Excuse me, this is gonna cost HOW much???

I send anything I need chromed(which isn't much) to the chrome shop to get stripped and then have it sent back raw, clean and glassbeaded. That step is usually super cheap and by the time I get my parts back it's usually a month. Then I spend as much time as it takes to make the part shine like a mirror and send it all back to the chrome shop sprayed with WD-40 and the prices to chrome my prepped parts are usually pretty reasonable.

Example: Previously chromed 1961 Sportster swingarm which was badly rusted and pitted and the old chrome was peeling off in sheets. Had it dechromed for $30, I prepped it myself and the bill came to $100.

Not too bad considering the size of the part and the beautiful chrome I got back. I can only imagine what it would have cost me to just let someone else do the whole job!

 

You might give this link a shot. They've done work for me, and I couldn't be happier! They do a beautiful job,at a reasonable cost, with fast turn around! Nice people!!! http://www.dipitnow.com/

 

Heard about a guy here in OKC that has a '59 Cadillac de Ville ragtop, who spent over a hundred grand on getting all of the chrome redone on his car, along with getting the stainless redone.

I believe it.

 

Wow. Lots of good tips and leads, and I know I'm not the Lone Ranger! Re: the copper plating being so thick that parts no longer fit...the hood center trim on my '51 Pontiac was like that. Of course, I didn't try to fit it until AFTER I'd painted the hood! I had to take the hood apart (they're in two halves held together by teensy little sheet metal screws), install the trim, then screw the hood together.

 

this page on their site gives some examples of cost. I think the prices are in Canadian dollars, so would be a tad cheaper in u.s. funds.

http://www.thechromepit.com/pricing.asp

very reasonable and quite a bit less expensive that the U.S. since they don't have to meet the us EPA regulations.

They also have some info on the first page about international shipping

 

Interested to know how that coating holds up Steve ???

 

Someone mentioned nickel. That is a possibility as nickel regs are not nearly as stringent as chrome. At the time I retired, they (EPA and states) were enforcing some pretty wicked workshop OSHA type air requirements for chrome, but not nickel. Nickel simply does not have the toxicity of chrome.

Nickel is the base material for chrome and is actually what you see on chrome plate. The chrome is so thin you see right through it. It adds sparkle and kills the blueish look of nickel. All the durability of "chrome" is due to the nickel base. Of course, the prep work is the same.

If you find a chrome plater that is not under some heavy regs, be assured he is flying under the radar and probably not in compliance with any regulations, either air or water.

Bill

 

see your in mi.. there is a guy in muskegon who does that stuff and a place in detroit area call fin- finishers
but i know that my friend stan had 10 trim parts on his 58 chevy done at fin and it cost 2000.00

ill try to get the # of the guy in muskegon foor ya ..

 

Google PermaStar Chrome or PermaStar Coating. It doesn't use hazardous materials in the process, so the bullshit EPA excuse can't be used. It looks as good as chrome. Maybe not quite as brillant but still is best I have seen. That quote you got was stupid. Apparently some people got more $$ than brains if they think that is justifiable. 5K to get a fucking grille plated....give me a break. Anyway, my other hobby is Indian Motorcycles and we use this on our bikes. Looks great and cost less than half what chrome does. Half of the real world cost of chrome...that is.

Oh..Edlebrock uses this process on their chrome intake manifolds, so it might even pass the "traditional" test. Maybe

 

Hey Brian
Good meeting you at the Gilmore this past summer, My buddy Jake has the green 54 chevy with the painted chrome treatment on the bumpers. The shop is up here in GR and it's called Essex Body shop, I can get a number if you want. I had all the chrome done on my woody at a shop here in GR but I did all the stripping and polishing..it was very reasonable for the plating but it also was a ton of work stripping the old chrome off. Let me know if I can help..I can put you in touch with both shops.
Crafty

 

I got a quote for a front bumper and two Y valve covers here in town $500, I guess that aint so bad.

 

We have $20,000 in chrome on a 53 Skylark,199 pieces.

 

KEEEE RICE TALL MIGHTY!!! After reading all this, I like rust (excuse me, patina) more. I had NO idea people laid that kinda cash out for chrome. Looks cool, that's for sure, but DAMN.... $50,000? DAMN!!!!!

 

Might be a high ball/bottom fishing price because the shop has more work than they can possibly complete in the next 12, 18 months, etc. This sometimes happens with high end paint shops. They have a year+++ backlog and more work than they can handle. Someone comes by looking for an estimate and they quote $15,000 for $5000 worth of work. if the guy bites, they take the job and move some other customers projects back(this is why some shops have a car for a year, etc.)

Also, how do you know they're not subbing the work out to another shop (mexico, etc.)? is it all done in-house?

 

I'll 2nd Ogden Chrome. I Just got a quote on a not so hamb, friendly '70 chev. pu rear bumper $240. I explained that it had badly peeling paint on it now with rust and pitting on the lower 25%, he said it will be closer to $400 and that included pickup and delivery! He said they come up here once a week, but still good P.R. in IMO!

I have never used them before, but they cater to many of the area shops and been around for as long as I can remember, which says something to me about their work, and in comparison to what others have posted, the price I was quoted seemed very good. Now availability of that bumper new/repop could have had a bearing on price quoted, even though mine is a custom bumper with frenched in tail lights.

I know your job is much more involved, and you would probably have shipping, but hey you never know!!!

 

Chrome is not see-thru. It is metal. You can't see through metal. It is way to dense. It is very thin, yes, but not see-thru. I have seen many parts from the 50's with factory plating consisting of chrome over copper with no nickel. It is still the same color as if it were over nickel.

If it is the guy I am thinking of in Muskegon, it is my uncle Brian. I honestly can't say good or bad as I don't work there. But last I talked to him he was running slow on custom work. I can give all the contact info for him if you are interested.

Didn't I just respond on the first page? If I'm not a plater then who is? Only two kinds of platers? Yeah that's how we were made, right?
I am not trying to justify what I do because I'm full of it. I am trying to help explain the process that the vast majority knows very little about. According to your logic, I am a rip-off artist. If I am on the HAMB it means I'm not working in the shop, so that means I am crooked, right? Thanks.

 

you got to watch that chrome powder coat .i had a bike frame done in it. yea it looks cool. but you cant breath on it and its messesd up. and you cant clear it. or it looses the chrome look .also i worked for a powder coater. and we always had problems with coating pot metal. and alumnium .it likes to gas out ..

 

I will 3rd Ogden Chrome as the stuff I have seen them do so far is beautiful. They promised me only a three week turn around also. the last shop we used(here in the midwest also) took almost a year to get my grille back and it still had some pits that they promised to remove. The price they charged me I could of had a stainless grill built.

 

"Nickel is the base material for chrome and is actually what you see on chrome plate. The chrome is so thin you see right through it. It adds sparkle and kills the blueish look of nickel."

All true except for the statement about the "blue in nickel". Actually, the blue is in the chrome layer. Nickel has a yellow tint to it and is only "blued" onec the chrome has been applied.

- EM

 

Just my 2 cents,my business supplies tooling to plating shops in the area,there deal is in volume,most platers don't want 1,2 or even 100 parts they want to plate thousands of parts and these parts are in perfect shape no scratches or pits.And as was stated previously,there's not many parts that are pot metal anymore it's all plastic or stainless steel or billet aluminum(motorcycle parts) or brass and most precesses don't allow for pot metals,with all the new chemicals that are more environmentely friendly.Yes there are specielty platers but as you've noticed it ain't cheap.There used to be a half dozen off those places here in town (60's and 70's) but the EPA basicly shut them down .I would think a colored powder coat would probably look good on those parts but you would have trouble with the pits. Also I agree with chromeplaterjosh I don't know him or his uncle but he makes sense.

 

Hi - I have been looking into this for some time now. Looks like some people chrome things as a hobby? Buy a kit and try it at home. I would be interested to know if anyone on the hamb has tried. OR if you do. Please post your results.

http://www.caswellplating.com/kits/index.html

 

PLEASE hear me: Chrome is not see-thru. Period.

I don't know why so many think it is, but it's not. How can you see through a metal; especially one as dense as chromium??

I can plate chrome directly over copper, and it looks just like chrome, not a blue tint over copper. I have proof if you don't believe me. I am not reffering to putting areally heavy plate on either. Just 10 seconds of chrome plating will do it (my normal is 2 min.) It is either there, or it isn't.

 

How did the EPA close down the shops? I am assuming with new regulations the shops that closed did so because either they were operating on the edge by disposing of their waste in a questionable manner or if they were following current handling rules the new rules that came into effect brought on an additional financial burden they couldn't or didn't want to feasibly accept. The remaining shops had to step up and pay the additional costs to meet the new EPA requirements which pushed the overall cost of the process up. Every time the government tries to save us it always ends up costing us money. It's understandable why the costs went up. You also have to realize once a commodity is limited the cost will go up, it's all supply and demand. Just read the previous posts in this thread. Good shops are getting harder to find.

I'm not trying to defend the huge increase in prices but you have to look at the facts. The day of the run down building at the edge of some small town where there was a big field out back to dump waste is over, good or bad, it's over.

 

My car's chrome is in horrible shape. I am thinking of just painting it with some white paint and calling it good. Had no idea re-chroming cost so much.

 

looks great.There is I believe a green 54 chevy in Rod and Custom that has spectra chrome on the bumpers and it looks Killer. Check it out

 

ChromePlaterJosh, is most of the cost in the labor usually or dealing with the process and toxics properly as one should? Is doing nickel any cheaper than chrome? Is it any more or less durable than Chrome? Personally, I kind of think polished nickel has a richer color than chrome in my observation of building and cabinet hardware. Nickel is a little more darker and grayish like stainless (because stainless has nickel in it) and chrome is more white/bluish. Didn't some older cars actually come with nickel plating instead of chrome?

 

Brian is the grille on your truck a one piece zinc diecast (potmetal ) grille? .If it is that would explain most of the cost. doing a grille like that , depending on the condition could require as much work as preparing the body for paint.
Most guys who have been dealing with various platers in the hot rod carreers, could probably tell you a horror story or two about getting pot metal replated, it can be a nightmare to restore when it is pitted and crusty.
A quick reason would be that potmetal in generally made up of any alloy consisting mostly of zinc. And zinc is a sacrificial metal that is used also for its anodic properties, blocks of it are attached to big steel ships to small steel hot water heaters, it oxidizes extremely fast, oxides would rather go to the zinc before it goes to the steel. when exposed to the elements and creates problems when restoring older chrome plated potmetal
I have been in the plating business for 30 years, and still cringe when I see big grilles like that, when they come in for a price quote, we really can.t tell for sure what we are up against till we are almost ready for plating. You are paying mostly for the prep work with something like that... Hope this helps.

 

Stude trucks, There really isn.t any difference in cost between bright nickel and chrome. When you are looking at chrome, the mirror effect you get is really the bright nickel , The chrome is a kind of metallic clear that adds color and protection for the nickel from oxidizing, chrome really has excellent corrosion protection properties
When costing the metal on a finished piece most of the metal cost is in the copper (if used ) and the nickel,which are in the plating bath for a combined time of approx 2-3 hours, and chrome is only 1 to 4 minutes, depending on part configuration.
Also chromium plating started in the late 20's to early thirties, to help protect the nickel plate, and is a beautiful finish it its own .

 

Call these guys. Nice work and reasonable price for the quality.

http://advancedcustomchrome.com/

 

In retrospect, I should have bid more aggressively on the (slightly damaged) stainless DT grill that showed up on ebay a while back...