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#1 |
Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Posts: 346
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Polishing bare steel
Hey guys, quick question.
Have any of you polished your front steel bumper without actually re-chroming it? My front bumper is currently painted, and I don't like the way it looks. I want to get some steel wool and strip the paint off, then try my hand and polishing the ever-loving piss out of it, and hope to end up with a semi-shiny front bumper. Has anyone done this, or is re-chroming the way to go? Before and after pictures would be great if you have them!
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2013 Malibu LTZ 1996 C1500 4.3/5spd 2wd |
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#2 |
Senior Member
![]() Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Arizona from Overland Park Kansas
Posts: 3,968
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Re: Polishing bare steel
I think that you could polish it if you use a good clear coat on it. Google turned up some cars that are polished. This link has a few. http://retrorides.proboards.com/thread/174639
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#3 |
Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: California Delta
Posts: 2,163
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Re: Polishing bare steel
Re-chroming can be very expensive. Another option would be powder coating. They have a chrome color. I'm not sure what it would look like next to actual chrome but it's an option.
http://www.eastwood.com/paints/hotco...-Powdercoating
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Name: Rich Current Ride: 1964 C-10 Short Fleetside Daily Driver: 2005 GMC crew cab short fleetside /2001 Chevy Tahoe Past GM Trucks: 1959 GMC short stepside 1968 GMC short stepside-4x4 1973 Chevy short stepside 1989 Chevy short fleetside-reg cab 1993 Chevy short fleetside-Xcab 2002 Chevy short fleetside-Xcab Save the dinosaurs, use synthetic oil. |
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#4 |
Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Sebastopol, Ca.
Posts: 46
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Re: Polishing bare steel
I done it. The whole top of my 50 ford coupe! Apply WD40 or Kroil (smells better)every week.
Just keep using finer and finer grit wet and dry. Sand with contour of part, drink beer--repeat. Look in a Hot Rod magazine for Jimmy Shine's bare metal rat rod truck. (Sure he was workin' for Pete and Jake but the guy definitely has good ideas) W. |
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#5 |
Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: st cloud mn
Posts: 163
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Re: Polishing bare steel
Depending what kind of shine/look/color you are looking for you could get the bumper nickel plated too
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#6 |
Registered User
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Anderson SC
Posts: 3,887
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Re: Polishing bare steel
The cost of chroming isn't the actual "chroming" part. It's the prep work that goes into it before it's chromed. I doubt you're willing to spend the time and effort that it'll take to make them shine like chrome, then you'll have to constantly be fighting rust from starting. It's possible to make them look good, but keeping them looking good will be more of a chore.
I polished a steel stroker crank for my VW's stroker motor. It's a ton of work and it'll rust immediately if not constantly coated with oil. On a bumper, it's going to get hit with bugs- every single spot hit will start rusting as soon as its hit. I promise, after you've polished just a single square-foot section the price of a reproduction bumper will look very cheap!! ![]() ![]() ![]()
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Project Goldilocks '66 C10 Short Fleet BBW Build '65 C10 Highly Detailed Stock Restoration Thread '78 Camaro Targa Roof Build '55 International Metal/Body/Paint Work '66 F100 Full Rotisserie Restoration '40 Packard 120 Convertible Coupe Restoration How To Restore and Detail an Original Gauge Cluster How To Detail Sand Body Panels, Edges, Corners, Etc |
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#7 |
Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Posts: 346
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Re: Polishing bare steel
Thanks for the replies guys.
Astronaut, i agree with you. I was going to polish it up and then clearcoat it to prevent rusting. I just want it to match the rear. Im having to go the poor mans way sinve all my cash is tied up in unexpected things and i need to keep myself busy. Posted via Mobile Device |
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#8 |
Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: E Providence RI
Posts: 238
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Re: Polishing bare steel
Something else to ponder is a chrome vinyl wrap. A 4'x5' piece would be enough to do a bumper(you'd have to do it in 2 parts and have a seam down the middle). That would run you $36. There are a lot of other sites selling it as well and a lot of tutorials online.
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1964 C/10 Longbed Fleetside, base model. (build thread) (pictures) SOLD 1964 C/10 Shortbed Fleetside, Deluxe. (pictures) SOLD |
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#9 |
Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: WNC
Posts: 226
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Re: Polishing bare steel
One more option after polishing would be to use a new product from WD40 called specialist long term corrosion control.
Here: http://www.dayattherange.com/?page_id=3667 is a very comprehensive test on a gun website that convinced me. You may not want to read ALL of it. Clear coat, even the best, would be temporary and then you're faced with the task of stripping the coating to redo it.
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`63 C-10 Shortwide Roller 305 LT1 cam, Eddy 500 T5 |
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