Bumpers: Rechome or Buy?

[318 Six Pack]

I think with rechroming, it all depends on the cores. Good cores should produce good rechromed bumpers. If the cores are beat up, it takes a lot of work to make them smooth. Rechrome a turd and you get a turd...

Well, I have not yet convinced myself on what I just posted. There is a chrome shop here in Knoxville, TN that says they can get mine back to new looking, smooth them if I want that, and plate in chrome or nickel. Yes, yet another custom variant I was thinking was nickel plating all the chrome/stainless trim. Other crazy ideas running around here too. Just a bit crushed that Tri-Cities brought in that quality of work. Had been so pumped about them.

 

[HawkRod]

Well, I have not yet convinced myself on what I just posted. There is a chrome shop here in Knoxville, TN that says they can get mine back to new looking, smooth them if I want that, and plate in chrome or nickel. Yes, yet another custom variant I was thinking was nickel plating all the chrome/stainless trim. Other crazy ideas running around here too. Just a bit crushed that Tri-Cities brought in that quality of work. Had been so pumped about them.

Don't get me wrong. Tri-City's bumpers were not terrible - just not the quality level I wanted.

Remember, at $400 each, they can only spend so much time on a given bumper to make it straight - otherwise they lose money. High end rechrome shops like Paul's won't even give a standard price - it all depends on your core. The bumpers Tri-City started with were probably rough. They tried hard to bring me a bumper so they probably found one that was beat up and cleaned it up. I appreciate them trying given limited time.

I want "no excuses" bumpers. My bodywork on my car should be absolutely top notch, so I don't want to strap on "B" level bumpers. For me, I want "A" quality. I made it clear that if they need more time to clean up my bumpers before chroming that I am willing to pay for the extra work. It is the prep work that really counts, so bumpers need to be absolutely smooth and nice for the chrome job to look that way too.

So for your bumpers and Tri-City: Determine the quality of your bumpers. If they are rough, then the $400 job will probably not look perfect. Work to get better cores or pay more to straighten them...