My Bumper modifications... shaved smooth, now what color should I paint it?

[wjaholic]

I pulled my gas tank out a while back and the project just kept getting bigger and bigger. I decided to pull my rear bumper and clean it out. I have had this car for a long time and have never driven it (bought it with a blown motor). The bumper has essentially two parts, the inner "structure" which looks like it was at one time 1/8" to 3/16" steel, and the outher chrome part, which is faily soft and light weight.

I sat the bumper on a couple of saw horses and started trying to get it seperated. I did everything I could and it wasn't working. I was running out of light and time so I broke out the angle grinder. After breaking one bolt I figured it was the best bet. I gound the heads of the bolts off. I wasn't too concerned about nicking the chrome on my bumper because it was in sad shape itself. I finally got them seperated and was amazed at the amount of crap that was packed in between them.

I spent the better part of the past two weekend cleaning on just the inner structure. I wire wheeled, sand blasted, and washed it. I then coated it with a good coat of POR-15. Followed by a top coat of Rustoleum Gloss black.

With that finished I tackled the chrome part of the bumper. The more I cleaned on it the more problems I found. I couldn't put it back together the way that it was. So I started the reconstruction, I sand blasted, sand blasted, ground and sanded on it to get a base line. I hade to cut some areas out and weld in some new steel. I didn't want to go with having the bumpers re-chromed because... well... they are not in that good of shape and I can spend that money on something a little more worth while (Transmission).

So, with that layed out. I decided that I wanted to fill in the bumper bolt holes. I tracked down some 3/8-16 Grade 5s, cleaned them and fed them in from the front. I welded them from the back and ground them off. I filled in a few spots with new steel and have filled and the spots I couldn't fix with a very thin layer of body filler. Bassically filled in the pitting left under the chrome and around my welds.

Lets see if the pictures work....









Sorry about the bluryness, I am working myself crazy...

My Question is, What color should I paint it?

This is the color the car is going to be.

[rjsjea]

I think body color would be best.....

[NYrr496]

I think body color would be best.....

 Yeah, I agree. If you're not gonna chrome them, Body color is the way to go.

[signet]

what you have done there is nice.

as for the finish not sure.

[fasttcars]

what colour you painting the car......

[wjaholic]

I am doing an orange pearl from an early 2000's Plymouth Prowler....

[jackie]

 []{}body color for sure! and that orange paint realy stands out in a crowd.

[flyboy01]

I think you should also fill in the jack slots too. I doubt you are ever goiung to use them again.

[JOEYMAN]

I just noticed the slots.....


one word.............RECHROME     

[moparsky]

How about a satin finish black powder coat ?

[NYrr496]

Are you gonna lose those bumperettes on the front?

[flyboy01]

I would do body color for one reason. THe front bumper looks massive on the 73+ models, if you paint it bodycolor, it will disappear a little more, and it will make it look smaller, if you paint it black, it will really stand out. On the other hand, with all that work you put into it, chroming it would look nice.

[jamesdart]

you need to introduce that inner bumper to MR. TORCH. now i see why the newer a bodies wiegh more. my bud has a 77 nova with all that stuff, i turned those inner bumpers into nice little bumper brackets for him.  the orange looks killer.

[Capt Jack]

with that color and the white accents/roof etc, I'd go back to chrome.  lose the little rubber bumper things.  I think the chrome will work with the white and taking the rubber extras off will improve the lines a lot


imo

[NYrr496]

If you want to make it appear smaller and way trick, chrome it and paint part of it body color. Pick a line on the bumper and use that as a parting line. That trick incorporates it into the body more.

[wjaholic]

Thanks for the comments and suggestions! I am going to ditch the little rubber bumper things on the front. I am really tempted to paint it the body color now.

I actually re-enforced the bumper slots. The guy that had it before me apperntly tried to jack the car up on a hill. It subsequently rolled backwards with the jack still in the slot. It didn't damage the bumper... that much. It pulled the top of the slot out just a little. The bumper jack that came with the car is shaped more like a banana than anything else.  Thankfully, I have a couple of spare bumper jacks laying around to takes it place. Now wether or not it ever get used I don't know. Floor jacks are so much easier.

[jackie]

bumper jack ? man i have not used one of them things in 20 years! but come to think about it , i have not carried a spare tire in the challenger for 20 years!

[jamesdart]

only thing i ever used them for was breaking the bead on tires.

[Bakaruda]

I would like to see a completed picture.

[wjaholic]

I would like to see a completed picture.

No problem, I should have that up here this time tomorrow night.

[wjaholic]

I did the best I could to straigten it out, I did the best I could to fill it in, and smooth it out. It didn't turn out great, it wont win any shows but... It will no longer rust, and it is stronger than it probably has ever been. So I called it good this morning. I decided to go with the "sand blasted aluminum" look. I was hoping that it would "hide" some of the flaws, dents, dings, and all the other things that were wrong with it. When the POR-15 dried, it turned out to be super glossy and all the imperfections

STOOD OUT

. That was when I decided to go for a low gloss top coat.  Hopefully it will last, hopefully it wont look to bad on the car.















This was my first big bumper project? I think it could have been executed better but with the limited time and finances, I don't think it turned out too bad.

What do you guys think?

[Adam]

Looks good to me.

Adam

[Bakaruda]

It does look good. I wonder why you did not fill the jack slots.

[DustBuster]

I like it! That's what color I sprayed mine. Kinda looks like fiberglass painted aluminum.