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

another reason why im keeping chrome to a minimum on my build. Its there, what i can find in good condition, but im not going out of my way to chrome shit just for the sake of chroming it.

 

I don't know if it is required or if you can use regular spray guns but the cheapest system that Spectra chrome sells is $3000.00 and then you still have a painted finish.

EDIT: Looks like you need at least a specialized gun as one of the steps is applied with a dual nozzle gun so it doesn't really seem like it is a do it your self one shot type deal. Seems more like something you would buy if you were planning to do it on an on going basis.

 

No sh*t!?
Can that be done on bumpers, or only stuff that's protected by a hood?? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

I sent all of my interior window garnish, dash,glove box door, all knobs, ash trays, bumpers, hood bird, marker light housing, and a few other parts from the 1953 Desoto to Custom Metal Finishing in Indiana. My invoice was $45 more than I paid for the car, and I have more to do. It was inline with what I thought it would be. By my count it was 40 pieces to be chromed. I am glad my powder coat shop works real cheap.

 

Can you imagine what it would cost these days to do a show rod like back in the '50's like Barris' Emporor where everything was chromed. You would probably have a $100k minumum in Chrome work alone.

 

Who are the powder vendors that offer the best looking powder coated chrome facsimile?

-90%

 

Even if the equipment was that much, if I did the one job, it'd pay for itself, if I wanted to look at it in that way. The powder coat thing is looking REALLY good right now!

Again, I don't want this to be seen as a rant, nor that the quote was unreasonable, but more of an eye opener for me. I had the same thing happen with a quote from an uphosterer for the wagon. It was 5K to cover the front and rear seats, just labor. I had the material I wanted to use. I guess you all know that I went right home and did it myself, and, surprisingly, it took me exactly the number of hours the guy quoted me. So, I made 2500 bucks that week...

 

I think you are right with the powder coating. To me the $3000 for paint that would have to be constantly redone if the vehicle was to be driven would not come close to being justifiable.

Not coming across as a rant at all. It is definitley shocking what some things cost in this hobby. It soon becomes very apparnet how a million plus dollars could be spent on cars that win awards like the Ridler.

 

I believe the Spectrachrome is a silver nitrate coating (the same stuff that is applied to glass to make mirrors) and then it is clear-coat painted to protect the coating from oxidation (think tarnished silver) and scratches.

Wouldn't that cause problems with scratches and such? I suppose if it got scratched all you could do is strip it and reapply.

 

This is exactly why the Rat Rod and the unfinished "finished" scene has exploded.
The average Joe just can't afford a beautifully done car with nice chrome and paint these days without breakin' the bank.
I was at the Turkey run and watched people pass by a $100,000 Foose style coupe to look at a Ratty ol' Pickup. My Buddy looks at it and says, "Ya know, I can afford this, I'll never afford one of those".

Sad but true.

 

Some might have mentioned it above but maybe keeping any eye out or posting wanted ads for next to or NOS nice pieces might be an option.

 

Chroming can be related to getting a paint job. You can take it to Maaco & get it done for $450, or call Charlie Hutton & pay $20,000 or take it to "Junior". He painted a customers of mine Porsche for $200,000. Same car, same color, but not the same quality. (I've got to be fair to Charlie & say he is certainly capable of doing the $200K job too) You might check with some local shops to see if they are willing to strip the parts for you and then you can sand them down with body shop abrasives and hand sanding to a flawless 600g finish. If the hood strips were new they might only cost $35-50 each. 60 year old rusty parts can easily cost 4 times that. The grille being potmetal will always be a lot of work. When zinc die cast is new it comes out of the mold needing only to trim the flashing & a light buffing to prep it for plating. Zinc is a sacrificial metal, it deteriorates in the atmosphere. When you plate it with copper, nickel & chrome you just made a battery. Dissimilar metals have electrons moving back & forth, ad a little acid rain or ocean air & the zinc dissolves, leaving pits & rot under the plating. Strip the plating & start polishing the zinc & suddenly there are more pits. You just found air bubbles that were trapped in the casting. Difficult if not impossible to finish to Concourse standards. Lots of problems & heartache doing potmetal. I can easily see 10 hrs in doing each grille half. With all the regs & overhead today $100/hr is not enough & $200 is closer to reality.

 

I'll add a FWIW...

I get the comments about not wanting to plate over pre-prepped, I'd imagine if some basic "I'm a cheap bastard..." was to try this that would stand. I see the car you built. You have the talent to make them look perhaps better than they are. I'm as picky as it gets when it comes to show chrome and I haven't seen really great stuff in years, and by that I mean not a ripple or 'brush mark' over the whole surface. Perfect chrome is like perfect paint. It's almost mystic in final appearance and bad chrome can make a perfect car look like it was done by amatures. You'll be money ahead and get what you want doing the base prep on your own. Find a local plater and set up a rapport with them. It's not hard. Times are tough and everyone needs work. Your truck? If not you'll earn the extra $$$$ to prep and repair instead of passing up the work. There's more than 1 reason to pick up the polishing stuff.

 

Don't know about show chrome, but used to be lots of midgets were plated to look good from the stands, I think. Have had lots of parts from springs to shocks that were dipped fully assembled... don't seem to see that much nowadays. Probably why so much old chrome rusts so badly, etc. Think maybe quality has improved lately...at least our local guy in Hartford does real nice stuff...

 

how the heck does the lowrider builders afford to chrome every piece of thier car except the tires???

 

Ok then...time to rethink my '32 truck project.

Was gonna have the entire '40 rear axle/backing plates/wishbones/torque tube/spring etc. chromed along with the entire front end, as in AlaKart...I had no idea...

 

I'm guessing "Flash Chrome"...they leave out alot of the process.

All the shiny pieces I had done on the coupe were Flash Nickle...no copper or chrome. It was cheaper and looked pretty cool.

 

larry
does the guy in haskell still chrome?i heard he was reasonable.

 

Joe is in Collinsville now, and he USED to be reasonable. When he polished all the pieces for the coupe, he was $45/hr...now he's $75/hr and the quality has suffered. I think because he had some personal issues...divorce, etc.

 

Forget chroming that grille. Just paint it!

 

I can't speak for the chrome industry but I maybe can give some insight.

In my daily job I maintain and repair thin film coating equipment that applies a low-e coating on glass through a process called sputter coating. Basically the coating is a series of stacked layers of different metals where the coating itself is only nanometers in thickness. These layers affect the transmittance of light through the glass.

One of the metals used in the process is nickel which we use in a ratio of 95% pure nickel to 5% chromium. It is our second largest materials expense. Ungodly expensive. Price keeps rising and I'm sure affects the chrome plating industry as well.

 

I think I want to call a little BS on the excusing the high quotes with the line of 'how much time and work it takes to prep a piece'.
I'm sure the amount of work isn't something to think lightly about, but how was this done say 5-10 years ago, when prices were still 'normal' and the economy was still running well?

What has changed since then that could justify the idiotic double or triple increase in cost for the customer? It certainly isn't the amount of work involved that has changed since these years, because the work involved would still be the same as 5 years ago.

And, in case one is wondering, yes, I too have gotten a ridiculous quote for chroming a pair of bumpers locally overhere in The Netherlands. Which I'm still a bit pissed about actually.
For instance, how does $3500.- PER BUMPER sound... ?

Next, I asked a quote for spray-paint chroming, but this still would've cost me around $1700.-

So, to get my car to carry chrome bumpers again instead of the colorpainted ones it has now, I was 'forced' to locate another pair of 52 year old bumpers and hope the chrome is still good enough.


EDIT:
Ok,
INXS' post above mine explains some of the possible costs-increase. That at least makes a little sense.

 

That and huge disposal cost increases of materials due to environmental concerns probably accounts for the vast majority of the increases.

 

yeah.. i figured this post could only be about 2 things..

paint or chrome

this summer I spent a week at M.I.T. where I had the chance to hear Dr Chris Schuh speak about the process his team has developed

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2009/metal-0519.html


their process eliminates the chromium and other "nasties" involved with traditional plating.. Dr Schuh spent a few moments explaining about the process of applying the nanoscaled particles.. ironically the materials used were common, the process was very comprehensible.


unfortunately the prep work involved in replating an old part.. wouldnt differ from conventional methods..

this company has liscensed the technology
http://www.xtalic.com/technology/default.cfm

but I dont know of any shops using it yet.

 

At work we used that place in Tennessee to do the chrome on a 60 El Camino.
The trim around the greenhouse no longer fit together as it was too heavily coppered.
The Hand made bed rail trim was nearly ruined by them and finally they lost some of our pieces for 6 months.
They wanted to do the chrome on the 34 we are doing now but no way.
We send our stuff to Sherms in Sacramento and I only talk to Art there.
We get exactly what I ask for in a reasonable time frame and great communication.
He has also rushed parts thru to help us out of a bind.
Excellent quality but as the saying goes,You get what you pay for.
As everybody has stated,it is all in the prep work.

 

check out these guys. they did 1 bumpers, 2 bumper gaurds, and three tail light surrounds for me for about 400.00 but that was 6 years ago. Most of their work is retail store hardware and displays these days but they still do automotive stuff. has two grades driver and show. I took his driver grade and am very satisfied. He smoothed and filled the pot metal of my tail light bezels, they are holding up quite well no new pitting or flaking.

http://www.sandysbumpermart.com/about.htm

 

Here are some guidelines for getting things chromed in this day and age:

1 - Many shops that still proclaim to be chrome plating shops actually job everything out to someone else. Reason is that local regulations sometimes make it cheaper for them to not plate themselves. They might still polish aluminum, but they don;t plate. But everything still costs what it costs. So their prices go way up since they have to add in their profit and two way shipping. I have seen cases where one shop that sent their stuff out to a second shop did not realize that the second shop was in turn sending everything out to a third shop!!! The customer pays thru the nose for all these middlemen. Job one is to find the shop that is the last guy in the chain as they are the ones actually plating.

2 - Look for a shop in an area of the country that is less regulated. It is basically impossible to plate anything in New York, for example, due to the regs. Job 2, then, is to find a shop somewhere where the regs are more lax.

3 - Look for a shop that is OK dealing with everyday people. Some shops only want to deal with the trade, and they get discounts of 20% and as high as 100% for common parts. If you find a shop that is willing to work for you for their trade prices, then you will save at least 20%. Sometimes a local shop that you are friendly with might be willing to serve as a pass-through so you can pick up this discount.

The home run is to find the shop in the boonies that is at the end of the chain and that is willing to provide 'dealer' pricing. Oh yes, and that also knows what they are soing LOL.

 

I got to spend some time with Mike this week at Coastal Chrome Concepts. I watched the process involved with Spectre Chrome after hearing all the opinions. I have to say, I'm impressed. True, it is comparable to paint, and susceptible to scratches, but, like paint, it can be sanded, buffed and blended. We talked for hours about the process, and he showed me some parts done in powder coated chrome that faded in very little time.
While the powder coat is a bit more durable, it still does scratch, and needs to be stripped to recoat. Not touched up. Mike's really not much of a salesman, but he does believe in the product, and now I do as well. He's coating a bunch of my front end parts, and charging me the same as I was quoted to have them powder coated in black.
Give him a call, he's a great guy, and he's not looking to get rich from this.
Tell him you heard about him from the tattoo guy.

Coastal Chrome Concepts
(843) 249-2766 - shop
(843) 333-1919 - Mike (cell)

 

Personally, I think your sticker shock might be a blessing in disguise.

When it comes to chrome, I'm firmly in the "less can be more" camp. I think the shiny bits should be used as a garnish, not the main course.

IMHO your truck would look much better with the diecast grille in a matte or satin finish (much like it looks now), and the rest of the trim chromed.

Just sayin'!

Great project, by the way.

 

If you are interested in doing the work yourself you might look into a system of your own? Something like what is offered by http://www.caswellplating.com/ .
I know that some clubs have purchased the equipment and do their own small parts. This would of course work better in an area with looser rules but as long as it is not an advertised business in most places it would fall under the hobbyist rules.

Scott...