Topic: Chromers

[67foxgt390]

  Hi Not sure where to post this questions but can any one recommend some place to get my air leaner lid re chromed? And about how much would it cost Part is in good shape but chrome definitely needs to be done. Its an air cleaner lid of off a 390 Gt. Getting rid of car and want it to look nice! Thanks, Chuck

[hopeto]

I'm in the Dallas Texas area and I use Craig Bierman, owner at Speed Sport Chrome in Houston, when I want no problem plating. Known him for 40 years. They advertise in the MCA Mustang Times. He will do it via shipping. He does top of the line show quality chrome (and other plating). Last Hi-Po air cleaner tops I had done were around $150 - not cheap but quality. I have a local shop that's cheaper when I am willing to settle for crap. Give him a call. 
http://www.speedsportchrome.com/
BTW, I've had one of the Scott Drake 390 repop assemblies and the chrome is excellent. I saw it on Virginia Mustang website for $189.95 for the lid only. May be another option.
Good luck.

[krelboyne]

Rule of thumb for quality chrome plating is to check with your local Harley-Davidson bikers. They pay for and expect quality. They can steer you towards the good ones or away from the bad shops.

You also want triple plating.

[jwc66k]

Rule of thumb for quality chrome plating is to check with your local Harley-Davidson bikers. They pay for and expect quality. They can steer you towards the good ones or away from the bad shops.

This is mostly true. Shops that produce poor quality don't "survive".

You also want triple plating.

Triple means that copper and nickel plating steps (with a lot buffing) proceed the chrome plating step. That triple process gives a "deeper" look. There may be more than one copper step to fill pits and gouges. A cheaper chrome process may have the copper or the nickel step eliminated, or both. It depends on the end use or costs. The shop that did some of mine gave me a ten cent tour of the process. There may be more than thirty "dips" in liquids (cleaning acids, plating acids and rinse water) for an item in the process. It costs that shop more than $5000 per month in chemicals and disposals. The EPA puts its nose in everything as well. That's why chrome plating is expensive.
Jim

[J_Speegle]

Biggest challenge I've found is getting a good job but not a "triple ...... show job"  The original stuff was thin commercial plating on many of the parts (especially non-exterior pieces and way too much comes back over done or poorly done

If your getting rid of the car the reproduction may be cheaper than rechroming and you'll have an original to sell on the side

[drummingrocks]

This may be better suited for another thread, but has anyone tried this chroming kit? 

http://www.alsacorp.com/products/chromefx/

It looks great in the videos, but at $289, it's not cheap.

[Smokey 15]

 I had Keystone, here in Grand Rapids, MI, do the bumpers and grille surround for my wife's '71 RS Z/28. Very happy with the bumpers, but not so much the surround.   I've had great results with Proctor Metal Finishing in Muskegon MI.. They do quality work. They also straighten and polish stainless moldings. They also do anodizing. I had some done for a '72 Mercury and the aforementioned Z/28 and was very happy with the results.

[J_Speegle]

This may be better suited for another thread, but has anyone tried this chroming kit? 

Many like it out there. For me any thing closer than 10 foot it doesn't look like real chrome

Might use it in a modified project if I did everything (so it would not stand out against the real think)  but not for anything I wanted to look like original parts

[1967 eight barrel]

Chrome on metal always has copper, nickel and then chrome. However, just like paint work, if the surface isn't polished to perfection, everything shows.  The EPA hammers these guys and polishing complex shapes is labor intensive.
Many chrome platers have moved the actual processes to Mexico to avoid the leftist EPA and the cost involved with the handling of chemicals. I have used a couple in the DFW area. Show Chrome in Dallas and Al's plating in Ft Worth.
Often I will give them a couple small projects and see how well they adhere to detail work.

[GD64]

Sorry about this question but i don't know any other way to ask.

Is there such a thing as a "over restored" chrome bumpers, door handles etc?

[Bob Gaines]

Sorry about this question but i don't know any other way to ask.

Is there such a thing as a "over restored" chrome bumpers, door handles etc?

Making the chrome nicer then typical factory quality certainly can be debatable but the main problem I see is when rechroming you have to be concerned about the chromer polishing out details . Rounded edges opposed to sharper factory edges on door handles , pop open gas caps ,interior trim etc. are just a few examples of bad side effects. Not so many issues like that on the bumpers but you have to be concerned about the back side of the bumper for rust ,plier marks and the like .The plater doesn't think about that because it is on the backside. The method that the plater uses to dip the bumper can end up being a problem too. A welded tab on the back or a weep mark in the chrome because of hanging by a bolt hole are some other bad side effects that can happen if not addressed before hand.   

[jwc66k]

Chrome on metal always has copper, nickel and then chrome.

Not always, Ford did use just nickel then chrome, a two part process, for many years.

- if the surface isn't polished to perfection, everything shows. 

This is the labor intensive part. To get a scratch out of a bumper my take several layers of copper.

Many chrome platers have moved the actual processes to Mexico to avoid the leftist EPA and the cost involved with the handling of chemicals.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, there are a couple of shops that do everything local, they spend between $6,000 and $10,000 a month on EPA compliance, but many others send their items to the Central Valley, Sacramento, Stockton, etc, where EPA and CalOSHA regulations are not as strict. Mexico is 500 miles South, but it may be used by some.

Is there such a thing as a "over restored" chrome bumpers, door handles etc?

Yes. Original chrome was just "shiny", rechromed parts today have a very deep reflection visible. It's overdone, but I like it.
Jim

[GD64]

Mr Gaines and jwc66k thanks for taking the time to answer my awkward question

[1967 eight barrel]

JWC,
I am a retired CHP. Most of the platers in So Ca were gone by the time I elected to leave post retirement, those who were not admitted much of the work had gone south. As for ford, that is possible. Being I have been to many production shops over the years and also did several processed while taking metallurgy in college, many materials won't take chrome without copper. As for San Francisco, I'll refrain from obvious commentary.

[jwc66k]

There are several chrome platers in the San Jose area, and some in the central valley that get sent items that are more labor intensive (Jeff would know about them). The "locals" mostly specialize in bumpers.
Jim