Bumpers 68 Charger - AMD or Keystone?

[charlie45]

I need to order new bumpers for my never-ending 68 Charger project. Dante offers the AMD or Keystone bumpers. Do you guys have any recommendation which brand to go with?

Thx,

Charlie

[Lennard]

Maybe not the answer you're looking for but from what I've read on this forum in the past years is that rechromed originals are the way to go.

[Mike DC]

      
The repro chrome bumpers for 68/69 Chargers predate the existence of AMD.  By all accounts they suck.  Thin/weak metal, wavy chrome, bad fit, etc.  Replating an original will cost more . . .  and that is probably the only thing keeping the repros selling.


AMD seems to sell the same ones.  I would like to think if AMD had tooled-up their own they would have been better.  Most of AMD's stuff is at least made of good metal if not always perfectly straight & fitting.  But we may never know.  
         


Keystone?  I have no idea.  But it would be rare for two companies to tool-up exactly the same part in this hobby.  It's usually the same item being resold by multiple distributors. 

[tan top]

 get your originals or find some OEM & get  re chromed

[charlie45]

thanks guys...

re-chroming costs a lot, particularly in Germany where I have the car/project... Hence the idea of buying new ones...

Now you guys have me thinking though if I should try to salvage the current ones... Btw, Dante recommends Keystone over AMD, so whatever that's worth... Still on the fence which route to go

[BLK 68 R/T]

I just received my new AMD bumpers for my 68 charger a few days ago. I will try and take some pics this weekend and post them here so you can see them. I wont be able to tell you how they fit or anything like that yet but I can at least do my own assessment on them and get a few pics if that helps.

Wes

[charlie45]

I just received my new AMD bumpers for my 68 charger a few days ago. I will try and take some pics this weekend and post them here so you can see them. I wont be able to tell you how they fit or anything like that yet but I can at least do my own assessment on them and get a few pics if that helps.

Wes

That would be very helpful and much appreciated!

[BLK 68 R/T]

Ok.....so here we go with the AMD  bumper review. I only got to the rear bumper this weekend. Overall I would rate the bumper good for a nice restored car that you would drive and take to local car shows. It would not be good for a high end show car or one that would be judged in a competition. As for the thickness, I compared it with a dial caliper to my original bumper and it measured within .003/.007 of the AMD ones. AMD measured .120, there are some imperfections on the bumper. Left side below the mounting hole there is a line in the chrome that will be visible and there is no getting it out. Around the 2 inner mounting holes there is no chrome, looks like that is where they had the bracket mounted for the chrome dipping process? anyways, I don't think a chrome bumper mounting bolt has a big enough head to cover all of the area. The rest of the chrome looks pretty nice, flat with not a lot of waves. Overall I would rate the rear bumper a 7 out of 10. For some reason my computer is being stupid tonight and wont let me copy pictures, so I will try to get the pics posted tomorrow. Also will do the front bumper as well when I get a chance.

[1974dodgecharger]

I can twist an AMD bumper YES they are nice and im greatful they repop em...heck mine is a repop and love it.....the originals are BEST very heavy duty.

[BLK 68 R/T]

Here are some pictures of the imperfections on the bumper.

This is one of the two mounting holes where there is no chrome around the hole for the bumper mounting bracket.



Here is the line under the left side mounting hole. It is roughly 3-4 inches long.



Here is the other inner bumper mounting bracket hole.



This is a photo showing the right side of the bumper overall. It looks like nice chrome, flat with minimal imperfections. The top side of the bumper also looks very nice with no imperfections.

[PlainfieldCharger]

I had a re-poped front bumper on mine when I got it. Its was shiny and wavy...and fit was not good. I think is was a bad one. Put an original one on that had a cheap re-chrome on it even with it's imperfections it was still better. I have seen the latest run of bumpers at carlisle last year and I think they are better than the one I had still not sure I would switch out my imperfect oem for new repop...

[Mike DC]

BTW, the "thin" reproduction metal problem is often due to the steel's alloy content rather than the actual thickness.  The new stuff just feels lighter weight & more flexible.   

[charlie45]

BTW, the "thin" reproduction metal problem is often due to the steel's alloy content rather than the actual thickness.  The new stuff just feels lighter weight & more flexible.   

Mike, are you saying in other words, that new ones aren't than of lesser quality?

[Mike DC]

     
I'm saying the new stuff can sometimes measure the full thickness of the old and yet still not be the same quality.  The new stuff may be lighter & flimsier. 

The old 3/4-length floorpans they used to sell (before AMD existed) were some of the worst I can remember.  They might have been made by Goodmark but don't quote me on that.  Anyway, it was the most complete panel on the market so lots of them are out there.  The thickness was pretty good when you measured it but the metal was still absolutely junk.  My cutoff wheel would go through it like it was aluminum. 

[HeavyFuel]

Mine are originals, replated by Keystone in MN, and they are awesome.  

But not cheap.  Somewhere around $900 for both bumpers and four bumperettes.....and that was many years ago.

-edit-   Just looked at the receipt;  $960 in 2004.

[Al]

I replaced my original ones with AMD front and rear and I'm very happy. They are high quality products and I had no fitment problems whatsoever.

Al