Anyone ever reworked a bent chromed bumper to any success? I'm having a hell of a time finding a replacement so I've started toying with the idea of trying to rework it. Looks like it kissed a parking pole pretty hard, damn near dead center. Pushed it up a little a back a couple of inches. Just enough to kick it out on the ends abit. I've been milling over the idea of heating it up real good and trying to bent it back out. Yeah, I know I'll screw up the chrome. Anyone tried ot save one before?
My body guy has done wonders for the one on my Toyota Pickup and my old 4Runner. As far as I know he has never let anyone see him do it, but when he is finished it is often next to impossible to tell. I've assumed he heats it and hits it with a somewhat soft mallet on wood. To fix the stainless on my Corvair I used a piece of wood that I molded for different areas and kept a piece of leather under where I was hammering.
I tried to pound out a bumper that had kissed a pole. It dont pop out like sheetmetal. It hit on the right side next to the guard. As small as the dent was I had to beat on it pretty good.
Looks pretty good 54. Mine's much worse though. That sounds about right Richard, one of those well guarded secerets...
Unless you don't want to rechrome it most shops that do chrome work on bumpers can straighten one pretty easily. Or access to a press helps at times to push them back into shape.
Yeah, I thought of that. Problem is that the only thing that the damn thing will fit in is the car it came off of, which is torn down. Really trying to in-house this one.
The Jalopy Journal
