I recently purchased a rechromed bumper. Upon opening it I found what appears to be pitting. It is a B*itch to try to get a photo that shows. On my IPad these two can be expanded to show the area the best.I have questions on if this is something to be concerned about if it is pitting.
The first pic is a popsicle stick in the middle of the area in question.
I do not think there is a pitting potential problem. I cannot tell, is that the top or bottom of the bumper? The file you sent to my email was VERY large, I can actually see the spots in this pic.
It will bug me, but my car is a driver…so a lot of imperfections…. The old bumper just had the chrome worn off where the hood/fender seams are. There was no rust or pitting.
If I decide to live with it, is there a greater risk of the pitting getting worse on an accelerated basis?
Unless you are going for a VERY high restoration and you step up for NOS. Then you get stamping marks, grinding marks and can only kind of see yourself in the reflection.
If you took a flawless bumper to a chrome shop and had them chrome your bumper I would send it back for a rechrome.
If you exchanged your bumper that had imperfections like rust, bent, twisted, etc for in-stock chromed one small imperfections in harder to see areas can be normal as they are typically exchanged from bumpers of this category.
I actually chose to buy a slightly scratched rechromed bumper for my car to save a few bucks. It was scratched in an area that’s not visible unless I told you where to look or the car was on a rack. Wanting a driver and not a show car its something I could accept and convince my OCD to accept a scratch that is not visible to anyone by myself.
If it does not wipe off with 0000 steel wool or glass cleaner we will in fact exchange it for you and sell it at a discount as a blem. If it were on the bottom side maybe you would dismiss it but at the price these cost I do not blame you for being concerned as every time you walked by the car you would zero in on it. I too am a car guy…
How can you disagree on what a NOS bumper looks like? Do you have several? What I am getting at is the show chrome that both you and I prefer is really what amounts to “over restoring” our cars.
That’s not how I read your comment. I’m aware what NOS looks like in general. I do agree with you about over restoring, but that doesn’t mean you should settle for something that’s flawed. It would make for interesting conversation determining where you draw the line. How many flaws in your chrome are acceptable? How about paint? I realize none of these cars were perfect when they were built, but if you’re going to restore it why do so to imperfection?
Don,
Thanks for your transparency, as I told you in email, I had no plans to share where the bumper was purchased, I was/am just looking for feedback; as this is my initial experience with rechroming.
I tried, with great trepidation, 0000 steel wool. I still don’t understand the concept as these are small pits…not bumps. They remain small pits.
I get what you are saying about “over restoring”. Right above this front bumper is a grill that needs work, stainless trim with a ding, etc. My concern remains what happens in this area over the next fee years…does pitting spread (Delta variant like?) or is a new trigger required for more pitting? I’ll give you a shout to day to figure it out.
BTW, I put the rear (flawless) bumper on last night. Even with the original taillight metal needing replacement it looks AWESOME.
This might surprise a lot of the readers in this thread, but I have an NOS Ford Bumper for my 1969 Cougar, in the original Ford Service parts bag, with the original poly strapping . This is rare, as 1 - 2 years after a new car was sold, insurance companies would no longer pay for a new bumper, should the car require one due to an accident ( re chroming was the usual repair route. )
So an NOS bumper from this period is not easily to be had.
Having said that. the chrome on the NOS bumper is not the quality that you can obtain today ( yes it will cost big bucks ) for triple plated / show quality chrome.
I had the chrome bumper on my 1971 Lincoln Mark III redone ( all 4 pieces ) to the tune of 5 K (Huge amount of surface area ). It isn’t cheap, but it is a lot better looking than the NOS Cougar bumper, which will probably have to be re-chromed anyway. With the STRONG advisory to the shop not to do the bumper in the same vat with Truck bumpers ( amperage is increased and time shortened to quickly plate items which aren’t needed for a ‘restoration’ ) and not to take their grinders to the metal, after the ‘old’ chrome is removed, and don’t use the re-alignment jig which leaves those nasty teeth marks on the back side ).
As many people have noted on here - You Get What You Pay For.
