welding a corroded bumper

[tel76]

On my project i have a bumper bar that needs re-chroming.
Unfortunatly there is damage on one end and corrosion on the other.
Is it possible to fill in the area with welding,grind back and present them for re-chroming in an acceptable condition?
Any help would be appreciated.

 

[will123thomas]

would you not be able to fabricate a new bar? that would be the best thing if you could, if theres any rust left then itll just eat away at the rest of the metal underneath the chrome until your back at square 1

 

[piman]

Hello Tel76,

speak to the platers first, they'll tell you what they need.
They will have to strip it back to bare metal and mirror polish it for rechroming.

I don't see any problem as long as you understand what has to be done. There will be no rusting again if a decent plating job is done.

Alec

 

[tel76]

Thank you both for your input,i should have given more details.
The bumper bar is off a 40 year old Mecedes pagoda,it is in two halves, on one half there is a crease that someone has attempted to hammer out,on the other half the chrome has lifted and rust has caused a 3inch x 1/2 inch indentation.
Hope this explains what i am proposeing to repair,trying to save some money.
As i live in the IOM i will have to send the items to England for plating.
Regards Eric.

 

[piman]

Hello Tel,

hammer out as much as you can, filling the depression with braze is another option?

Alec

 

[Uncle Joe]

Any chance of a photo of the said bumper before I commit to an answer?

 

[tel76]

Sorry Joe i do not have a digital camera,
i used to work in wigan, where is middle earth?
Hello Piman,Ithought that brazeing would add too much heat and end up with severe distortion.
Eric

 

[Uncle Joe]

A lot depends on the standard you are looking for when the car is finished. Personally, I would spend the time looking for a better bumper, they are available for your car. If you really want to spend the time though, this is the way that I would do it.

First, you really need to get all the old chrome and rust off, to assess the damage. A good chromers will dechrome it. I use a place a few miles from Liverpool, which should be accessible to you, even if it is on the mainland. get the rust sand blasted, to see how bad the pitting is. you then have two options. First is to cut out the bad metal, and mig weld in a new piece. Second, is to fill the pits wit braze, as suggested, and grind down. Beware though, its a time consuming job to get it right, and it has to be perfect because its being chromed...

Good luck

PS, if you want to know where Middle Earth is, I'll put it in a pm, but not on the public part of the forum.

 

[tel76]

Hello Uncle Joe,
I have been recomended to use Willow Chrome in St Helens but i have no experience of there work.
Have you any knowledge of them?
Who are the platers you use in Liverpool?
I do require a good quality standard.
Eric

 

[Uncle Joe]

It is Willowchrome, I've used them for almost 40 years, without a single problem....they are reasonably easy for you to get to as well.