Any Chrome shop recommendations needed to chrome my grill, bumper , etc. Am in Tx but heard bad things about Superior in Houston. Any feedback is appreciated,
If everything is arrow-straight (no bondoed dents, pitting hid under the paint) and none of the parts are die-cast, I'd guess somewhere in the $1500-2000 range at a minimum.
I can get repopped bumper,bullets,headlight trim.Whats your thoughts if I went that way&just had grill chromed? Bet I am gonna haveta give my left nut for the work... But it will change the look of the truck-totally
Have you checked with Speed & Sport in Houston? I've had a couple of scooter parts plated there that I was happy with. I've used Superior too, some acceptable, some not.
I've used Superior a few times and always been happy with everything but the price. I've heard iffy things about parts getting lost with Speed and Sport. I had both bumpers for a 1962 Mercury Comet wagon done last year for a touch over $1500. They offer a lifetime warranty on bumpers.
DO NOT ever use superior... Ripped off my dad, screwed his bumpers up twice, and basically said sorry. First time they said it was his cores had bad work done to fill the extra holes, the second set he bought cores through them, they were plated and filled, then cracked as soon as they were bolted on and sucked in badly. Its difficult to find any decent chrome shops these days it seems. Good luck on your search. Oh and yes expect to shell out 2500 minimum up to probably 3500.
Thanks for that info @stubbsrodandcustom . Always good to hear real stories rather than just rumors. Who do you use now? I have noticed when Superior has stuff at a swap meet (non chrome stuff) the prices are ridiculous. I tried to dicker on a sewing machine a few years back and was firmly rebuffed.
I have used Superior a couple of times with no problems. They just finished all of the grille parts including extra teeth for my 54 Chevy. The bill was nearly $1400. I spent about the same for the plating as the cost of new repo parts. But I have not been happy with the quality of the reproduction parts that are currently available. John
Never used them myself, but I have heard a few good reports on North Texas Quality Chrome in Gainesville, TX. Check out their website.
Wonder if they (this shop or any other) can do the PVD process on bumpers and such. http://www.thechromeshop.com/pvd-coating/
Saltlakechrome Located in Salt Lake City, Utah. they have a webpage. No experience with them but they were just featured on bitchen rides for doing the chroming and copper work on the copper caddy episode
Don't know about Texas but here in Washington I checked several places and they were all about the same. I ended up paying $1250 for my 41 chev truck grill which was in good shape.
Speed and Sport and Airline Plating in Houston keep coming up when I ask locals. Have seen some fresh pieces from Airline that were very nice, and they do it all in house. A lot of the Tx platers I researched just polish and then send elsewhere for plating.
If you had a dime for every HAMB thread wanting to know about chrome shops, you'd have enough to do it all. Did you do a search? East of the Mississippi, it always seems to boil down to Advanced, Paul's and Librandi's. Your experience may differ.
I'll bet we have enough talent here to do a "Do It Yourself" thread on this. All the EPA crap doesn't apply if you are doing it as a hobby and properly dispose of the waste. Are the chemicals, electricals and equipment really that expensive? Seems like even if it cost 20 or 30K a few folks could go in together like a car club and build a system. If you were to add up the cost of what several of us have to spend on it, it would make it worthwhile. I know guys that have more than that in their paint booths. Straighten me out on this if I'm dreaming. Chuck
The 'EPA crap' does apply if you get caught, the only difference is you won't be inspected before the fact. There was a local guy here some years ago who was doing this out of his barn, he went to PRISON when he got caught. Lost his home, property, and his wife almost joined him, only a fast divorce saved her... And yeah, it really is expensive. Caswell plating sells 'home' kits for small parts (as well as full-blown commercial set-ups), you can have well over $1K into one of those for just the 'basic' plating part of it. As the size of the part to be plated goes up, so do the costs. For a set-up to do large parts like grills and bumpers, you need a commercial electrical service and huge rectifiers (BIG $$$$). The whole process is extremely toxic, add more $$$$ for safety equipment.
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