A friend came by yesterday telling me he gave them i nice grill to replate they switched it with rusted junk one.
hearing all this scares me... anyone ever use the bumper depot in Cali? I sent a grill bar in there for my 54 4 weeks ago, I was quoted 10 day turn around... so far they COD'd my bezels back, but no grill bar!
At the PATE swap meet this year was a display that looked like the boyz But, it was called Kodiac Bumper chrome ..Bell Gardens, California Looked like same truck, etc. but different name I might be incorrect ..
I've used Northstar / Keystone a number of times and I've always been very happy with the results. They do great work. I've given them some pretty rough stuff to work with and it always came back looking like new.
I repeat DO NOT USE THE BUMPER DEPOT in Palmdale!!! Back in March I sent them 2 center grill bars with 14 perfect teeth. 2 parking light housings a pair of head light bezels and a pair of tail light bezels. In return I asked that they weld up the holes (all but the last 2) on one of the grill bars, chrome it and 2 teeth, and pollish my headlight bezels. Everything else she could keep in trade. She said fine and quoted me 10 day turn around and $170 for the lot, including shipping. Weeks go by and she won't answer the phone, when she finally does she gives my old lady the run around about how our grill bars were trash and she was going to have to throw them out and find a new one... this was news to me. a few more weekes go by and we get a fedex guy on our doorstep with a COD very small package from the bumper depot... $67.50 cash only. It turns out to be the headlight bezels, they look ok, but I thought it was a bit high just to pollish them considering the trade in we gave her, but OK! We call and say we have received the bezels and check the status on the grill bar. She said that her guy was working on it, but she couldnt remember how many holes we wanted left in it. Now i'm thinkin I've sent this broad "Janet" quite a few emails not to mention the letter included in the box when I spent $100 to UPS the stuff to her to begin with... she still can't grasp the concept. So again we tell her, she says ok, give me a few days. We wait, still nothing... now she's back to not answering her phone again. Finally 2 weeks later we get ahold of her she says it's done and she will have her "packer" get it boxed up tomorrow, but he's off on Mondays... she can't give me a price because she has to weigh it first, but she'll call us Tuesday and give us the amount we'll need for the Fedex guy... ok, FINE! Tuesday comes, no phone call, wednesday comes, no phone call... thursday she's not in the office because they're moving... Friday nothing. The following Monday we call and she says that her guy had it all boxed up on friday and she asked him to unpack it so she could look at it again and wouldn't ya know there was a chip in the chrome so they'll have to re-do it. AGAIN! Now, I'd like to know where she's finding all of these spare 54 belair grill bars to fuck up... I can't seem to find one anywhere! Last week... nearly 10 weeks later, the Fedex guy shows up with a bigger box this time for $252.20... WTF!!!!! and at this point, I am not about to shoot the messanger... I'm about to drive my ass out to Palmdale and shoot somethin else~! I open the box to find a decently chromed center grill bar, and ONE f'n tooth. now how am I supposed to cover the joints of 2 parking lights with 1 fuckin tooth!??? The calling continues. Appearently Janet has hired an assistant and Denise doesn't know what a tooth looks like but she'll give the message to Janet. Today we call and Janet answers... we know this because we have been speaking to her for 2 1/2 months now, she says "ummm.... who's this?" and when my girlfriend IDs herself she says that Janets not in but she'll give the message about the tooth... WHY? WHY? is it soo hard to find a dependable person in this industry??? F***
The lesson there is don't make swap deals, pay on a credit card you can charge back if they don't live up to their end of the deal. Bumper Boyz, the Stockton Wheel of chrome? Actually I guess that's not fair, since from what I understand if you do actually get something from Stockton it's a decent quality piece.
ive herd the same about bumper boys ......junk but stockton wheel i got 2 wheels from the there werent chrome but they was a nice pice just real slow but a nice pice i have people akl about them and i tell them stockton does good work you just gotta wait
I have a 54 Buick and I had the Bumper Boyz rechrome my 6 portholes. The chrome came out pretty good but they did not bother to remove the undercoating. Fortunately once I put the portholes back on all you could see was the chrome. I also purchased a re-chromed Mustache grille for my Buick and so far so good no peeling no cracks and it still looks good.
if you need good chrome and Stainless polished your best bet is Superior Chrome Plating in San Jose, CA. www.superiorchromeplating.com This is a family run business, with excellent quality workmanship. They pride themselves on being friendly, helpful, and insightful to help each customer understand what he/she expects from them. The owner has been in the chrome plating business for over forty years. They did the bumpers, grille side window frames and all the stainless on my 1954 Buick and it looks awesome
Knox custom Chrome in Knoxville Tennesee. on Time, cheaper than quoted, and PERFECT finish. They even filled the divots on the BACK of a pair of Chevelle bumpers we sent them, and polished some wheel lip trim we sent in for FREE.
Bumper Boyz Sux!!! They sell poor quality rechromed junk. And their customer support is awful. My first dealing with Bumper Boyz was pretty bad. The second time I delt with them, to resolve the issues from the first time, was even worse. Rather than post it all over again, here is a link to my post on another forum. http://www.elcaminocentral.com/showthread.php?p=182594
Im in Reno now but when I was in SF bay area close to the san jose airport is a place called Faith Plating, Ive had several bumpers done there and haven't ever had a problem, and now in Reno NV I still send my stuff there, it ain't broke why fix it ??
I picked up a rear bumper on ebay that i thought would fit a 64 Fairlane back in 2012 View attachment 2797650 View attachment 2797650 , anyone know how to ID a bumper, is their a master book somewhere, it has to be Comet Falcon or something in that era , it looked so close I never questioned it, but it doesn't fit, it is for sale, as you can see its really nice ! the most obvious is the the bolt pattern is revered for the Fairlane, push to shove Ill have to settle for a fiberglass bumper !
Guess I got lucky, traded the boyz cores for my bumpers at a show. Chrome isnt perfect but for the price its as good as you'd expect. Not that I'd chase them down to do biz again, but I feel I got a fair deal.
Purchased some bumper bolts from them to attach my newly chromed front bumper for my Merc wagon from Librandi"s Plating. We will see how this goes as I should have the bumper back this week. Oldmics
I have a good set for my wife's 67 camaro But a friend had a rare bumper done for his rare mopar and had the chrome peel off when he put it on the car and they didn't stand behind the f--- up
The reality is that good chrome costs... A bunch. I'd use these guys if they were at a show and you could physically pick up and inspect the bumper, and take that exact one home. Most of us are not building show cars. Even then you'd have "driver quality "chrome. Not show chrome. You cant match their price.... But there's a reason for that.
Chaz is right on. They offer something that nobody else can offer....inventory! I just called them. My friend needs a rear bumper, guards and wrap-arounds for his 55 Merc. Montclair. They have inventory. His cores are shot. No problem. Delivered to the Swap Meet for under $1200. All he needs is driver quality. nobody else offers such a comprehensive inventory, reasonable prices and free delivery to a swap meet on their schedule. they may not produce show quality chrome, and you should not expect that
I wouldn't do a shipping deal with them either! If I didn't have the bumper in my hand I wouldn't fork over the dough.... I got an acceptable front bumper, rear bumper, AND 3 piece grille for 800 bucks - an OK deal in my book.
Not me but 2 good friends. A '50 Bel Air, full new grill and front bumper. It was average quality in his eyes but looked very nice to me. A '71 Chevelle front bumper for another buddy. It was very nice.
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