In the past, Bart and I have noticed that when posting comments regarding the costs of chroming that a good number of you have commented that chroming costs in your area, especially out West, are sky high due to severe environmental restrictions, especially in California.
We have several chroming companies here in San Antonio, and after shopping around, we found one company that does excellent work with what we considered to be respectable pricing. I shopped my 57 pieces of chrome work around to find out what it was going to cost. Most companies quoted us two to three times the cost that Southwest Chrome Plating did. They do a big volume of chroming, mostly for 18 wheelers, big trucks and also classic car guys like us. So we went with them and have been pleased with their work, over all.
To give you an idea of what it cost me to chrome 57 pieces for my engine and exterior/interior dress up kit, here is a breakdown. There were 36 bolts/screws, and small parts, like the windshield wiper bezels, and my interior sails, for $80; both headlight covers for $80; the four rear curved and top extensions over the tail lights for $160; the hood air scoop for $60; the two door steps and the chrome piece the rear view mirror and sun visors attach to, for $100; the two Thunderbird valve covers for $60, for a total of $540. I considered that to be a fair price, considering others were willing to do it for twice or three times as much!
A good part of the exterior dress up kit is pot metal. They told me up front of the problems that pot metal chroming could give them during the chroming process. It heats and bends to easily. That turned out to be a problem for me. I went through two hood air scoops before they could get one that did not bend to badly to get it on. Same thing with the overhead interior chrome strip for the mirror and sun visors. It bent up so badly on both ends that it could not be mounted. They tried to fix it but it was still to curved on the ends. I ended up buying a new strip. The left rear curved extension piece that goes on the fins also curved out a bit at the bottom, but I was able to get it in place. So be aware that pot metal chroming can give them and you fits.
What I did was to buy spare pieces and had them chromed and kept my originals, for the most part. If I ever want to put the original pieces back on I can. This, of course, increased my costs of restoring the car, but that is the way I wanted to go.
I am telling you this because I might be able to help you save a lot of money or some, on your future chroming costs. Southwest Chrome Plating does take out of state orders. You can take pictures of your pieces you want chromed, and email or fax them to them. They will review the pictures, and send you back a quote. You will have to ship them your parts, of course. They do their chroming in their Dallas plant. You take or ship them your parts, and on the weekend, they gather up all their pieces for chroming and drive them to Dallas. They bring back what is ready from previous orders. It takes about a two week turn around. Probably more if you are shipping in parts and they have to be shipped back to you. You can probably double that time frame.
If you are interested, call or fax them. Tell them that I told you about their company. You can call Robert or Florencio Pulido at 210-658-8087, 210-658-7438 or fax 210-658-6334. Or you can email them at pulido19@hotmail.com
I am sharing this information with you in hopes that it will save you some money during your Tbird restoration project. One Tbirder helping another Tbirder out. Or perhaps it will not. Maybe you have chroming facilities available to you that are better or cheaper than ours!
Here is what my 57 pieces looked like after chroming. And my original air cleaner that I got back today.
We have several chroming companies here in San Antonio, and after shopping around, we found one company that does excellent work with what we considered to be respectable pricing. I shopped my 57 pieces of chrome work around to find out what it was going to cost. Most companies quoted us two to three times the cost that Southwest Chrome Plating did. They do a big volume of chroming, mostly for 18 wheelers, big trucks and also classic car guys like us. So we went with them and have been pleased with their work, over all.
To give you an idea of what it cost me to chrome 57 pieces for my engine and exterior/interior dress up kit, here is a breakdown. There were 36 bolts/screws, and small parts, like the windshield wiper bezels, and my interior sails, for $80; both headlight covers for $80; the four rear curved and top extensions over the tail lights for $160; the hood air scoop for $60; the two door steps and the chrome piece the rear view mirror and sun visors attach to, for $100; the two Thunderbird valve covers for $60, for a total of $540. I considered that to be a fair price, considering others were willing to do it for twice or three times as much!
A good part of the exterior dress up kit is pot metal. They told me up front of the problems that pot metal chroming could give them during the chroming process. It heats and bends to easily. That turned out to be a problem for me. I went through two hood air scoops before they could get one that did not bend to badly to get it on. Same thing with the overhead interior chrome strip for the mirror and sun visors. It bent up so badly on both ends that it could not be mounted. They tried to fix it but it was still to curved on the ends. I ended up buying a new strip. The left rear curved extension piece that goes on the fins also curved out a bit at the bottom, but I was able to get it in place. So be aware that pot metal chroming can give them and you fits.
What I did was to buy spare pieces and had them chromed and kept my originals, for the most part. If I ever want to put the original pieces back on I can. This, of course, increased my costs of restoring the car, but that is the way I wanted to go.
I am telling you this because I might be able to help you save a lot of money or some, on your future chroming costs. Southwest Chrome Plating does take out of state orders. You can take pictures of your pieces you want chromed, and email or fax them to them. They will review the pictures, and send you back a quote. You will have to ship them your parts, of course. They do their chroming in their Dallas plant. You take or ship them your parts, and on the weekend, they gather up all their pieces for chroming and drive them to Dallas. They bring back what is ready from previous orders. It takes about a two week turn around. Probably more if you are shipping in parts and they have to be shipped back to you. You can probably double that time frame.
If you are interested, call or fax them. Tell them that I told you about their company. You can call Robert or Florencio Pulido at 210-658-8087, 210-658-7438 or fax 210-658-6334. Or you can email them at pulido19@hotmail.com
I am sharing this information with you in hopes that it will save you some money during your Tbird restoration project. One Tbirder helping another Tbirder out. Or perhaps it will not. Maybe you have chroming facilities available to you that are better or cheaper than ours!
Here is what my 57 pieces looked like after chroming. And my original air cleaner that I got back today.
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