AussieIan

I have a a front bumper that is straight and the chrome is good except in one place where the rust has got under the chrome and pitted it significantly. The pitting is to the point where the company who was going to re-plate the bumper claims that if it was re-chromed the surface would be uneven etc. Does anyone know anybody who can do old fashioned lead? filling of pits to create a smooth core that can be re-chromed. I am in San Diego, near Tijuana Mexico. They may still do it down there since they do not have the same EPA restrictions as in the US. Or perhaps there is another solution to fill the pits? Any ideas? Finding another bumper is proving very expensive so I want to try to fix the one I have.

oldcutlass

Post some pictures of your bumper.

Olds64

What company did you have evaluate the bumper for chroming? There are plenty of chroming options in the U.S. still and some offer better service than others.

joe_padavano

A quality chrome shop will fill pitted areas as part of the normal service. Depending on the severity of the pits, this can be as simple as metal finishing the area prior to plating or can be as involved as performing an initial copper plate and hand filling the pits with solder before finish plating. Again, this is normal for a proper plating shop. Obviously this is all very labor intensive, so price will vary with the amount of work required. FYI, the similar-sized front bumper on my 67 Delta was about $800 to straighten and plate.

acavagnaro

I agree that any competent chrome place should be more than capable of fixing your bumper. It's pretty amazing what some of the shops are capable of repairing. I've used Ogden Chrome in Utah with great results. My '69 442 rear bumper needed fairly significant straightening and rust repair. They never complained and it looks great. It was ~$800.

cfair

Not to be anti-Californian, as a Californian, but be aware lots of processes & chemicals that have been used a long time to good effect are now banned.

I had some small parts done in LA a year back and they came out nicely, but not bumpers. Ogden is probably a good choice, but I’ve not worked with them directly.

Olds64

Did you have bumpers chromed that turned out poorly? FWIW, I had NorthStar Plating in Brainerd, MN do the bumpers on my 71 98 and they turned out lousy.