TheSamba.com :: View topic - Chrome -vs- painted bumpers

Sun May 18, 2008 3:02 pm

Good evening,

I am getting ready to buy new bumpers. I am debating if I want to buy them and paint them or buy them already chromed. My '73 bus will be medium red with a white top and 5 spoke Empis. The bumpers that I have seen do not have a very shiny finish. However, they are still acceptable to me.

Can you post pictures of your Bay with chrome bumpers? I have seen plenty that are painted.

There are not any good pics in the forums.

Thanks

Sun May 18, 2008 3:06 pm

Does it not make sense to actually let us know what year Bus you're thinking about? 68-72 bumpers are entirely different from 73-79. Either way--paint them. The chrome on the bumpers is hellaciously poor quality and will rust in short order despite your best efforts. Or, take your stock bumpers and have them chromed yourself.

Sun May 18, 2008 3:11 pm

It is a '73 Bay...

Sun May 18, 2008 3:52 pm

What he said above and paint both sides.

The like to rust from the inside also.

Mon May 19, 2008 4:29 am

I love chrome but it needs maintenance. Chrome nowadays is not the same quality it was out of the VW factory in the 1970's. I recently found a set of OG chrome bumpers for my '78 that I'll add after the resto. Show a lot of attention to your bumpers if you buy new chrome ones. Or buy some polished stainless steel.

Pierre

Mon May 19, 2008 4:38 am

Anybody tried powder coating them?

Mon May 19, 2008 7:59 am

nvwainfo wrote: Anybody tried powder coating them?

yup. they look great!

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Mon May 19, 2008 8:03 am

Nice Nice. I just primered mine. pretty simple. Until some $ comes in.

Mon May 19, 2008 10:34 am

pb24ss wrote: nvwainfo wrote: Anybody tried powder coating them?

yup. they look great!

[/img]

How is the front holding up? it would be nice to not have to repaint yearly here.

Mon May 19, 2008 10:38 am

VDubTech wrote: Does it not make sense to actually let us know what year Bus you're thinking about? 68-72 bumpers are entirely different from 73-79.

He did state the year in his original post.

magnus0328 wrote: ... My '73 bus will be medium red with a white top and 5 spoke Empis.

Mon May 19, 2008 11:23 am

cr@M wrote: VDubTech wrote: Does it not make sense to actually let us know what year Bus you're thinking about? 68-72 bumpers are entirely different from 73-79.

He did state the year in his original post.

magnus0328 wrote: ... My '73 bus will be medium red with a white top and 5 spoke Empis.

I can read just fine thanks. Notice the little text across the bottom of the post? The post was edited and the year was added.

The Post Clearly Reads wrote: Last edited by magnus0328 on Yesterday 5:10 pm; edited 1 time in total

Mon May 19, 2008 11:32 am

I'm considering powdercoating mine, but worried about rockchips and being back in the same boat. Does it hold up better than paint?

Mon May 19, 2008 11:42 am

As for chrome plating, there are the environmental concerns that you may wish to consider: metal plating is a dirty business, generating significant hazardous wastes. While paint is also a haz generator, it's not as bad as chrome plating.

And now on to what I don't know: What is "powder coating"? How does that differ from painting? Is it some sort of solid powder that gets baked on? How does one touch it up (as will inevitably become necessary on a bumper)?

Mon May 19, 2008 12:12 pm

VDubTech wrote:

I can read just fine thanks. Notice the little text across the bottom of the post? The post was edited and the year was added.

Touche'

jtauxe wrote:

And now on to what I don't know: What is "powder coating"? How does that differ from painting? Is it some sort of solid powder that gets baked on? How does one touch it up (as will inevitably become necessary on a bumper)?

I guess you could describe powder coating that way. It's like paint but much much more durable, won't just flake off and very resistant to chipping and scratches. Lasts much longer and looks better. Also more expensive, but worth it in the long run.

Mon May 19, 2008 12:41 pm

You can't touch up powdercoating and it can sometimes flake off (Had a powdercoated basketball goal growing up...looked like crap inside of a year) That will depend on your powdercoater and the thickness of the coating. Paint , I feel adheres better and you can put a coat of rust preventive primer underneath to get a resilient coating that you can touch up. If you have the ability to spray it yourself it will also be cheaper all around. I'm guessing it's $100 or so to have it powdercoated and then you have to find a place to do it nearby.

Mon May 19, 2008 3:40 pm

The stainless option may be the best except for the cost. It's nice, durable and cleaner than chrome for the environmental concern.
The link is for illustration purpose only :

http://www.serial-kombi.com/volkswagen-combi-bay-w...34842.html

Mon Jun 23, 2008 4:17 pm

I too would like to chrome my bumpers, you can't find repops for the 68-72's so I have to have them chromed!

Mon Jun 23, 2008 7:05 pm

VDubTech, the year shouldnt matter. I was asking about the chrome vs painting. That should apply to any year bus bumper...

Tue Jun 24, 2008 5:18 am

Decisions, decisions. I wanted to put polished stainless bumpers on my 72 from Group Harrington but decided that $1300.00 was out of my budget. Rechroming mine would have cost me about $700.00 and still too high. Plus, the chromers wouldn't remove/straighten dings etc. So, I decided to have both bumpers, brackets, and bolts powder coated for $330.00. I didn't realize that I had bondo on my bumpers until after the paint was media blasted off. To fix the places where the bondo was I used JB Weld. After it dried, took about a day, I sanded every thing smooth and sprayed the JB with the cheapest silver paint I could find. For some reason the powder will stick to the silver paint. This was a tip from the powder coater. I asked that both sides of both bumpers be powder coated and to not be too stingy with the powder. Every thing came out just fine! And, you can repowder coat a coated piece. You do not have to remove the coating, just scuff it up with a 3M pad. One thing about chrome, it can be contagious! I just had my wiper arms chromed along with a few other parts on the front of the Bus. Check in my gallery. No picture there of the shiny arms but you get the idea. I think with a red/white Bus I would powder coat the bumpers white to match the top.

Tue Jun 24, 2008 11:00 am

Has anyone with aftermarket chrome bumpers had any problems with them if they were properly maintained... ie. garage kept, polished etc?