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Custom Impala bumper

6K views 32 replies 8 participants last post by  itsjusti 
#1 ·
I've run into a dead end in trying to modify the bumper on my Biscayne (Impala). I would like for it to look like the attached pictures. Any suggestions?
 

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#6 ·
Ah, I see. It looks good, I like it and I can see why you'd want to do it. Maybe Randy (NewInteriors) would have some tips on it. The thing that looks the hardest is closing in the license plate. Could it have a different year b-body bumper center grafted in where the 3 piece seams would be welded? I know the impalas had quite a few changes in the 60's, but they all run those three piece bumpers in the back. The middle looks like my buddies 66 coupe.
 
#12 · (Edited)
The first thing I would do is be hunting for a bumper that you could swipe the center out of for yours. The hard part is finding the shape that would match, but there are a LOT of bumpers out there.

Do you want to chrome it or do you plan on painting it? That would make it a LOT easier of course but if you were to find a bumper with the center lower section that would work you could butt weld it in there and it would be chrome-able.

Brian
 
#14 ·
The thing is right where the filler is there is very little shape. You could get another bumper and put something between the two "guard" like areas on each side that doesn't even match at all, but creates the look you want.

I had an interesting thing said to me by a woman at a tile store a few months ago when I was looking at making a new cabinet for my kitchen. It's a 65 year old kitchen with original black and yellow tile. I was out looking to find a tile or a similar tile for this cabinet and this lady said to me "If you can't find the exact tile go completely different, that way it doesn't look like you were trying to match the tile at all". How brilliant was that, I am trying to match the tile and to "get close" was my thought, she sent me in another direction and I put a butcher block top on this cabinet and it looks perfect in the kitchen instead of looking "close" to the rest.

So maybe there is a bumper you could get that center section from that will weld in at each side even though it won't look like the surrounding area it will look good. I mean lets face it, that part that Chevy put there sure as heck doesn't match at all. So maybe something like that may work. Just tossing out ideas.

Brian
 
#16 ·
Well a lot of good stuff was posted already.... Finding a bumper with the right shapes will be fun..:D

Once you get the chrome off you can cut and weld what you want to add or take out... The good thing is... It's heavy steel,, Easier to weld and work with... I would just build what ever shapes you want to add in... finding a bumper with the right shapes will make it easier,,,

The bumper is really no different then doing custom metal work on the body,, Just different thickness.. I would take in all the stuff that was posted in make what you want... It's really pretty easy once the chrome is off...Take your time and plan it out..

Just remember that if your going to rechrome it,, You will need to get everything as close as you can,, (look's that is).. If not the chrome shop will hit you hard....

Take your time,, And While your building it,, Keep thinking of it as art work and it will come out nice..;)

If you need anything else, I will do what I can to help you out,, If it was here we would already be done..;)
 
#17 ·
The fun thing about bumpers is.. When doing custom work they can be changed, Filpped, switch front and back,, (on some).. There's no limit's to what can be done.... One thing I like to do is to make them fit tighter to the car,, That's something that most people don't do and some won't even know it was done... But look's so much better,, Some can be trimed down on the side's, The list can go on and on... Just let your mind run wild..:D:thumbup:
 
#18 ·
Thanks Randy, tools make the customizing job easier but, back in the day when this all began some pretty wild customs came out...and many times a wide variety of tools weren't always available to the guy doing the metal work. A lot of the improvisation started by these guys is what got the whole hobby going. Bending sheet metal by hand around a pipe to get the curvature you wanted for that change in the sheet metal on the ride they where building. If you look around, there are all kinds of pipes, straight edges, whatever that you can use to get that custom shape your looking for.

There are tools that I wouldn't want to be without, my blocks and long boards are all made out of aluminum, had them for many years and would be lost without them, my body hammers, dolly's and the list would go on, but when it's custom metal work your doing, it's one off work and whatever you have at your disposal to get the job done is what you often need to get to your end goal.

To the OP, X2 on what Randy said if your your planning on getting your custom made bumper chromed, the better you finish your metal, the less your going to pay your chrome guy for your brushed chrome or whatever plated finish your looking for. If you have welds with a minor pin hole, fill it, if the bumper isn't straight, straighten it, the bumper should look as though there hasn't been any welding done. I'm sure you've heard of show quality chrome and that can get expensive. Often show quality chrome on a bumper means that the entire bumper doesn't have any scratch marks left in it from grinding, front side and even the back side. Re-chromed bumpers for collision replacement are usually finished on a 320 grit or 400 grit wheel before they go through the cleaning, copper and nickle processes to give you your finished product. This is fine for daily drivers and will usually look like an OEM finish. Show quality chrome is finished much finer, depending on the chrome company you use, the metal would be finished in 600 grit, or even finer, front and rear. When done, there will not any visible sand scratches in the finished surface. Very similar to finishing primer on a car before painting, if a car is prepped in 320 grit compared to 600 grit before painting, there is a lot less chance of any sand scratches showing up in the primer finished in 600 grit versus 320 grit. The one major difference in chrome plating is that copper is used as primer for the metal versus a 2K primer for painting.

I hope this helps.

Ray
 
#23 ·
Mr. Ray your right about the tool's helping you out,, I look back before I had my shop and very little tool's, And can't figure out how I did it.. I guess it was the drive... The right tool's are important... I now have almost every one I need,, With a little thinking and looking around the shop,, You will be surprized at how many things are tool's and you don't know it..You just have to let your mind run wild..;)
 
#19 ·
Thanks again to everyone.

The one challenge with this is that there is a bit of art...Something that I'm definitely not is an artist but, I may have to get my son involved :)

I've heard conflicting things about grinding welds on something that you are going to get chromed. When I finally found a plater who will do the brushed finish, he said not to grind the welds off as they didn't want to have too much material removed.
 
#22 ·
The bumper shop's will tell you that to get the extra $$ out of you... It's like anything.. You can grind to much or not enough,, You can tell... If your not sure leave some of the weld on the back side,, Just dress it up a little,,, The good thing about metal,, It's not like messing up with wood,,, You mess wood up it's done,,, You mess metal up you just weld it back..

As far as being a artist... Not everyone is born with it,,, But with a little work at it,, You can gain it.... I'm a strong believer that YOU can do anything you set your mind to do,, Are you going to mess up,,Most likely yes,,, But you can do it... ''Set No Limit's On Yourself'' DO IT !!!!

Most of the time you will get it done and look back and think,, That wasn't as bad as I thought,,, Then you are more willing to take the next step,,, That is called DRIVE !!!!

People don't look at grinding as a art,,, But it's no different then doing body work... Don't just start grinding the metal off,,, Watch very close when doing it,,, YOU control the grinder, Not the grinder controling you... It's art as well.. Have faith in your self and get it done... Didn't mean to sound like I was coming down on you,,, Just giving you a push to believe in yourself..;)
 
#21 ·
It sounds like you have it under control. Trust me, any plating shop is going to grind your bumper, especially the welds...that's how they start. If tour bumper has any minor imperfections they hammer the imperfection out from the back then grind it flush on top...then finish it in the grits I mentioned. They do have stationary grinders that help in getting the bumper straight.

Ray
 
#25 ·
Tools are one of my big limitations. Being in the Army, I have a weight allowance for how much they will move for me. The 80 gallon compressor that I just purchased is definitely going to add up :)

I've been lucky to find a shop locally that will allow me to use some of their tools so I can build my floors, while they blast and primer the body.

I've definitely learned a lot during my successive projects. My last project I had the fortune of having a full time body guy help me with it, now I'm pretty much on my own. Here is a link for my last project. New 1957 Project - The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network
 
#26 ·
After looking at that truck..:eek:
The bumper should be a walk in the park for you.... :thumbup:
WOW !!! What a super nice truck.. Great job,, And a good eye for the detail as well.... I think your pulling our leg here,,,:mwink:

If you can do that to the dash,, You can and will pull it off with the bumper,,, :thumbup::thumbup:
 
#27 ·
Front bumper

OK, looking for the easier thing to do, I went ahead and did some work on my front bumper.

I purchased a piece of 11 gauge sheet metal and had the welding shop put a bend in the center. I cut off the original center bumper mount brackets to make it easier to get the plate lined up and I will either weld these back on after I finish the plate or make some new ones out of angle iron.

My debate now is whether or not to cut the bottom of straight or, put a roll in it.
 

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#28 ·
If you plan on chroming that bumper (I think you mentioned that) finishing off welds down in the corner like that is going to be VERY difficult, like darn near impossible. Butt welding a bumper like that and grinding it flat and prepping for chrome, easy as pie. But something like that would be very difficult to finish off straight and uniform. Even the upper parts that bolt together will be difficult to finish off likely requiring a few passes to fill up the V. Simply butt welding would be much easier.

Brian
 
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#30 ·
Filling the seam with brass is an idea but getting it smooth is the problem. If your metal is perfectly straight and all you have is the brass you can remove the excess brass with a 3M Roloc "surface conditioning" disc. It's a neat tool and will remove the softer brass while leaving the harder metal untouched. :mwink:



But welding it is usually going to cause some distortion that needs grinding to true. So what you have now, I don't know.

Brian
 
#31 ·
Don't be shy about using "other" materials to make the shapes you want/need. I used 2", 3" and 5" diameter muffler tubing to make parts of the bumper I built for my truck. The rest is 10 and 16 gage steel.


I will be going thru this same process when I build the bumper for my van project.
Go ahead and weld on the front. Grind it down to get the welds smooth. Shy away from brazing if you are going to plate it. Brazing "works" different then steel and it will leave a shadow that you will see after plating. It is impossible to polish the two materials together and get them to be at the same "surface", if you know what I mean.
Mark
 
#32 ·
Don't be shy about using "other" materials to make the shapes you want/need. I used 2", 3" and 5" diameter muffler tubing to make parts of the bumper I built for my truck. The rest is 10 and 16 gage steel.


I will be going thru this same process when I build the bumper for my van project.
Go ahead and weld on the front. Grind it down to get the welds smooth. Shy away from brazing if you are going to plate it. Brazing "works" different then steel and it will leave a shadow that you will see after plating. It is impossible to polish the two materials together and get them to be at the same "surface", if you know what I mean.
Mark
Mark, you are absolutely right! I have never used brass for this and didn't have any advice but the simple fact that the brass is softer than the metal would make "surfacing" it equal very difficult!

Brian
 
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