Painted bumper pics

If you are trying to avoid the expense of chrome plating your bumpers, silver or chrome spray may be better than nothing or surface rust, but still not convincing or particularly attractive. It looks like what it is: a cheap way out. I have had pretty good success (with "parsimonious" customers) using chrome tape on the front sides only. The backsides can be sprayed with silver or aluminum paint to simulate the unfinished look the bumpers originally had. They were dull and not buffed out like the front sides. In order to use the chrome tape, the front of the bumper faces must be as smooth as possible = no mud, rust craters, etc. It wouldn't hurt to go over the bumper faces with sandpaper to smooth out the surfaces and improve adhesion. Take a little extra time and fill in any rust pitting with Bondo, followed by sanding it smooth. It's also a good idea to have a helper because when the tape is cut to length in one long strip (for each front bumper bar), it can get snakey and twist, sticking to itself and ruining it. You do not want that! Keep the tape as smooth and straight as possible while laying it over the bumper bar. You get only one chance to apply it correctly. Use a glass squeegee afterwards to smooth out any air bubbles trapped between the bumper bar and the tape. Fold the edges of the tape over the top and bottom edges of the bumper bar to make the "chrome" plating more seamless. You can get chrome tape in 2" widths close to the width of the bumper bars.
Try this place: https://www.amazon.com/VViViD-Silver-Chrome-Air-Release-Adhesive/dp/B07QCD469W/?tag=atomicindus08-20
Marshall
 
Last edited:
Probably not super great, but for $12.50 plus postage, it's worth the risk. Unless you drive your Model A in the "Outback" through shrubs, sandstorms, poisonous snakes and kangaroos, the chrome tape should look good for quite a while driving in city traffic. I took pictures of one car I did a few years for a local car company, but I apparently deleted the files after the car was sold. The tape turned out quite nicely. From a few feet away - and unless you knew the story behind the story - you wouldn't guess that chrome tape was taking the place of chrome plating. A few blemishes underneath marred a perfectly smooth surface, but the bumpers still looked more than presentable versus silver spray paint.
The best thing I can recommend to someone putting this tape on Model A bumper bars is to make the bar's surface as smooth and defect-free as you can so that the tape will have an unblemished appearance. If you leave deep rust pitting in the metal, tape being tape, it will indent into those pits and ruin the smooth look.
Synchro909 - If you go this route, order three or four rolls so that as one application begins to show its age, simply peel it off and open the second roll for application. 'Gotta be cheaper postagewise ordering a few rolls at a time than one at a time as needed. Also, maybe have a couple rolls on hand for others in your club.
Marshall
 
Last edited:
The guy I used to use for powdercoating did some fake chrome coatings.It looked nice,the best way to describe it is kind of looks like old faded chrome.I like the look,it is softer,I guess I would call it more nickle-y.He was pretty clear on what you were getting,the powdercoating was XX amount of dollars,the prep was XX per hour,and he would prep to the amount you wanted to spend.I sandblasted the grille,bumper,and trim for a 41 Chevy years ago for somebody.He had the guy powdercoat the parts.While it looked great,he did have a bunch of powdercoated pitted parts when he was done.The powdercoater could have smoothed them up,but it would have cost hundreds extra The owner opted out of that,he got what he paid for and is still happy to this day.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top