Straightening rear bumper guard

[Coochas]

Hi,

I've noticed that my passenger side rear bumper guard is at an angle probably from being hit decades ago!
Before I go loosening anything, I wanted to ask the forum if this is easily correctable by loosening the guard and realigning it.
Alternatively, if I remove the guards for a cleaner look, will the chrome underneath look markedly different from lack of exposure over the years?

TIA

[Jonny B]

It is a time consuming exercise to align the bumpers (or anything else on the car for that matter). If something was hit, most likely some other of the underlying bits were whacked out of alignment also.

If you take off the guard, the most noticeable item will be the hole in the bumper. Some folks have filled this with a chromed bolt, the overall chrome should clean up, if nothing has been cracked or chipped away.

[Cees Klumper]

I removed the bumpers on my car after its 30th birthday and although there was some difference in chrome appearance, it's not pronounced, anyway I concluded it was quite presentable. I filles the holes with chromed plastic "antenna caps" as they're called in Holland, as Jonny writes.

[Coochas]

Thanks guys.  Food for thought!

[Mike K]

I removed my bumper guards about a year ago and filled in the holes with these chrome Jaguar bumper bolts:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Jaguar-XK150-bumper-8-bolts-UK-made-chromed-3-8-UNF-7-8-head-1-5-16-long-/391187914827?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item5b149de04b

There was a slight difference in the chrome, I polished it up with chrome polish and it's barely noticeable. You may be able to see the faint lines either side of the bolt in the picture below.
I far prefer the cleaner look of the car without the bumper guards.

Best,

Mike

[Raymond]

If the guard was bent, it probably distorted the bumper around the hole.  It may have permanently dinged the chrome.  If it was a while ago, there may be rust at that point.  I know this from unpleasant experience.  Mine was a front guard and it was still less painful than the damage that would have been done to the paint and grille chrome if the guard had not been there.