I'm looking to shave the 6 front bumper holes on my bumper, and was wondering if anybody had done a FAQ or could help any. I'm not a fab man, fat man yes, but don't know a lot about metal work.

I think the easiest way would be to bolt the bumper to the truck with regular carriage bolts and tack the head to the outside when its in position. Pull bumper off, weld bolt on the inside, grind off outside bolt head

I watched many put the bolt in and thread a bolt on the back side, weld it in, then grind and weld the front.

I think the easiest way would be to bolt the bumper to the truck with regular carriage bolts and tack the head to the outside when its in position. Pull bumper off, weld bolt on the inside, grind off outside bolt head

What he said.....that is what I did on mine. I still need to get it chromed, Personally I love the way it looks. It was not all that hard.

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j158/Youngrodder/1948%20Truck%20Project/TruckFront.jpg

Good luck.

I'm not a welder or anything, but I heard you should shape a large flat washer on the inside of the bumper. Mount the bumper up like Travis said to weld up the head, then weld the bolt shank to the inside of the bumper. But then put in the washer and weld it to the bumper and the bolt shank. Only then you should continue with grinding down the bolt head and so on. It's supposed to help transfer any impact forces or other such stressors through to the frame and not rip the bolt through the bumper.

I believe Stacey David did this on one episode of Trucks He did a nice job, including shaping the washer on the inside of the bumper.

I'm wondering about this too, any idea how far the chrome shop wants you to take the grinding/filling?

I was told by local chromer that if you weld on a piece being chromed that the chrome won't stick to the welded area. I have seen them do it on tv all the time. but he seemd to know what he was talking about.
Has anybody else heard of this problem?

The washer is a good idea as extra insurance for the diyer.

BarryB I think the guy you talked to might just be a replater where he reapplies chrome. When you take a part into a chrome shop they tank it and clean in acid down to bare steel which also removes any scale from the weld. After that it gets copper plated. They buff the copper and shape it to smooth out any imperfections, or in this case fill the small indentation made where the bolt head was. They'll keep adding copper and buffing it until smooth. Then its goes to I think a 3 stage nickel process - strike, ?, and bright (I think). Only after does chromium get plated to the part.

The plater you talked to was right in that chrome won't stick to steel, it needs to be plated on nickel (or some other compatible metal)

lowrollin70gmc I would assume that the closer you get to the final shape in mild steel the better as far as the shop is concerned - less copper and less labor working it

anybody wanting to do this i suggest checking with the chrome plater you plan to use prior to modifications its not unusual for a quality plater to charge anywhere from $500 up to as much as $1000 to do the job

anybody wanting to do this i suggest checking with the chrome plater you plan to use prior to modifications its not unusual for a quality plater to charge anywhere from $500 up to as much as $1000 to do the job
To Chrome a bumper?

To Chrome a bumper?

you've never lived till you've gone into a custom chrome shop for an estimate

or you can take it on over to china i understand they work cheep there

anybody wanting to do this i suggest checking with the chrome plater you plan to use prior to modifications its not unusual for a quality plater to charge anywhere from $500 up to as much as $1000 to do the job

That sounds kind of high. I've had bumpers chromed for under $500. Not "china" jobs either...nice quality stuff. And I would think it would be a little less expensive for a shaved bumper due to the additional surface resulting in less detail to buff. Bolt holes = more time buffing = more money.

An alternative would be to have the bumper powder coated chrome. I've seen some coatings that turned out looking pretty close to plating.