Thread: bumper repair

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35fordcoupe: Sadly, industrial metal finishing is often not fully indexed in the Yellow Pages but if you go to "Superpages.com" on the internet and enter the city and subheading you will probably find a number of industrial sites. I know of two bumper plating sites in Richmond and another smaller shop that did some aluminum buffing buffing for me but you ought to be able to find a place closer to your home. I would note that bumpers are big and not all plating shops will have large tanks. Superpages.com in the Richmond area listed five shops, there should be more than that in Northern Virginia. Boy if I had a real steel early Ford I would revel in the nostalgia of the fact that it was there when.... but I have to use my imagination more with a 'glass '29 so enjoy the early Ford steel and just plan ahead before you cut anything. I am not sure of the actual lengths but I believe the stock 1937 Ford was a bit wider than the 1935 model so the bumper is probably wider on the 1937. Simple grinding should smooth over any trim cuts you may make. One last suggestion is to shop around and don't take the first estimate as final until you compare quotes from several shops and also try to find a welding shop that might save the bumper with brazing.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

I just had parts done at a shop here. i went for a tour to see how they finished the plating. and what i saw was belt sanders buffers and hand grinders. the owner told me that they dechrome the part clean it in a bath making sure the part was clean an depending on the metal what process they used. steal was ground down to 320 grit then they may even buff before they copper plate. the owner saying that the part would turn out however it looked going in but have a mirror finish. most places will not give you a set price but ballpark because of the labor and how good the piece is.
and the pits in metal all have to be filled one at a time so that is why it cost so much. the copper plating will fill the 320 grit marks then they can buff the copper to make it slick. they dipp it twice in the copper plating. before going to nickel then chrome. if you want his number. Rod was a super nice guy i'm sure he would be glad to answer any questions. jonathan