Chrome Quote

[YellowRose]

I got a quote on re-chroming my front bumper, and the three sections of the rear bumper from my local chromer. The chrome will be triple plated. He quoted me $260 per bumper piece. $260 for the front, and $260 for each of the three rear pieces. $1,040 total.

How does this compare with chroming of these pieces in your area? I figure the guys Down Under are gonna say "jump on this before he changes his mind and ups the prices!" lol..

[simplyconnected]

How much is shipping to Detroit?

[bird 60]

Chrome

You are so right Ray, probably around $1,500 just for the front.

Chris....From the Land of OZ.

[JohnG]

Good prices. Some of it depends on whether there is any damage and they have to work repairing it prior to the plating sequence.

There is also the expected "quality" of the final piece. Some shops give you "custom" which is very nice but could have minor flaws if you look far and close enough, with more money getting you essentially perfection.

The "triple plating" is kind of a play on words to make it seem like you are getting something of extra quality. In fact the chrome plating process is a 3 layer process by it's very nature: copper , then nickel, and finally chrome.

When I got my car, the front bumper had been damaged some due to a minor accident. I had it repaired, and plated, as well as any peripheral pieces, and all pieces associated with the rear bumper. In the Northeast (Ma) that cost me about $2800 in 2004. That was only the "custom" level. (I almost hyperventilated when he gave me the estimate). Once I got it installed, the result was so dazzling I no longer cared about the money. Alot of money, alot of results on a car like the TBird with a great deal of chrome.

Supposedly the king high roller of chrome work in the US is Paul's Chrome in PA, for the car restoration community. Any quotes I got from them were always higher.

In my case the plater was within driving distance so I am
sure I saved some money there.

On trim pieces made of pot metal, I found it FAR cheaper to simply buy reproduction pieces than to get the originals replated. No comparison and better results.

GO FOR IT!!!

John

[Penelope]

Ray is getting some rear moulding trim peices chromed for me at the moment cause it is so **** cheap compared to what they charge us for chrome down here in OZ. He is getting the job done at about one third of the price, thanks again Ray!

Oh, and yep, jump on that price!!

[YellowRose]

Chrome Quote

I knew what Penelope and Chris were going to say, because of the chroming that I am having done for Bill. The estimate that I was given by Southwest Chrome also includes fixing that dimple in my right rear bumper. He says I will not be able to tell it was there. I am very happy with their chrome work. It is easy for me. I just put my chrome in the car, drive to the east side of town, drop it off and go pick it up a week or so later. They take a load of all their customers parts to be chromed on Saturday afternoon, and on Sunday bring back the chromed parts from the week before. They repeat that process every week.

I am not going to bother shipping anything out because of the possible loss or damage to it. I will stick with my local guys, but thanks for the idea, Dave! They take very good care of their customers parts and they come back well wrapped and protected.

[simplyconnected]

Chrome plating takes a lot of labor and skill. It all starts with stripping and metal finishing.

Carbon steel is easy; bump it (or weld it), grind it, polish it, copper plate, buff it smooth, then nickel and chrome plate it.

Pot metal requires more steps because they usually strip, copper, then solder lead into voids and copper it again. Final copper always gets buffed because any imperfection shows through nickel like acne on a teenager.

Any of these steps may need to be repeated if not done right. Bottom line, if you're not satisfied, your plater should do it over. Mine will, free of further charges. He guarantees his work, too.

Some parts were never reproduced, like my trunk lock/emblem housing for my '55 Customline:


Check this out. <-- Click here.

[Penelope]

As mentioned earlier in this thread, Ray was organising for some chrome work on rear mouldings for me. Well, they arrived today and I can tell you that the quality of the chrome was only surpassed by Ray's packing skills. Half way around the world without so much as a scratch. I would like to publicly thank this tireless worker for his assistance in getting another job done for a member.

Here's to you Ray! I will post some pics of the girls bums blinged up as soon as I can.

[Anders]

I got a quote on re-chroming my front bumper, and the three sections of the rear bumper from my local chromer. The chrome will be triple plated. He quoted me $260 per bumper piece. $260 for the front, and $260 for each of the three rear pieces. $1,040 total.

How does this compare with chroming of these pieces in your area? I figure the guys Down Under are gonna say "jump on this before he changes his mind and ups the prices!" lol..

To get triple plate chrome I need to have a budget of around 10.000 SEK, approx 1430 bucks, each front & rear.
But I honestly thought the difference was even bigger between US and Swedish prices. This place is doing a absolute premium job, so I just need to save some money....

[YellowRose]

Chrome Quote

As a followup to the chrome quote, they have changed their quote to me because I have been a good customer and have also brought them some additional out of country business. They also know that I will have more chroming needs in the future. They are going to do the front bumper for $220, and the three pieces of the rear bumper for $200 total, including fixing that dimple in the top right section. So for $420, they will do my front and rear bumpers... I figure I cannot beat that with a stick!

[Guest]

... They are going to do the front bumper for $220...

WOW Ray, that's quite a deal! Does anybody know how much a front bumper weighs? I'd like to calculate UPS shipping costs to get my front bumper down there and back.

[RustyNCa]

WOW Ray, that's quite a deal! Does anybody know how much a front bumper weighs? I'd like to calculate UPS shipping costs to get my front bumper down there and back.

Why not look into shipping it via Greyhound, or something like that might be cheaper?

So Ray, do those that send you their chrome get the same kind of smoking deal?

[YellowRose]

Chrome Quote...

Some of the guys have shipped bumpers via Greyhound before with no problems, as I recall.

As for the question regarding the "smoking deal" I got, I need to ask my guys at SW Chrome about that and see what they say.. I will do that in the morning and get back with you..

[Anders]

As a followup to the chrome quote, they have changed their quote to me because I have been a good customer and have also brought them some additional out of country business. They also know that I will have more chroming needs in the future. They are going to do the front bumper for $220, and the three pieces of the rear bumper for $200 total, including fixing that dimple in the top right section. So for $420, they will do my front and rear bumpers... I figure I cannot beat that with a stick!

Hmmmmmm...............
I calculated a bit wrong as well. My 1430 was for each side = 2860 compare with your original 1040. And now 420.................
I´m happy for you. I think....
Maybe I should go grey primer.

[YellowRose]

Chrome Quote

Here is what my guy at Southwest Chrome said about doing bumpers.. I got the figures a bit off.. $240 for the front bumper. $240 for the back three bumper pieces for a total of $480, plus shipping charges back to you. Something that might increase the cost is having to repair a bumper, take the dents out of it, etc.. He said their Dallas plant is outside of Dallas, east of it. So shipping by Greyhound is something they would not want to handle. UPS, FedEx, etc.. would do it. They would put your chromed bumper back in the box you sent it in and charge you to ship it back. That is something you should be easily able to figure, because it is probably going to cost you the same to ship it back to you as it did you to send it to them.

If anyone wants to take advantage of this, contact Florencio Pulido, of Southwest Chrome, Inc., here in San Antonio at 210-658-8087, or email at pulido19@hotmail.com They will probably have you ship it to their Dallas office, but he can tell you about all that. If you do this, tell him you are a friend of mine, from the Squarebirds Thunderbird Forum, so he will know who you are...

Of course, they can do about any chroming you need, so if you have other things, talk with him about that. Keep in mind that you might want to do what I and others have done when it comes to chroming pot metal. Buy spare parts, keep your originals, and have the spares chromed. If they bend, and pot metal can, at least your originals are still in good shape.