Got this bumper back from Tri City plating in TN today took about a month and cost was 650 + shipping. The bumper I sent was pretty nice to begin with, a couple small dings and scratches. I expected something perfect like jewelry but maybe thats not possible with a bumper? Nonetheless it came out pretty good id say 9 out of 10 right now. What do you guys think? I wish I had a reproduction to compare to but I don't . I think this is the biggest dilemma now with buying reproduction or re-chroming. Still have the front one to do.
You guys have any recommendations for paint or protective coatings on backside?

 

I have used Tri City many times and have always been happy. Their work for the price is very good. I have learned one thing about parts,you can take just about any part that's off the car and you can find issues. Put the part on the car and the issues disappear. Your bumper looks great to me.

 

Where was the chroming done? I had my bumpers rechromed by Goodmark and they sent them to Brainerd, MN. My back bumper is already showing the nickle/copper through the chrome. If it's not 10/10 complain now.

 

Tri City plating in TN. They have a website so you can check out their op. Pretty sure its done right on the premises and they've been at it for years.
I may be too picky I just took it out of the wrapper and need to wipe it off but it is OEM

 

The Chevy guys swear by them. I intend to use them. The back of the bumper does not get all the steps the front does. I think that bumper looks excellent. They have nice packing. I will probably drive my two to Nashville, then go get them.

 

Unless you have deep pockets or a lot of experience with chroming companies, its hard to find a reasonably priced company that does quality work on a consistent basis. I have heard horror stories of poor quality jobs and this is something you really only want to do once for the $ spent. I also prefer spending the $ in the U.S. if I have to.

 

I can agree with you on that. Getting bumpers rechromed is an expensive piece of work. I paid 650.00 per bumper with Speed and Sport here in town and they also do chrome work for Jay Leno. That price was 3 years ago. Now its about 775.00 per bumper. One thing they recommended me to do was to paint the inside of the bumper because they said they don't chrome the inside of the bumper and the inside might rust. I found that to be true because on my 72 the inside of the bumper began to have surface rust. So on my 68 I painted the inside with POR 15 and there are no signs of surface rust.

 

Tri City is in Elizabethton TN ,not Nashville. What another 300 miles?

 

The place I had my bumpers rechromed at said to undercoat the inside of the rear bumper. He said the rear wheels constantly kick up grit and that's the best way to protect it

 

I have used them many times with no complaints. I needed a rear 67 Cutlass core once so my buddy brings me one at Carlisle. I looked at it and it looked like scrap metal to me but we walked it over to Tri City and they said they could do it. When I got it back I was amazed and very satisfied!

 

What are you seeing? I see a very nice bumper.

 

Try getting a price from Paul's Chrome Plating for a bumper. When you finally catch your breath,that Tri City bumper will look NOS. Like I said,unless there's a major flaw that Stevie Wonder can see,put it on the car and forget about it.

 

Tri City bumpers are way better than any NOS bumper you will find.

The factory plating on NOS bumpers is not that great.

Be aware that you now have to polish all the stainless on the car to match the new bumpers......

 

X2 - Most people would laugh (or cry - depending on if they paid big $ for an NOS bumper thinking it was going to be "nice") at the appearance of NOS or original bumper chrome finishes. It was cheap and quick and not even close to a nice triple plate rechrome. NOS stuff is just that - original appearance and many times not even that as a some of NOS stuff, I think, was rejected parts that were packaged up and moved through the dealership channels.

The closest I've seen to NOS is some of the reproduction bumpers....chrome isn't super slick, etc. I like that look as, to me at least, it represents the closest thing to what the bumpers looked like coming out of the factory. Remember, the high end Corvette crowd has a completely different definition of "perfection" compared to most others out there.

Also....if Scrappie expected "jewelry" for $650....think again.....that's just a down payment on whatever the most perfect rechrome bumper job would cost.

As Paul alludes to.....if you go "too far" on some of these parts in terms of perfection then other parts of the car can have a "hard time keeping up" with that and things can look odd or out of place. The Tri-City bumper should be very nice and most people would think it's pretty much perfect.

There's always something better.....but chasing it can become ridiculous at some point. Be happy if the chrome surface is relatively slick and fairly level.

 

 

The bumper is nice, I'm just nit picking

 

Damn, they are out in BFE.

 

Ogden chrome in Utah gets good reviews. Lots of threads here about them. They did the plating for Kindig in Season 1 or 2, so they must not be too bad.
Tim

 

The comparison to NOS was just an analogy. Then again,some guys who restore show cars only want NOS,go figure.

 

Many years ago I worked at the Speed Queen wash machine plant .
I asked an inspector what they did with the parts that didn't quite measure up .
He told me they either went to salvage , service, or scrap .
Scrap was obviously the scrap metal bin .
The salvage department would attempt to repair the parts so they could meet the standards and then they went to the assembly line.
I asked him "what is service " ? He said , " those are the repair parts you can buy from the parts department ."
I would imagine that most auto companies followed the same practice .

 

Use Rust Seal Clear to coat the rear of your bumpers!! It's expensive, but very very durable!! Did mine
front and rear in 2014 and still look like the day i painted them! Wipe down with denatured alcohol before painting
and a Pint should cover.