Not sure what to do about these bumpers...

[thedartsport]

My bumpers are original to the car and for their age they look pretty good. Unfortunately they bring down the rest of the car with its nice paint. You can't tell in pictures but they've got blemishes and spots. The rear bumper has rough spots with rust where the bumper was removed. Overall they're driver quality but I can't afford to rechrome them.

Here's my idea. The front bumper I believe would look amazing in satin black to match the grille, but I'm not so sure about the rear bumper being as big as it is. I could do black OR do a dull silver on both. I would smooth out the bumpers and make them look clean and paint them and probably do a clear coat. I just don't know what color to do.

Or is there anyway to fix this? It may be too far I don't know. I don't have any close ups of the bumper but I can get them if needed.

Thanks!

 

[toolmanmike]

The car looks nice and needs chrome. Drive them as is and save up the cash to rechrome one this year and one next year. A great winter project.

 

[RustyRatRod]

I think a black front bumper would be too much black. But it's your car.

 

[72bluNblu]

While I'm partial to the chrome, you could have them powdercoated a gunmetal gray. It should have enough shine to it to look good, but won't have the chrome appearance and should cost quite a bit less. You could do silver too, but that always looks to me like you wanted chrome and didn't want to pay for it. The gunmetal changes things enough to look intentional. ;) And it will go with the blue car pretty well.

You could even highlight the grille to match, replacing the original sections that were the aluminum shade with a similar gunmetal color. My bumpers are still chrome (and will stay that way), but the grille was painted with a gunmetal wheel paint...

 

[RustyRatRod]

He said he cannot afford chrome. How much is powder coating?

 

[72bluNblu]

He said he cannot afford chrome. How much is powder coating?

Should be about half what chrome costs, depending on where you take it.

Less than a new set of AMD bumpers. Which is somehow also less than most decent chrome shops charge even though you're supplying the core. Funny how that works...

I suppose if money is that tight you could use the rattle can wheel paint to do the bumpers. With decent prep and some clear coat it might hold up for awhile. Not as durable though.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Really? I didn't know it was cheaper. That's interesting. Thanks.

 

[72bluNblu]

Well maybe Leanna can set me straight if I'm out in left field, it's been awhile since I had anything powdercoated. But the last time I looked into doing it having a bumper powdercoated was less than half of what show chrome would cost. Which would still be less than the AMD repop stuff costs.

 

[thedartsport]

Yeah black would probably be too much, I would love the chrome if it weren't so rough. Gunmetal gray sounds interesting I may look into that. I think a good clear would protect it and make the bumpers pop with the right color.