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Chrome Fiberglass bumpers. Any one done?


brianZortiz

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Hi, I have some fiberglass bumpers from MSA and I like the availability and weight savings. My 260z which is getting most attention out of my 2 s30z is 904 white. A color I Prefer to keep since its in good condition. Anyway, I dont like black white color combo, I'm more of a white and chrome (or similar shine) type of guy. I have seen  the spray on chrome method which is really impressive, but its kind of expensive. I was wondering if anyone has ever powder coated chrome on their z FG bumpers or fiberglass parts or even spray can powdercoat? Powdercoat chrome and black chrome are available for relatively inexpensive prices for the powder.

Thanks 

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I haven't seen chrome laid on fiberglass, but check out columbia chrome from columbia coatings. It's the best "chrome" powder on the market. You'll want to make sure the part is outgassed properly and I'd personally shoot a light layer of outgassing primer over it too. Be sure to use an acrylic clear over it.

 

Keep in mind, "chrome" powder coating is just a shiny silver and will never look like real chrome plating.

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If you are willing to make a minor compromise, I suggest checking out "paint mods" on YouTube. This is what I have planned to do. They use a special paint that requires no baking and gives pain a very metallic chrome finish. I believe the video is called "how to paint chrome".

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You know what I see? A bunch of people with fake bumpers and cheap mentality. You want the look of chrome... but not the price or effort involved. Not going to happen folks. You are stuck with the grade B or even grade C look by your own doing. What kind of person cheaps out on the final touches like that? The cars jewelry. I will tell ya. The same people spray painting stainless steel. People with no taste. Fiberglass bumpers, pfffft. Dont worry about justifying your purchase in a response, I wont be reading. If it makes you feel better, just imagine that you really educated me on the finer points of your Fisher Price bumpers. Photo048me.jpg

Edited by Heroez
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You know what I see? A bunch of people with fake bumpers and cheap mentality. You want the look of chrome... but not the price or effort involved. Not going to happen folks. You are stuck with the grade B or even grade C look by your own doing. What kind of person cheaps out on the final touches like that? The cars jewelry. I will tell ya. The same people spray painting stainless steel. People with no taste. Fiberglass bumpers, pfffft. Dont worry about justifying your purchase in a response, I wont be reading. If it makes you feel better, just imagine that you really educated me on the finer points of your Fisher Price bumpers.

Did we really need this? Just trying to help others out on this forum. Why did you feel obligated to post this? This isn't zilvia.

 

Anyway, I'd be interested to see someone do a chrome wrap. To see how it looks.

Edited by R3VO 3VOM
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There are plating shops that will chrome plastic and fiberglass parts (It's a little more involved, but doable), is there a reason you don't want to just use real chrome?

 

...I'd even trade my real bumpers for your FG ones if you were remotely close by.

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I have a rear chrome bumper. It's all dinged up. The FG bumpers are cheap and available, lighter. I really don't want to imitate chrome, but along those lines.

@Jimmy thanks. I'll look into that.

@Heroez, grow up. We all have different taste. Im not trying to cheap out. If it doesn't look good then I would try something else. Let me know when your z taste gets noticed, to me you just have a stock s30z with thin chrome 240z bumpers. Real taste you got there chief.

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There are plating shops that will chrome plastic and fiberglass parts (It's a little more involved, but doable), is there a reason you don't want to just use real chrome?

 

...I'd even trade my real bumpers for your FG ones if you were remotely close by.

Yup, I have Paul's Chrome in PA do a lot of chrome for my work and they also do chrome on plastic. I saw some examples (dash and grill parts) when I visited their shop and it looks just like chrome over steel. This particular shop is extremely picky about making the part straight first also. I would have no doubt that you could not tell fiberglass vs metal if they did it. I'm pretty sure it would be more money than just having some good OE ones rechromed though...

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For those of you that prefer to go for real chrome plating, I have a service that specializes in electroplating of plastic parts. I've been sending many Z car plastic pieces overseas for replating and have generally had good results with the finished product. This week, for the first time, I am sending a set of fiberglass bumpers to be chrome plated. This is a "test run" for the bumpers to see if I can achieve the same quality results and to ascertain what the costs are to plate an item this large. I will post before and after pics of the bumpers through the process, and will let everyone know whether I'll be offering to plate fiberglass bumpers in the future..

 

Mike   

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Lance (or Tim),

 

A much less restrictive regulatory environment, coupled with lower labor costs, enable me to offer a good quality product at prices that are typically 50-60% off of locally quoted prices. Additionally, there arent many facilities here in the US that will still do custom chrome plating on plastic.......most of the remaining players just do production plating. Finally, many of us Z guys want our cars to look awesome, but we frequently don't want to spend alot of money to make them look good. So, in a nutshell, that is why I began this service ........to make traditional chrome plating more affordable to more people.

 

Yes, I will keep the community updated with the progress with the fiberglass bumper trial run.

 

Mike

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