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  • YellowRose
    Super-Experienced


    • Jan 21 2008
    • 17188

    #16
    Chrome question

    Fuz is right. Also, when I had them do my mirror, they did lose the detail on it. I bought a new mirror instead of using that one.

    Ray Clark - Squarebirds Administrator
    The Terminator..... VTCI #11178 ITC #6000 Yellow Mustang Registry (YMR) #12188
    Contact me via Private Message for my email address, or Call (Cell) 210-875-1411

    https://www.squarebirds.org/picture_gallery/TechnicalResourceLibrary/trl.htm
    Faye's Ovarian Cancer Memorial Website.
    https://faye.rayclark.info/index.html

    Comment

    • simplyconnected
      Administrator
      • May 26 2009
      • 8778

      #17
      Not all plating shops aren't created equal.

      If you need quality chrome work done, my plating company guarantees their work. That means, no warping.

      Dynamic Custom Chrome always has work shown at Autorama, and this year was no exception. This is a family owned and operated business that does excellent work. I forgive them for doing mostly Corvette and Chevrolet parts, but hey, they use pot metal, too.

      Tell them Dave Dare sent you. (I wired and lit their plating and buffing rooms, and they did all the chrome on our '59 Galaxie.)
      Member, Sons of the American Revolution

      CLICK HERE to see my custom hydraulic roller 390 FE build.

      "We've got to pause and ask ourselves: How much clean air do we need?"
      --Lee Iacocca

      From: Royal Oak, Michigan

      Comment

      • 60 T-Bird
        Experienced
        • Jun 2 2010
        • 347

        #18
        I agree Dave..."Not all shops are the same" I think that here on the "left" coast, they all have lost the talent for doing finesse type of work. It seems to me (first hand observation) that they hire cheap labor from south of the border. The finish end of the business is a real crap hole of a place to work. Poorly lit, no heat and the like. I don't know any person that would want to work there unless they had to. That might explain the attitute of "gringing off detail" on the parts. When I lived in Canada, chrome shops did beautiful work, so I know it's possible.
        That said, I still have my interior chrome to do. So I will send them a picture and try to get a rough estimate from them and send it off. The few bucks it will cost in USPS service will be well spent. We have the good weather here and a few good paint shops but generally all the talent was lost in the 80's when labor theology changed...
        "Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming: Wow - what a ride!"

        Comment

        • Anders
          Super-Experienced
          • Jan 19 2008
          • 2213

          #19
          We have one chrome place here with a realy good reputation, and hopefully, knock on wood, they will deliver what the y promiced to me next month, when I am expecting my front and rear bumpers to be ready. For these details, I expect to pay in the region of 3.800 dollars.....
          Add to that, driving to them for delivering the parts, and now soon, to pick them up again, I have a 6 hours drive, one way
          Last edited by Anders; March 25, 2011, 10:41 AM.
          sigpic..."Lil darling Ruth":)
          http://www.tbirdregistry.com/#33158

          Comment

          • djberson
            Experienced
            • Jun 10 2012
            • 110

            #20
            Interior trim chroming

            On the same subject, I bought a full set of spare interior trim / brightwork from a junkyard. This includes pillar moldings, header where the visors go, side rails, striped sail panel, and rear window frame. Some of the pieces are rusty and deeply pitted. The ones currently in my car are slightly better. I figured I could get all of the spares sent out and rechromed and replace the ones in my car when I get them back. Has anybody had parts like these rechromed? Can it be done? I am wondering if it rechroming and refinishing costs the same for minor pits versus major pits and rust or if it is the same labor either way. Can anybody comment on this? I am also looking for a place to get it done if anybody has recommendations.

            Comment

            • yellow98cobra
              Experienced
              • May 28 2012
              • 308

              #21
              Originally posted by djberson
              On the same subject, I bought a full set of spare interior trim / brightwork from a junkyard. This includes pillar moldings, header where the visors go, side rails, striped sail panel, and rear window frame. Some of the pieces are rusty and deeply pitted. The ones currently in my car are slightly better. I figured I could get all of the spares sent out and rechromed and replace the ones in my car when I get them back. Has anybody had parts like these rechromed? Can it be done? I am wondering if it rechroming and refinishing costs the same for minor pits versus major pits and rust or if it is the same labor either way. Can anybody comment on this? I am also looking for a place to get it done if anybody has recommendations.
              You can email pictures to pauls chrome and they will give you an estimate http://paulschrome.com/
              Yellow98Cobra
              1960 Thunderbird HT
              Data plt# 63A Z 56 15 H 3 4
              There are 4 pictures of her here, plus a couple of my namesake.
              http://squarebirds.org/yellow98cobra/resized/

              Comment

              • simplyconnected
                Administrator
                • May 26 2009
                • 8778

                #22
                If the metal is pot metal (zinc), they drill or grind out the rot. For steel parts, they simply acid bath or sand blast to remove rust. Then they copper plate. If the surface is still rough, the chromer will coat the copper with lead, smooth it and re-copper plate.

                Copper sticks to everything and is easy to buff to a mirror shine. After buffing comes nickel and finally a very thin chrome plate.

                You can see there is a lot of human intervention between plating steps. This costs the most money. Parts like your bumper never got the 'tri-plate' process. The bare steel was simply polished, then nickel and chrome plated.

                Do you want "show quality" or "production quality" on your steel parts? Production quality costs less but does not include copper. The tri-plate process always turns out the best; that creamy shine like no other. I use two different companies for each. - Dave

                Warning: Some of our members complain that their pot metal parts are warped when finished. There is no excuse for this as that is a side affect of sandblasting. Not all chrome shops take the same pride in their work, and others do a much better job. You want to see examples after comparing prices. - Dave
                Member, Sons of the American Revolution

                CLICK HERE to see my custom hydraulic roller 390 FE build.

                "We've got to pause and ask ourselves: How much clean air do we need?"
                --Lee Iacocca

                From: Royal Oak, Michigan

                Comment

                • partsetal
                  Super-Experienced
                  • Jun 4 2005
                  • 850

                  #23
                  For the interior pieces, the less pitting the better. Because of the thin metal, not much can be done with deeply pitted pieces. My small shop nearby charges 75/hr to do the prep work, so the better the piece, the less expensive it is.
                  Carl

                  Comment

                  • JohnG
                    John
                    • Jul 28 2003
                    • 2341

                    #24
                    Based on limited experience as well as listening to others, I will venture that getting the sheet steel items rechromed by a good shop like Paul's is a good idea, while buying reproductions or good quality originals of the pot metal items works out better.

                    Pot metal is problematic even for the best of shops and it's entirely possible you wait a long time and get something back you are unhappy with.

                    I purchased repros of the trim piece on the bottom of the rear roof pillar on my '58 and was very pleased except for the black paint which did not stick well but is a solvable problem. I also bought the visor supports and they are excellent.

                    I have found a nice bezel for the radio on Ebay and also seen really nice instrument bezels.

                    john
                    1958 Hardtop
                    #8452 TBird Registry
                    http://tbird.info/registry/DataSheet...r~equals~8452)

                    photo: http://www.squarebirds.org/users/joh...d_June2009.jpg
                    history:
                    http://www.squarebirds.org/users/johng/OCC.htm

                    Comment

                    • djberson
                      Experienced
                      • Jun 10 2012
                      • 110

                      #25
                      Thank you all. This is exactly the kind of information I was looking for!

                      Comment

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