Simple Kustom Tech: Sectioning '51 Mercury Bumper Guards...ala Hirohata

Very nice, and looks great!

 

Man you make it look so easy.

 

Mark said you were up to something with the bumper guards when we were over there last night. With the 3:10 AM post time, I guess you kept at it. Very nice work, as usual Brian.

I've been told that when working with a chrome piece, it is much better to have it completely stripped of the original chrome before you work the piece. When they dip the piece in the chemical stripper, it eats the entire outside surface away, not just the chrome. Of course it doesn't harm the actual steel as much as the chrome......but when the part is left in the stripper long enough to get the chrome off, there are possibilities of harming the bare metal you have just spent hours making perfect.

 

I sometimes avoid opening a thread because it doesn't sound like it's going to have anything in it that's going to interest me...I almost didn't open this one for that reason. Sure glad I did though...it was interesting, well-written and the photos were excellent. Even though I'll never do this it's nice to know *how* to do it. Thanks for posting!

 

I love it. Customs rule. So does Bass.

I made these out of a stock Hudson bumper guard, and the bullets off of a pair of Kaiser guards. I was going to take them off of the car because they look too tall...maybe I'll section them and see how that strikes my fancy.

Thanks Bass!

 

Check out the Big Brains on Brian!! Nice work dude!! Those look really good. Not to mention your pictures and explanation is top notch!
Jimmy White
P.s. I am going to send the flywheel next week.

 

great work.....
you have a good eye for this stuff....

 

Hmm....That sounds like a reasonable explanation.

The only thing I can add is that since the plater is going to have to re-polish the piece after stripping anyway, then what difference is it going to make?

I could understand there being a possible problem if it was a fragile and thin piece of trim. But there's enough meat to the bumper guards to polish them back out to a smooth surface even if the bare metal surface gets etched or marred during chemical stripping.

Thanks for the info Eric...maybe I'll let Catalino strip them just to see what the result is going to be.

 

Bass kicks ass.....nuff said...

 

just like the rest of the car FUCKIN COOL ..dude you are a metal work pimp

 

Nice work Brian. I don't think the welding and grinding will have any affect on the chrome plating. The bumber guards on the Buick look great and you had to do some grinding and welding on them before they were plated. Keep up the good work.
JB

 

the word i got from the chrome guys on stripping when doing stuff like this, is not to worry about it. and do just what brian did. i asked them to strip them, they said all they would do is strip the chrome itself anyway, not the nickle or copper, which is quite pointless at this stage, the nickle is what's tough to work with. what i was told, and researched, is that the chrome is very easy to strip, the nickle is more difficult to strip, and some shops(like mine!) don't have the tanks to strip it, good ol EPA regs or something. they'll just strip the chrome then dip it in the copper tank, plating copper over the old nickle, and take it from there.

 

nice job, everytime i see this car it better and better, ever think of putting Mercury A pillars on the chevy?

 

Sweeeeeeeeeeet, sweet update.
How come I always look at "Bass Started" threads?
Superman is nothing compared to this guy.

 

Great tech post, very refreshing.

And the subtle changes like that, most people don't even know anything has been changed, are what makes a standout car when finished.

 

that car is looking killer.better than anything i've see from any west coast shops.and i've looked.

-danny

 

Man, I eat-up every piece you put out on that car. Thanks.

 

Great work, That is what a custom should be, when it is done and parked next to a nice original car the original car will look like it has something wrong with it.
It's great to see a guy doing nice but not overdone improvements instead of just making changes for the sake of making changes.

 

Great tech piece !

 

You could write a book on the level of detail in that car-magazine tech writers should be taking notes.