Painted Front Bumper Assistance

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SputnikOne

SputnikOne

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Hey all, been slowly knocking out the various cosmetic issues with my 1973 Dodge Dart Swinger, I'm looking for a little guidance on the front bumper. The rear is great, chrome, and has the black bumpers. But the front is paint entirely in the cars white color, including the bumpers for some reason. It's pretty rusty and there's some spots that look like the rust is inches deep in a hole. Any tips, or good replacements, I can't seem to find any for sale that are chrome.

PXL_20250426_002356929~2.jpg


PXL_20250409_021543867~2.jpg
 
I'll get better pictures soon, don't really wanna strip it just yet Incase I can't find a replacement or it's not worth repairing and I just don't have a bumper to work with for that time.
 
SputnikOne said:
I'll get better pictures soon, don't really wanna strip it just yet Incase I can't find a replacement or it's not worth repairing and I just don't have a bumper to work with for that time.
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I don't understand that mentality. If you strip it and it's too crappy to restore, you still have it and can still put it back on. It's not like stripping it is going to make it magically disappear. At least you'll KNOW one way or the other whether you have something to work with. Or you can leave it hangin there and not know.
 
Looks like it was painted because a previous owner didnt want to, or didnt have the know-how or $$ to deal with a beat up, rusted out bumper; just putting lipstick on a pig. Like @RustyRatRod suggested, remove and strip it to see how bad it is, but it looks pretty bad to me.
You can keep looking for a new or used one, sandblast and repair your existing one and repaint, or put a fibreglass one on and paint it. Id forget about taking it to a chromer to repair/rechrome, youd have to mortgage your house to pay for it.
Oh, I found THIS ONE on Ebay, check out the price!!!!
 
That's pretty great looking, 2k is alittle out of willing to spend budget for a little, but I'll definitely pick it up if it's still available and I can't find an alternative

How easy is it to make an aftermarket fiberglass bumper chrome?
 
SputnikOne said:
That's pretty great looking, 2k is alittle out of willing to spend budget for a little, but I'll definitely pick it up if it's still available and I can't find an alternative

How easy is it to make an aftermarket fiberglass bumper chrome?
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To my knowledge, fiberglass cannot be chromed, since chrome has to react with metal. But of course, it's 2025, so there may be a way to do it. I don't know. I do know though, that there are lots of talented powder coaters in the country and some of those colors are pretty dang close to chrome. Might be something to look into.
 
Like @RustyRatRod and @70SwingerGuy said, strip it. You can remove it and strip it easily in one day. If it is too bad to do anything with, you can easily paint it for temporary while looking for a replacement. Go somewhere that stocks several brands of rattle can paint (Like Lowes), and you will find a white that is close enough to get by for a while. If you definitely know the code for the paint that is on there now, there are several places where you can get a small amount or a rattle can mixed. Do it. It is the only way to know for sure.
Added a few minutes later:
$2000 is not a bad price for that Ebay bumper. By the time you found a good core, pay shipping on it, and pay to ship it to a chromer and have a good quality chrome job on it, you'd have more than that in it. Chrome work is EXPENSIVE. I would seriously consider that one.
 
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RustyRatRod said:
To my knowledge, fiberglass cannot be chromed, since chrome has to react with metal. But of course, it's 2025, so there may be a way to do it. I don't know. I do know though, that there are lots of talented powder coaters in the country and some of those colors are pretty dang close to chrome. Might be something to look into.
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I dont believe so either. But I have seen some chrome paints that look really good and shiny, not as good as the real thing, but it all depends on what you are going to be happy with.
Just found this, looks like fibreglass CAN be chromed, but I bet it costs an arm and leg, but it would be worth looking into.
 
Is there a way to tell if the bumper underneath is chrome already? I knocked on it and it sounds like steel, but I don't know enough about chrome to really tell, some of the marks where the paint is gone are shiny, but could just be bare metal. What are the chances they just painted over chrome? Can you even do that?
 
How bout this? If you remove it and strip it....and it has holes rusted all in it.....take advantage of it. Treat the rust holes with a rust treatment that turns it black and seals and stops it. Then, paint the bumper up so it looks like it's rustin all to hell and back. That's kinda the rage now anyway..make it ratty. It'll be cool in the meantime, plus it'll be painted and won't get any worse. You can have all the time in the world to find another one.
 
SputnikOne said:
Is there a way to tell if the bumper underneath is chrome already? I knocked on it and it sounds like steel, but I don't know enough about chrome to really tell, some of the marks where the paint is gone are shiny, but could just be bare metal. What are the chances they just painted over chrome? Can you even do that?
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Like we said, strip it and you will see if it is or not. Paint stripper wont remove chrome. Chances are good they just painted over rusted chrome, and yes you can do that.
 
SputnikOne said:
Is there a way to tell if the bumper underneath is chrome already? I knocked on it and it sounds like steel, but I don't know enough about chrome to really tell, some of the marks where the paint is gone are shiny, but could just be bare metal. What are the chances they just painted over chrome? Can you even do that?
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Painting over chrome is a crap shoot.....usually crap. lol Because in order to do it right, the chrome has to be chemically stripped. First, that's expensive. People will tell you that you can blast chrome and give it "tooth" so you can paint it. But the chrome is still there and you always have a chance of it blistering up later.......and it will because it already has in places.
 
Yeah but painting to look worse than it already is seems like a strange use of time rather than just giving it another temporary coat of white instead, but either way repainting it is a big commitment for someone with not alot of facilities for this kind of thing.
 
Remove it, strip it, grind off any loose chrome (wear a mask), do a little basic bondo/filler work to it to get it nice and smooth (or have a body shop do it).
Then have a chrome wrap put on it.
Or get a fiberglass one and have it wrapped.
I'm sure you have plenty of places locally that do wraps. There's lots of chrome wraps out there that look pretty darn good nowadays, and when done by a professional installer 99.9% of the people won't be able to tell the difference.
 

Definitely doesn't look bad, but it's a sport model bumper, will it work with my Swinger?
 
RustyRatRod said:
To my knowledge, fiberglass cannot be chromed, since chrome has to react with metal. But of course, it's 2025, so there may be a way to do it. I don't know. I do know though, that there are lots of talented powder coaters in the country and some of those colors are pretty dang close to chrome. Might be something to look into.
Click to expand...
Screenshot_20250501_123548.jpg
Remember this car? MPC Model Plastics Corp. was a sponsor. And model cars had those chrome looking plastic pieces.
Clyde Hodges told me that MPC did that chrome on a fiberglass bumper for Don's car. This would have been probably 1974 or 1975.
 
First thing I always did with all of my Dart Sports was remove and trash those big ugly rubber blocks. I thought the cars all looked much better without them. I guess they were part of the 5mph government bumper requirements.
 
I don't think they look bad, just wondering if it will fit on my car without any issue since it's not a Sport model
 
tinman2 said:
View attachment 1716399700Remember this car? MPC Model Plastics Corp. was a sponsor. And model cars had those chrome looking plastic pieces.
Clyde Hodges told me that MPC did that chrome on a fiberglass bumper for Don's car. This would have been probably 1974 or 1975.
Click to expand...
I do remember that car! Pretty well in fact. I wonder though if it's the same process and type of chrome? Heck, it might be. I have no clue. I always thought chrome plating metal was an "electro" plating process. Fiberglass kinda takes the "electro" out of the equation....but again, I know nothing about it.
 
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