I finished chopping the iron tops for my '30 and now I need someone to chrome and powder coat them. I am looking for someone preferably in the San Fernando Valley/Los Angeles area but will consider shipping them if needed. The main, circled, bar needs to be chrome and the rest needs to be powder coated tan, RAL 1002 As for size, the bar that needs to be chrome it is about 15" x1"x1/4". There is a right and is a right and a left one. The catch, the frame can't be taken apart. The rivets are not being reproduced so If I drill them out I am not able to get them back together. The frames are sandblasted and 100 grit sanded. Let me know if you can help.
I see you skill level, any chance you could make them from stainless ? i am not a stainless "worker"...
You mean making the rivets from stainless steel? Well, the rivet has a truss head and it is 9/32 x 1". Someone told me the the door pins on a '32 were 9/32. I would have to smooth out the knurl and cut to size. Haven't tried it yet but that would be my last option. Never installed rivets before so I am not sure how difficult that is or what tools I would need.
You can buy 5/16 x 1" stainless rivets from McMaster-Carr, these would be 1/32" oversize. I don't think you'll be happy with the job you'll get if done while assembled...
I can see being able to polish and plate on the outside of that bar but inside is not going to look very nice in my opinion as it is darn near impossible to get into that area at the rear of the frame. I picked these up this morning from my plater here in Vancouver, WA. He does nice work. If it can be done call Troy @ Pacific Plating
sorry, I meant the [2] strips you want chromed, out of stainless...… I believe "electroless knickle" will plate negative/ concave areas... $$$ we plated some of the parts we made... but have been retired for 20 yrs, could be wrong...
Compared to all the issues you will have plating and painting an assy like that, to machine some new rivets out of dumb metal is a piece of cake
Found a company willing to do it a very fair price. They will be doing the chrome and powder coating at the same time. They warned me that the back of the main bars might not be fully polished due to access....I will be happy with a nice driver appearance. Dropped them off today and should get them back in a week...we shall see.
Sure, Astro Plating 8136 Lankershim Blvd, North Hollywood, CA 91605 818-768-6535 Jesse provided really good customer service
Thanks. Good to know of someone in SoCal. My avatar will never need any chrome work but down the road my '54 Ranch Wagon will. Do you know if they do the plating on site or send it out?
They do on site. Apparently they have been at it for a long time and provide good service. I sent pictures via email and was given a price, once I got there and parts were inspected they lowered the quoted price...something you don't see very often and made me feel very comfortable. Here is their website http://astroplating.com I post finish pictures when I get the pieces back.
I finally picked up my top frames last Friday. They were 3 weeks late. I had gone the previous week but the powder coating had to be redone as it was scratched really bad....good thing that I am in no rush... I am ok with the final outcome and for $200 I think I got an ok job. They will do for my build....for others, well, you be the judge... Keep in mind, I had never had anything powder coated or chromed before, and as I understand these frames are a bit tricky to do since they can not be taken apart. All the joints to the chrome were over spayed with powder coat. Most rivets were not fully covered with powder coating. Not peeling but not covered. Good thing, the top material will cover all this It appears it was sprayed in one position and some areas were missed, where the main bar overlap. Two bubbles in one of the chrome bars. When I asked about the issues above, I was told, Take some paint remover and carefully apply it to the over sprayed areas to clean the chrome. For the areas where the powder coating wasn't applied all the way, go to the paint store and buy matching paint and touch it up. The bubbles where solid enough where they won't pop. They go behind the wood frame so they will never be seen. After some elbow grease, they look very nice. I still need to touch up the powder coating but I might wait as might change the color of it. This time I will spray it. I am yet to pay for them. They still have my rear window and shifter that they are chroming.
Very difficult job to chrome and then powder coat. If you're happy with the results that's all that matters. I've dealt with Astro Plating for many years and they do an acceptable job.
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