and also the rear semi concealed fender edge. Also the under hood portion of the fender where hood hinge attaches. So to make it easier to remove the fender, I pulled the front bumper. This car has had a few front end bump/minor collision episodes. So chrome isn’t perfect. But it is original Oldsmobile, so I think for now I will try to save the bumpers. I helped several dents and bends in the bumper with big hammers, heavy metal bars, C clamps, that sort of thing. Then hit it with metal polish. So much easier on a workbench than squatting in front of the car. The vertical bumper strips are gonna get replaced.


There are a total of six attachment points, and every one of them were rusted enough to make removal difficult. So all fasteners were thread chased, painted, and oiled up to make replacement and removal easy. The bumper will go on and off the car several times before the car is final painted, so let’s make it easy to do.



Ammonia based metal polish and a LOT of elbow grease brought the bumper back to a better place.



Rash around the turn signal area. I was able to tone this down with some aluminum rustoleum in the scratches



The bumper bolts do not appear to have any corrosion protection. Rust formed all over the whole bolt other than the area where the SS metal cap is in place. I used rustoleum red primer to coat the back side of these bolts and stop the rust.



I removed the two vertical bumper members. They have a vinyl or hard rubber insert in them. A previous owner had taken what looks like two drywall screws to attach the strip after a mishap of some kind. I can’t live with that, so ordered two new ones off of eBay. They are not all that easy to find, and not cheap either. 135 to the door for the pair, but they are on the way.



In Iowa, I see a lot of chrome bumpers rust from the inside out. This one is just starting to do so. So…wire brushes, abrasives, detergent, power washer cleaned it up.



Rustoleum rusty metal primer in place



And I had a can of Rustoleum aluminum paint, so why not? Now just waiting for the rubber strips to arrive and the bumper will be done, ready to hang.

 

Nice work. Much easier when removed, I’ve done my share.
Hands down best product I’ve ever used. Been using for many years - love this stuff.

 

Nice job.

 

Good work! 👍

 

Thanks Norm! I will definitely put that on my Advance Auto “buy” list.



Thanks Greg and Olds64. I have a mental problem I guess? I go for the Drivers side door work, notice funky panel gaps, and end up replacing body mounts both sides. Then decide it’s time to buy paint for the left side door, but right side is already for it, so pull the fender off. Decide it’s easier to remove fender if the bumper is off and notice it needs help. Kinda makes me laugh at myself doing the helter skelter approach. But I should get the right side painting done this week, and finally get to the left side door and fender next week.

 

The new hard rubber vertical bumper strips arrived today.


These cost more than I anticipated, but I can understand it I think? They are molded, and incorporate mounting studs that are likely attached to a metal backer.



The new and the old side by side.



They didn’t fit real well, due to the way the chromed steel verticals were made. The rubber pieces have a nice uniform width rubber protrusion that was made to fit in a nice uniform slot in the steel. The slot in the steel isn’t uniform, and I ended up using a sharp knife to whittle down the rubber to fit the steel.

 

Finished the fit up of the new rubber vertical bumper cushions and bolted them on. I am done with resto/recondition on the front bumper. All fasteners are thread chased and painted for corrosion resistance. I will likely not place the bumper in place until I have gone through the left fender and door and got them in epoxy primer.


The steel vertical pieces were not made very well. They are made of two pieces of steel welded together. Fitup and welding was sloppy, leaving metal pieces overlapping rather than butting together. So the rubber pieces didn’t have a chance of fitting as they should.



So…..RTV black caulk was used where needed. This should keep dirt and road debris from getting behind these vertical members.



54 year old bumper. Not perfect, but not too bad to leave on the car either.