I had a nice orig 40 dlx hood emblem rechromed by a supposed good shop (not going to mention name). You can see the results. Polished away the ridges etc and a few freckles in the chrome too--contour still good-fits hood ok-Cost a bunch too! Guess it will be a wall hanger. Have 4 more nice orig ones but not gonna go thru this again! Beware!
You should tell us who it was, call them and give them an opportunity to make it right, then let us know if they stood by their work. All companies make mistakes but not all companies stand by their work.
That still makes a fine hot rod piece. Put it on the classifieds and use the money to buy a nice bottle of Blanton's. Send him the empty bottle with a note that says next time it will be full if he doesnt F up your parts. There isn't enough chrome shops left in the world to go 'round. Don't make enemies out of the few we have left. And besides, it's Blanton's, why not?
That is such a bummer, to have to pay that kind of money ( ask me how I know ) to get that kind of results ! So sorry that you had to go through this. Its really hard to find a reputable plating shop, that will put out quality work these days. This is one that I had re chromed and it came out very well, but as you stated, its very costly to get good work done these days !
Maybe they did--I put a micrometer on it and it is thicker everywhere-too much copper? Spoke with them-said they did it 3 times and that is the best they can do--said sent another one and we will try again--no thx. Guess it would work on a hot rod or beater. Bandit Billy- I don't drink whiskey but this kinda stuff might make me start!!
My friend has a bunch of orig ones as well as quite a few grilles. We were gonna maybe do a couple but I'll hold off now. He has 5 Drake grilles and hood emblems but they are for projects. We were gonna do two nice 40 std grille center pieces but will pass for now. There was a chrome shop that did several sets of wiper towers and two grilles for me a few years back--great work too. The last set of towers I sent were way more money with no guarantee of quality--turned out worse. Sign of the times I guess.
I had that happen to my 327 script valve covers, too much buffing smooshes the sharpness off the letters.
contour is right and chrome is ok except for a few freckles. Tried two orig latch handles-one fit great the other was a bit tight. May just throw it out there with plenty of pictures and see how it goes.
I'm still waiting to get my towers back Tim. Gave them your set as well, they said they'd 'do their best'.. the firtst go around they were full of pot holes. Again, a good chrome shop, do alot of classic/american stuff. I may go the route of filler and chrome paint on these, apparently its so good now it looks like nickel plating, just not as tough.
I'm feeling your frustration..hard to find piece, wait time, expense..it shouldn't be this hard. Dealing with chrome shops can/has become a real pita.
Yep--pain in the butt--have a few more orig nice ones but not gonna send them there for sure My friend has several as well as some nice orig grilles but leary of how they would come out when done.
Was,nt there a thread a few weeks ago where someone mentioned these 1940 hood emblems were fetching big money ( like over $500 ) on Ebay ? Maybe i read it on FordBarn
another odd thing I have noticed on several orig ones are hairline cranks in the same place--here are two. There is a guy who does pot metal restoration who is supposed to be very good--may send him a few.
Can you post photos showing the condition of what the hood pieces looked like BEFORE you sent them for plating? When plating, copper is used as the BONDO.
I don't have a pic of the plated one but it was very nice--no pits no cracks--was the best of all of the ones I have-leary of sending another one--just gonna hang em on the wall. I'm aware of the copper and I put a micrometer on this piece and an orig one-this one is thicker in width at all points checked. I wonder how much they buffed it down---no way to tell without stripping it or if it is just excess copper.
....I bet those stress cracks are caused by people opening them and lifting the hood solely by the handle instead of lifting the hood itself.
There is only one place I will trust with something like that, Custom Chrome Plating in Grafton Ohio https://www.customchromeplating.com/ Not only will it look great, but they can make the worst one you have look great. But it will cost you. I sent a pair of un-replaceable medallions that had nothing but pits showing, and they came back looking like new. but they cost $300 each. They still look like new after several years.
Its hard to get a good chrom job here in Sweden aswell. I Always left crom to a small shop 5 miles from home. They dont have someone who can sand and buff so I have to polish a go get copper ,home sand n buff- go get more copper. Then i leave it for chrome. The price is not to high when i do sandin and polish myself. This Spring they had a fire in the cromeshop. There will be no more chrome, it cost to uch to build up again with all new rules a regulations so have to find a new shop. There isnt many left in Sweden.
The Jalopy Journal
