Auto Restoration 101

Quality chrome plating is an expensive part of any restoration or street rod project. Prepping the parts for the nickel and chrome is a lot of hard work, hence the high cost. These are some steps that you can do yourself to help cut down the costs and get a mirror perfect finish. This post courtesy of Hot Rods

Our candidate is a 1966 442 bumper. Because of all the different shapes it allows us to show you all the techniques that are needed when restoring and refinishing bumpers or any part that is chrome plated. Starting with a good core is vital and checking for fit by being sure you have adjusted it for the best gaps and alignment is the first step.

The side view of this bumper to fender fit is very even with a 1/2 inch gap from top to bottom including 3/4 of an inch away from the body. As seen we have all the old chrome and nickel stripped from the bumper down to the bare steel. There are still some remnants of old copper which is fine. The statement “Triple Chrome ” means Copper, Nickel and Chrome. Copper is for adhesion and build layers. It can be built up and sanded to remove the scars and low spots. Nickel is next and gives you the brightness you see. Chrome is a protection coating to keep the nickel from tarnishing.

We start off by getting the bumper on a stand to work out flaws. We are tapping out high and low spots with a hammer and dolly. You can also achieve this while the bumper is attached to the car although the brackets will often be in the way of this procedure so it works best to remove it. Our particular 3M stand has posts “See Red Arrow” to keep it from moving while holding it on an angle.

Once all the dents are removed we refine the metal using files. Bumpers are built with many different shapes so different files are needed. This concave file reaches this spot well.

The most common flat areas are simply filed with a flat file to effectively remove the flaws.