Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

Last month I pulled my rear bumper and gave it a bit of an overhaul. Now I'm working on the front bumper and grille. Things are not perfect and I'm not expecting to get an invite to Pebble Beach, but it is perfectly acceptable for a driver.

I'm okay with a few imperfections/character and like to make things look as good as they can, but not okay with rust and corrosion. It's a good opportunity to clean my radiator as well!

One day all this will come back off again for some body repairs all around the bottom of the car. (Rear fenders, inner and outer rockers and front fenders.)








I cut the nuts off the capped bumper bolts so I could rescue and reuse them.






This is as deep as I'm going for on this project.



Have a bit of cleaning and polishing to do!



This is just after cleaning, it'll look even better after polishing. Pretty good for 71 years old!

looks good in pictures. Chrome is a bad thing to start if you get one nice piece the rest looks bad and you go down the mission crepe road. On another note I paint the back side of my bumper usually silver not sure if does any good on preserving but makes me feel better and no body can see it hope it helps seal pot metal parts

I use silver too and, in fact, the paint I use says it has actual stainless steel in it.

In hindsight painting the inside silver would have been better. Used black Por-15 when I did the rear bumper, so did the same for the front. "Next time" I'll use silver.

in retrospect, inner bumpers should come with a guard or so, especially on the rear. it traps too much...

Some more progress.

Looking great. This is next on my list for the Panama. Probably won't get to it for a couple weeks though.

When I did the rear bumper I painted the inside black. I did it because I didn't want or need to see anything behind the bumper. I preferred that the rear side was hidden completely from view. I'll do the same for the front bumper.

-Kevin

Quote:

Thank you, it's a fun project! Cleaning off the remnants of lacquer and polishing everything up makes the original chrome look good. Another nice improvement is painting the silver filler panels.

I put some of it back together last night after work and should be able to finish it up today. But now I won't be able to go for a drive because it might get dirty!

You need to work slower so I don't get ashamed at my own rate of progress.

Quote:

I'm feeling the same. Stop making us look bad!