With the astronomical price of chrome these days...I'm interested in some low-buck alternative methods of finishing bumpers, other than a rattle can of "chrome" paint. I'm thinking along the lines of faux-finishes like stainless or hammered metal, polishing and clearing, gloss-basecoats, powdercoat, maybe different plating options like nickel. So, lets see some pics...I know some of you guys have come up with good old-fashioned solutions to this problem. Post pics if you can.
There is chrome paint, that when applied properly, looks exactly like plating...problem is, it's more expensive than plating.... Another option is the "chrome-like" powdercoating....thermachrome, Jet-Hot, etc....
brushed nickle lookd good, but you're doing more work than chrome. basically chrome or powder coat is the cheap way out. good paint work usually cost more if you strip them and brush them , then you got away cheap and they look good. hey, how bout stained two by fours, lol skull
I'm leaning toward stripping them and trying to brush them, just to get everything uniform, and then clear 'em. This is for my '54 Caddy Fleetwood...a very mild custom / daily driver. It's in gray primer at the moment...but will be gloss or satin black on the body with the old '60's Caddy Bronze Firemist on the roof and wheels. Stained 2 buh 4's...Oak, Maple or maybe Cedar to keep the bugs away...
I don't know of any substitute for the real thing...I've got my bumpers at the platers now, and it's gonna put me in the poorhouse. Depending on how low buck the car is, I'd consider paint. Some pickups came with silver painted bumpers. Factory lightweight drag cars had silver painted fiberglass bumpers. I guess it all depends on what you're working with...on a 54 Caddy, only chrome will do IMHO.
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