Gold vs Silver Tail Light Bezels on a 1960 Thunderbird

[Alexander]

Since my 1960 Thunderbird is a Golde Top, I am considering plating a few of the chrome pieces on the car with gold. I have sent out the tail light bezels to be plated and I was told it is only $25 each to have a gold-coat added. This is relatively cheap compared to the plating job itself, which is about $500 to $600.

I will not do too much gold on the car if I decide to do it. Only the tail light bezels and the door script. Gold seems to stand out well on a black car.

I would like your opinion. Would you do it?

Here is a PhotoShopped picture of what it would look like:

http://www.squarebirds.org/images/gold-vs-silver-tail-light-b.jpg

This is the original:

http://www.squarebirds.org/images/1960-black-thunderbird-rear.jpg

Alexander
1959 Hardtop
1960 Golde Top

[JohnG]

RE: Gold vs Silver Tail Light Bezels on a 1960 Thunderb

the gold, esp with the black of the car, looks terrific!

I would doubt too many people (unless you go to alot of car shows that are TBird specific) would know about Golde as the source of the roof, hence any appreciation of the gold on your car would be based on its artistic contribution.

John

[Guest]

RE: Gold vs Silver Tail Light Bezels on a 1960 Thunderb

Im planning on putting gold script on my 58 and possibly the tail-light bezels too since my car will also be black. The fender ornaments already have the gold "balls" in the center.............and the glove box has gold script...........I think it would look great.............but dont go overboard..............Ive seen some pretty hideous "custom" jobs on the net lately..........and thanks for the tailight advice. I bought my bulbs (I know dont laugh) at Wal-mart..............so they may be the cheap ones you refered to.

[Alexander]

RE: Gold vs Silver Tail Light Bezels on a 1960 Thunderb

The tail light bezels on the 1958 and 1959 are plastic that is sprayed with a silver-colored coat on the inside to make it look like chrome. I am not sure how you get them to be gold colored. The reoductions for the 1958 and 1959 bezels are reasonable. The 1960 is unavailable.

I learned about the bulb problem the hard way. I was at a national ITC convention and one of my tail lights was burned out. I replaced it with an import bulb. The parking light worked, but no brake or signal light. I was tearing out my hair trying to figure out what was still wrong. Someone at the convention asked me if I used an import bulb, stating that they do not work. I replaced the bulb with a used domestic bulb - presto, I had parking and signal lights.

Alexander
1959 Hardtop
1960 Golde Top

[tarps3]

RE: Gold vs Silver Tail Light Bezels on a 1960 Thunderb

Alexander,
I didn't think I'd like the gold (I'm an "original" sort of guy), but after seeing that image, I must say, it looks really cool!
Are your bezels at the plater now? If so, who are you using? Mine are in pretty good shape but have a little bit of pitting, etc. I need someone who can work with that pot-metal stuff.
I'd really like to see the final "gold" product on your car - It ought to look really super!
Casey
'60 hardtop

[Alexander]

RE: Gold vs Silver Tail Light Bezels on a 1960 Thunderb

I am using Frankford Plating ( http://www.frankfordplating.com/ ). They did the roof side molding and the front of my spotlight last year, and I was quite pleased with the result. I shopped around at the show at Atlantic City a few weeks back and compared quality and price of the several platers there. Paul's Chrome even had a 1960 T-Bird tail light bezel on display to show how they restore and replate complex shapes. The piece looked great until you compared it with the original. The plated piece obviously had a lot of sharp edges rounded off. A lot of detail was missing. To boot, he quoted me the highest price of all the platers there at $1000 for the pair. I have used Paul's chrome before, and they do quality work, but I just did not like how they finished that display piece. There was one vender there that quoted me a cheaper price, but I had also used him before with mixed results - some pieces were excellent, some had ground out detail and grinding wheel marks. I choose Frankford Plating with price quoted of $500 to $600 for the pair. The pieces I gave him had some pitting on the upper forward surfaces, but the rearmost surface had very little pitting. I wanted to give these pieces to someone who could do the job right, because once the detail is ground away, you can never get it back.

I should be getting back the pieces in few weeks; Frankford Plating has a good turn around time.

There is another plating shop that I used about 8 years ago called Chromemasters in Tallahassee, Florida. They did excellent work at less cost than most chrome shops. They literally brought some pieces back to new that I thought were unrecoverable. I lost touch with them. If anyone knows if they are still in business and their location, it would be appreciated.

Alexander
1959 Hardtop
1960 Golde Top

[tarps3]

RE: Gold vs Silver Tail Light Bezels on a 1960 Thunderb

Hi Alexander!

Did you get those rechromed bezels back yet??
I'm curious as to how they turned out.

any pictures?

Casey
'60 hardtop

[Alexander]

RE: Gold vs Silver Tail Light Bezels on a 1960 Thunderb

I have not gotten them yet. I expect to get them in the next couple of weeks. I will post a picture when I get them. Based on everyone's feedback, I am going for the gold!

Alexander
1959 Hardtop
1960 Golde Top

[Guest]

RE: Gold vs Silver Tail Light Bezels on a 1960 Thunderb

>I have not gotten them yet. I expect to get them in the next
>couple of weeks. I will post a picture when I get them.
>Based on everyone's feedback, I am going for the gold!
>
>Alexander

With my Bird's eventual change back to her original black, I am thinking about doing the tail light bezels in gold also. I'm interested in seeing your finished product.

[Alexander]

RE: Gold vs Silver Tail Light Bezels on a 1960 Thunderb

I have not received them back yet. It should be soon though.

Alexander
1959 Hardtop
1960 Golde Top

[Guest]

RE: Gold vs Silver Tail Light Bezels on a 1960 Thunderb

>There is another plating shop that I used about 8 years ago
>called Chromemasters in Tallahassee, Florida. They did
>excellent work at less cost than most chrome shops. They
>literally brought some pieces back to new that I thought
>were unrecoverable. I lost touch with them. If anyone knows
>if they are still in business and their location, it would
>be appreciated.
>
There is no Chromemasters in Tallahassee, however there is one in Nashville, TN. I called and asked if they moved from FLA -- Nope!

Have you ever dealt with Nu-Chrome in Fall River, MA?

[Alexander]

RE: Gold vs Silver Tail Light Bezels on a 1960 Thunderb

Thanks for trying.

Alexander
1959 Hardtop
1960 Golde Top

[Guest]

RE: Gold vs Silver Tail Light Bezels on a 1960 Thunderb

>The tail light bezels on the 1958 and 1959 are plastic that
>is sprayed with a silver-colored coat on the inside to make
>it look like chrome. I am not sure how you get them to be
>gold colored. The reoductions for the 1958 and 1959 bezels
>are reasonable. The 1960 is unavailable.
>
I have several extra 58/59 bezels that I'm going to experiment with. The only thing I see that might be a problem is the "chrome" on the backup light lens.

[JohnG]

RE: Gold vs Silver Tail Light Bezels on a 1960 Thunderb

I had my front and rear bumpers and grill overhauled and
rechromed at Nu-Chrome (http://www.nu-chrome.com/ ) I am no expert by any means but the final finish was outstanding. I found the people good to work with and the estimation times quite accurate. Given enough therapy and counseling I will recover from the price. I can provide an email address if anyone should want it.

John
58 Hardtop

[Guest]

RE: Gold vs Silver Tail Light Bezels on a 1960 Thunderb

>I can provide an email address if
>anyone should want it.
>
> John
> 58 Hardtop
Ahhh ... but you already did!

I was wondering about Nu-Chrome. What you've told me is that they are overpriced, but do a teriffic job. Perhaps they are worth the money then?