Hello
Im from Germany and looking rigth now for new bumperīs
Front and rear for my 1971 442
Have anyone experience with supplierīs
how good is the chrom and how exactly fit it

Thank you
Roscoe

 

i have an NOS back 71 442 bumper. i have $1100 US dollars on it plus shipping. i am sure it would be $$$ to get it there. i don't know much about the reproductions but they are much cheaper.

 

I don't mean to hyjack the thread, but how can you tell if a say a '70-'72 bumper is NOS compared to rechrome or aftermarket? Especially if you don't have one or the other to compare to? I have no doubts about what you have, but how can you convey evidence that it is NOS?

 

i guess when it comes down to it i don't know how to prove it is NOS. i can provide some pretty convincing proof but that is all. i have the packaging, the receipt from 84 and paper that was inside the packaging.

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Dang Eric
You da man. Keep paper trails on everything; it's worth it's weight in gold sometimes. Much as I like that you can prove NOS? It's still more money than I was willing to pay when I got my repro.

300F I got my rear bumper (cutout exhaust) from Tamraz. The fit is very good and the chrome quality is excellent. The car is not a driver and stays inside most of it's life so I can't speak to how durable the chrome will stay. But, I expect it will be just fine for the rest of my life.

There are lots of aftermarket repops in the USA. As mentioned - tamraz, Fusick Automotive Supplies, Year One, Parts Place and OPGI to name a few. You can get both front and rear bumpers from each of them. Shop for the best selling price and also find out what their shipping cost is to Deutschland before you commit to buy. The packaging on my Tamraz bumper was very good and the delivery time was excellent. Usually things cost more to ship to Canada and the shipping time is usually 3 weeks or so.

Good luck with your purchase. Please post any pictures of your project.

 

and i fully understand that. that is why i mentioned that the reproductions were much cheaper. i think i should not mention this one to much other than the original add. i think it can turn people off seeing those kinds of prices. many people know i have it so i can just wait till someone contacts me.

sorry for detouring your thread. are the ones you have good enough to have rechromed?

 

Again, I'm not questioning what you have. I was just wonder how someone could try to determine if it is NOS. Is there some way the back side of it looks or something like that.

 

i am not sure myself. i have seen some posts on the subject from 507olds, i think he would have the best advice on the differences.

 

Eric,

That bumper looks awesome, do you ever get front bumpers in nice shape too??

Cheers,

Tony

 

I know Kurt is fishing for info - not in any way undermining the credibility of the bumper. I think some of the hallmarks might be measuring the gage of the bumper steel, actual dimensions and the weight of the bumper. They should all be within a spec tolerance if GM produced them. I know not all chrome is the same. Are those more the indicators you're looking for Kurt? I remember a while back I was talking with him about my repro. I would bet that if you put them side by side without any GM stickers you would be hard pressed to tell the difference.

 

Yes. I've picked up a pair of of '70 442 bumpers and it was under circumstances that allow for the possibility that they are NOS. But having not papers or anything else, I'm wondering how to tell what they are.

 

You guys are just buying up all the bumpers like a pair of hot pretzels in -5 degree montreal.

I digress, i guess bumpers are cool too. Just you can't eat them.

 

I have seen some of the aftermarkets and they look good, but they seem...well...sort of flimsy. They look thinner and lighter than original/NOS. Though the chrome looks good, the quality is just not there IMO. I think that my immediate concern would be the quality of the chroming, (if it will last) and if the tolerances are good enough to just bolt them into place without too much effort.

That being said, I have only seen one set and they were in a speed shop, so I cannot speak to other manufacturers. I am not aware of who made the ones I saw (attached), but the price was $350 each, which doesn't seem too bad and I suppose that would work until you find a nice set of original/NOS that are either in great shape or are straight and just need a chrome-job.

I would be curious to know if anyone has had to straighten and re-chrome a pair of originals and what the price tag would be. I think that I have read that places that do chroming are getting harder to find because of environmental concerns.

 

Gosh, I don't think they are lighter. When I dry fitted mine it was about the same as the OEM bumper I took off. I'll have to do a weight and measure comparison.

I did have my front bumper straightened and re-chromed, but that was years ago, so the price wouldn't be relevant. The cost of the straightening was part of the total price of the re-chrome. I don't know if the number of re-chroming places are going down, but I know the cost of chroming is definitely going up.

Supreme Plating here suggested that if I wasn't in a hurry I could keep my costs down by waiting for a large batch to go through and they would just include it then. Seems like a reasonable alternative if you're not pressed for time.

 

hey Al!

You put on a repro? I'm still toying with what I want to do. My front bumper really has to go eventually, where did you buy yours.

Cheers,

Tony

 

What repro manufacturer was yours Allan?

 

Tony, you should have bought that one I sent you the link to last year.
I dry fitted the rear repro bumper to see how it fit. It was a great. Didn't leave it on at the time because I wasn't ready to do the exhaust and it looked funny without the trumpet flares. The front bumper is OEM - straightened and re-chromed. It's ok but not perfect. When the rear cutout one goes on for good, I will have an excellent OEM bumper I may sell.

I went with Tamraz. Their price was better at the time. Give them +++ for that, +++ for packing and +++ for shipping time. Probably the same bumpers as sold by Fusick, PP, OPGI etc. Had no issues at all and the chrome looks great!

 

The rear trumpets look awesome! But my dad's cutlass had the straight bumper with the turn down pipes at the back so that's what i'll be going with.
That bumper you sent me last year was an awesome deal! Unfortunately i had to put some money into suspension parts so i couldn't buy it at the time. I think my current plan will be to buy a front bumper first, some time mid year, then buy a rear one later this year to really make my car look sharp.

 

Maybe by then I'll have mine up for sale. If I do, I'll PM you before anythng goes on here.

 

71/72 bumpers rechromed at ogden chrome in utah is 405$ i don't know what it would cost if they needed to be straightened.

i also bought my rear 442 from tamraz through ebay for 303$ free shipping(don't know what it would be to germany or over borders) about two weeks ago. i am happy with the appearence i have not installed it yet.

 

GREAT deal! How'd you swing free shipping on something that big? Was it a special promotion? Glad to hear you are happy with the appearance of your bumper too.

 

I dont know it was an ebay add said right under free shipping. but i can't find it know. so it might of been a special.

this one is with out the cut outs. 303 with free shipping.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/71-72-1971-1...item5ad55aa215

 

I just bought a reproduction rear bumper from Tamraz. Quality was pretty good, not perfect. I paid 303 with free shipping. They have ones advertised on ebay that state plated in the USA and they go for around 400. Don't know if they are worth the extra money or not and the ad did not state that the plating quality was better.

 

That would probably be the one I bought. It was 385.00 + shipping 4 years ago. I have no complaints about the chrome at all.

 

I had both my original bumpers rechromed. They both came out awesome. The rear one was bent and they straightned it. I could not even tell where it was repaired. Now my rear bumber did not have the cut outs so after much debating with myself I decided that is what I wanted. I then saw Tamraz was selling them and I gave them a call because they had them for 2 different prices. I talked with one of their representatives and asked what was the difference in the 2 bumpers, He said the one that cost 303.00 was made and chromed overseas and that the one for 411.00 was manufactured also overseas and sent here raw,but all the plating and chrome was done here in the United States. He said that the chrome was actually better or equal to what GM had. Now I don't know about that,but anyways I bought the one U.S. plated and chromed. It was very well packed. Once I got it I put it side by side my original bumper because I had not put the bumpers on yet. Side by side I could see no difference in the 2 rear bumpers. They seemed to weight about the same. I put the Tamraz bumper on and it fit just great. So now I have an original rechrome rear bumper, so If this fails or the chrome begins to flake or something I can just take it off.

 

Exactly what I've been saying all along! Nice to see another confirmation.

 

I'm glad I found this thread. I've been thinking about buying bumpers from Tamraz, but I was afraid that they wouldn't fit perfectly and I'd have to modify them.

My front bumper is just about shot. It has a small rust hole near the bottom of the driver's side of the car. And on the top of the bumper on the driver's side, the nickel peeled off about four inches long and the top of the bumper rusted. I could weld the hole up and polish it smooth and send it away to be rechromed, but then the rechroming is over $800. It seems like a lot of money to reinstall a rusty old bumper.

My rear bumper is almost perfect. Just one small spot ( about 3/4" wide by 2 1/2" long) where the nickel peeled and it's underneath the car where it can't be seen, unless you're laying on the ground. But, I'd prefer two bumpers that are rust free. And since rechroming is so much more expensive, I think it would be worth my while to buy a couple bumpers from Tamraz.

 

I had my rear bumper done at Sherm's in Sacramento CA. You would all have chest pains if I told you what I paid. It did come out better than any bumper I have seen on a restored car. It is all relative and depends on the car it is going on.

Lee

 

Go for it! I just had new batteries installed in my pacemaker . I can now handle amounts greater than 1,000.00

 

Got a repro front bumper from Fusick Automotive 2 years ago for my 71 Cutlass. It is an everyday driver...on the freeway, residential areas...everywhere. Bumper still looks like new.

 

More than $100 less than $5,000

Lee

 

 

Hey Allan- AL here finally again! Got my bumbers from Tamraz.as well. Great price, fast shipping and quailty chrome. I've ordered several things from them and they seem fine. Just hope I get them on this spring. Taking them to the body shop next week for a mock up to be sure the body lines are proper around the trunk drop area. Amazing what you find out what tolerances GM allowed to pass.

 

Al, glad to hear you're happy with them! Tolerances? I don't think that was even a word in GM's dictionary when these cars were built. At least not in the sense we think of it now. Back then I'm sure 'tolerance' was what the customer had to put up with. Oh wait, that's tolerate! Well same thing in terms of 72 production. I'm sure you will find the fit is as good as OEM.

 

Will be fitting this week. Will let you know what the tolerates were