Folks Of Interest Found Myself a New Chrome Plating Shop!

When I do a good job transporting folks post recommendations for me on the forums, so I feel like I need to do the same when I am pleased with someones service!

After seeing several recommendations on a couple of forums I gave Chip @ Tri-City Plating in Elizabethton, Tennessee a try. I took both front & rears for my 64 Grand Prix & the rear for my 66 Catalina Conv.

The 64 GP bumpers were beat up pretty bad, but they got all the dents out, straightened them out & I am very happy with the chrome.

The 66 Cat rear turned out to be too soft to plate, so Chip searched through his thousands of cores & found me a good one, plated it & had it ready for me to pick up with the other ones on a transport back from Florida yesterday.

They all three look really good!

I highly recommend you all give Chip a try @ Tri-City Plating

God Bless & Happy Easter
Bill
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...ar-transport-hauling-open-or-enclosed.614419/

 

Thanks for the review. Any idea if he uses copper?

 

He will do show chrome with copper I believe, but these are just Nickel & Chrome. I think he said twice with nickel & then chrome, but you would have to ask him for sure about the copper!

 

I have bumpers for my '55 Ford from them. I'm extremely happy with them.

 

Always good to hear these reports.Thanks.

 

Thanks, Bill. Love those Poncho parts!

 

Wow. I talked to a guy Thursday night that was not happy with them. They did the plating on his E Jag and it was not slick and they refused to rework a couple of parts. Must have been a bad week.

I have had excellent results with Advanced Custom Chrome (not Advanced Plating) of Erie, PA. Chris Waldemarsen will make parts fit if you tell him which ones need to fit and he will make you happy, if you arent. They do incredible work on pot metal. This is just another source for someone who may be interested.

 

Denise had recommended a plater years ago.
This input always helps to know.

 

"Too soft" meaning what ? Never heard the term.

 

That copper strike makes a big difference for a better finish. It is soft and fills in little surface imperfections.

I had a tough steel part at work that called for nickel and chrome plating, exacting thicknesses of each and a hard to attain surface finish. One local guy was centerless grinding the finished hard chrome and some parts needed rework more than once. I told the QE on the job to scrap the entire lot, as it was impossible to determine if the plating was uniform. The drawing had a note, permissible to use lathe centers which I pointed out, so the parts could be turned between centers to maintain a uniform plating thickness.

The new batch comes in and they pass all the tests... I look in the lathe centers, what do I see? A flash of copper. I didn't say a word.

BTW, I have heard of the chrome shop mentioned here. My brother was in Tennessee to do some source inspection in the area and drove right by the place on his way.

 

Too soft meaning rusted from the backside, but chrome had not flaked off. They can fill small holes, but this one was pretty bad after it was dipped in the acid to remove the chrome.

 

Nice to know. Happy Easter, Bill. Drive safely.

 

Used them for years. Excellent results every time for a reasonable cost.


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

I was thinking that as well. The original bumper plating did not have copper did it? But they were fresh stampings. On an old bumper there must be places that need reworking, do they just grind and polish the steel to avoid copper?

 

Thanks. Learned sumpin today.

 

I think the copper gives the chrome a warmer feel. Plus, it seems to level out better. I'm no expert, but I do think the chrome looks different today than it did compared to say 25 years ago....pre-EPA crackdown.

 

The way I understand it, Nickel & then Chrome is the standard type plating for restorations & cruisers. The Copper, Nickel Chrome is what is considered "Show Chrome" & is of course much more expensive.

I will be sending them the bumpers off the 57 Pontiac & the 66 Ambassador sometime in the near future. As good as these came out, I have no problem with the 2 step process.

God Bless
Bill
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...ar-transport-hauling-open-or-enclosed.614419/

 

Had them do my Buick bumpers at Tri-City, they look great and they are super to deal with. Wouldn't think of using any other company!!

 

You will never have slick, mirror finish plating without the copper....and I will never be satisfied with less.

 

You and me both....

 

I have to agree. The '50s/60s/70s factory plating was usually triple plating, the copper has a lot to do with how the finished product looks. Copper is much easier to buff to a smooth finish.

 

The old shops used hexavalent chrome but some of the shops nowadays use trivalent chrome as it is safer and easier /cheaper to treat and dispose of the waste. You will never get the old chrome look with trivalent chrome so make sure the shop you chose uses hexavalent chrome regardless if they are plating double nickle or nickle & copper before the chrome.

 

Hex is the problem matl, agree that it makes for best appearance.

 

Nice to see a shop that goes beyond the norm to help a customer out. Thanx
for the report

 

Lots of info here on chrome plating, the type of chrome, and copper vs no copper, and all this is appreciated.
But most of it seems to be decorative on non stressed parts like bumpers and trim work.
How about suspension parts and the heat treating process to prevent hydrogen embrittlment? All my reading in the past said this is mandatory on stressed parts like suspension, etc.

 

Dave, About 4 decades ago Frank Oddo did a series of articles on metal finishing in Street Rodder. When he got around to chrome plating his engineering experts stated baking decorative chrome plated parts was ineffectual and might actually make hydrogen embrittlement worse. Their opinion was that copper, nickel, chrome was denser and could cause the hydrogen to migrate deeper into the part rather than freeing it into the atmosphere.
Most post plating baking requirements are for aerospace and aircraft high strength and high stressed parts that were cad plated. Most specifications call for the parts to be processed within 1/2 hour of plating and baked at 400 degrees for 1 to 4 hours.
Most of our hot rod parts are mild steel and over engineered so there is little effect from hydrogen embrittlement.
As usual this is just my humble opinion after 40 years in the plating industry. Your and your engineer's opinion may vary.

 

^^^^^^^^ Thx, for the very specific and comprehensive explanation. I guess this is what the rep for Advance Plating was talking about several years ago at the big swap meet in Moultrie, GA when I asked him about their baking after plating. He said that was old tech and no longer needed. I'm merely going by what I had read years ago in various articles.
And yes, in the aviation industry, where I spent about 24 years in a major engine repair shop's machine shop with the plating shop right across the hall, baking after plating was in all the specs for hard chrome build up on parts. In that time I ground a helluva lot of chrome on various internal and external grinders as well as surface grinders.

 

For what its worth, in the past 3 months I have had some chroming done by a place here in Oz, Winkler & Patrick from Lismore, NSW......all for my 1940 Dodge Sedan, I had 7 inside stamped steel window garnish moldings, 4 stamped & folded stock brass door kick plate moldings and one 1960's Oz Valiant steel "concertina" collapsible column piece.......the steel pieces were triple plated, copper, nickel, chrome as I asked, I was shown pics to confirm this........total cost was $2050 Oz which is approx. $1450 US.........after I shit myself I still paid the price as it was and is a good job.........but it will be a while before I get any more, not that its needed anyway......lol........they were also prompt, said that it would be 3 weeks, it was, and also rang me to advise there was possibly an issue with 2 repairs on the garnish moldings, which we sorted out.......I know this doesn't help any Nth American Hambers but for anyone in Oz reading this I'd recommend these guys........Andy Douglas

 

I noticed that Tri-City only chromes steel and not pot metal. Any suggestions for getting pot metal fixed and chromed?
Yep, I know, pot metal is the bain of a chromer's job. It is pitted and dechroming reveals even more pitting. But, no-longer-in-production vent windows need to be recovered, possibly cut down to match a new roof height and then chromed.

I might also ask if the "Muggy Weld" process is acceptable for pot metal repair or if silver solder is the preferred or only way to go.

 

Hexavalent chrome is a known human carcinogen. Exposure to hexavalent chromium increases the risk of developing lung cancer, asthma, or damage to the nasal epithelia and skin. Welding stainless steel exposes workers to it, so most manufacturers of stainless products have air handling and filtering equipment at each work station to help protect workers. So you can imagine the risks it poses to plating workers possibly exposed to the fumes, as well as to our environment.