VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 1939 chevrolet bumpers

I need the bumpers rechromed on my 39 master deluxe 4 door sedan. The chrome plating company near me wants $550 EACH to do just the bumpers. The bumpers are stamped GM on the back of them. Has anybody bought any replacement bumpers that are of good quality or know of a plating company that would have a more realistic price? Thanks in advance. Pat

The filling station sells smooth bumper bars for $345 each.
www.fillingstation.com

Hi Pat,

Sorry to say it; but $550 doesn't seem too far out of line (maybe not out of line at all !!) with what I recall seeing at swap meets over the last few years. Re-chrome guys like "Bumper Boyz" and so on.

So, $550 may not be all that high. Altho I totally agree that's one helluva lot of money.

Remember, those re-chrome guys were hit hard by "environmental" State and Fed agencies a while back and that's when their prices went thru the roof.

You'll obviously want to check around and see what you can find. And I hope you get some helpful info on here.

I know two things for sure....

1. It's a long ways from 1978 when I got triple plating "show quality" re-chrome done on my 54 Chev front and rear bumpers for $85 each!!!

2. Prices went sky high when all the environmental regs came along 5-10 (??) years ago.

Good luck!

Bill.

Well, there's a great lead from Jack all the way down in Australia. And The Filling Station is a good vendor. And big supporter of VCCA and this chat line also. Check 'em out on the computer. Or just give 'em a call. Their phone number is in the ad near the top of this thread.

Good Luck!

Bill.

In our area plating for 38-39 bumpers are in the $300. to $400 range. Larger bumpers like 63-64 are in the $400. to $500. range.
Rock Valley Antique 800-344-1934 offers replacement bumpers in both steel and stainless. Advanced Plating in Nashville, TN offers some of the best quality but ar pricey.

DD

Check outside your area. $300 to $400 each is closer to what I'd expect (assuming there is no repair required). If there's ANY repair required ( bad pitting, torn, bent, etc.) $550 isn't bad at all.

$300 to $400 was what I was expecting to pay.The bumpers are not twisted or rusty at all. I foolishly tried removing the paint that had been applied to the recessed band in the center of the bumper with a super high pressure pressure washer and blasted some of the chrome off. That was certainly a costly mistake. Does any know the quality of the aftermarket bumpers available from the filling station etc.? Thanks again.

I rechromed the bumpers on my 38 so I haven't personally purchased a repop but I've read numerous complaints about the quality of repop chrome parts. Most if not all are made in china. I personally would rather rechrome the original steel than buy a repop. Missing chrome won't be an extra cost issue because the old chrome is stripped before rechroming anyway. As I said, check other companies. Shipping of a bumper isn't that expensive.

Pat, give Steve a ring at the filling station to discuss the bumpers with him. I just looked at the pictures on the Website.
They actually have two listed, RV-17 a chromium plated one which is the $345. From the picture it is hard to make out if it has the groove or not. The second one RV-20 is a stainless steel and IS SMOOTH, at $385.