Chrome - What will we do when it's gone?

Well maybe not gone but beyond the checkbook capacities of most of us?

I reckon it's already there. I just fail to be able to grasp that a single chrome part can cost as much as the rest of a vehicle.

The prices are off the hook folks.

We must rise up and stand for our right to bright and shiney things.

What to do?

 

Vacuum bagged foil. Just think of model car chrome only bigger. Or what these guys do. They already have a prosses that can be used to make fiberglass bumpers seem chromed for that super stealth look. Its not exactly like real chrome, but it provides hope. Take a look at the blinged out shitter.

http://www.snschrome.com/

 

The Alsa stuff pretty much sucks unless you have what you want looking like polished aluminum glass smooth.

This seems to be better.
http://www.sprayonchrome.com/storedisplaygalleryvid.html

 

Paint everything Flat Black.

It's the new Chrome.

 

The EPA is getting WAY out of hand!!! we need to get together and loby and relegisate for less restritcive laws and so forth!.......Roach.

 

Someone needs to see if there is a mexican border town chrome shop. The prices here are through the roof.

 

You save up and do it piece by piece, alittle at a time. Nothing beats perfectly chromed pieces, not even sex.

 

Pfffft,

I was quoted 3 grand to do my imperial grill. There's no saving for that for a guy like me.

And do you have any idea how much sex I could buy for that?


I was kidding with Pops about how we should get all our interior and chrome stuff together and head for a Tijuana vacation.

 

Bunch of em in TJ. From what I hear, if you want decent chrome cheap, AND you want to watch guys kill themselves slowly with dangerous chemicals, it can't be beat.

 

Well lets see...if you found a cheap hooker at $60 a shot and went once a week to her/him, (whatever your preference) that'd be $3120. So, just give up sex for one year and your grill is paid for.

I worked a second job at a scrapbook store one winter a couple of years ago to pay for chroming. I also worked a second job painting the inside of houses last winter to pay for my interior. Ya gotta do whatever is necessary to get the job done. The shit ain't getting any cheaper.

I already know I will probably work a second job next winter to pay to have my window trim pieces rechromed because I had them done at a second rate shop in Canadian and now not only do I have to pay to have them rechromed BUT I'll to pay to have my glass taken out and then reinstalled.

Get it done right the first time and really you'll save money in the long run.

 

t j......

 

There are 3 Chrome shops within 5 minutes walk of me right now. None do any plating,they just polish the work. Theres two actual electroplaters in the entire area who do all the plating work under contract. I have been to one and was seriously impressed as to how proffesional they were.
The money is in the polishing .
plating takes minutes .
Die cast objects like grills are so difficult to do ,that if you saw how much work went into them you would understand the cost.
A big bumper such as 57 Chev or a caddy is labour intensive so gain you are paying for the polishers time.
There are no actual life threatning chemicals in chrome plating unless you are stupid enough to drink it.
Want to reduce chrome costs? clean up your jobs before you send them in and remove all old chrome from die cast.They don't chemical strip it ,but sand it off ,so if you do that part carefully you save.
Die cast has to graphite plated before the copper coat and this can take a couple of days......be prepared to pay.

 

I can live without it

 

Actually one of the most deadly issues with chrome plating is the carcinogenic dust that is created when polishing or sanding it. Please use a good mask and control the dust if you are gonna be working with chrome!

 

Lets see,, I bought Danyelle snow boots so she can still wear her now too short pants. That saved me on cloths. We ate over at Rustys yesterday and that saved me food...

 

excellent points all except the sex part well it would make the T.J. donkey show more exciting.. perhaps we will see a lot more painted bumpers in the future..

 

I can live without it

Same here. A little character in a bumper never hurt anything.

 

Whats a bumper?

 

its the rubber thingy on the shopping cart you knock the lil old ladys out of the way with at the liquor store

 

Model car builders use Alclad for chroming plastic parts - you just spray it over a black enamel base. Not much good for a bumper, cos it comes in pretty small quantities, but its got a whole world of possibilities for small parts I'd imagine...

http://www.automodelling.com/shop/p...id=71&osCsid=68e085afd79113e81479397c9b7400f4

 

We can make a lot of stuff in aluminum and stainless and buff it.

Far as ready-made stuff like 4-bars etc., the hot rod stuff manufacturers will probably follow Harley's lead and have stuff made and chrome or make it & send it over to Taiwan - which is where I think Harley accessory mfgs get their chrome done.

Never saw a crappy piece of chrome on Harley shop accessories.

 

But what if you had sex with a chrome...uh...well you started it

Like mercmad said. Do as much yourself as you can. Chrome is an electrolytic process and a direct reflection of the surface (no pun intended) so it fills nothing. Copper (waaayy up lately) is for very light fill and final polish to get the gleam. Copper is also applied before soldering or brazing the holes in die-cast parts. Thats of course after all of those little pits have been drilled to some cleaner casting to take the copper. Time is $$$ so you need to invest as much of your own time to save $$$ as you can. I do a lot of my own prep and it still is quite high. I used to do a complete Packard for around $7000 give or take, and today that cost is over $20K

 

Sounds like a plan.

 

last I knew sex was the most fun you could possibly have without laughing. I'll give up my chrome and paint everything my other favorite color(black) before I give up the sex You didn't mean that did ya???

 

I cannot live without chrome...not just yet...I want to build my 34 pickup 1960 style show truck and I need to chrome the living dog fuck out of it.

 

Rashy,
Did you check with A&A Plating in Kansas City? They did a real nice job on some chrome stuff that my boss had done for him.

Chris

http://www.aaplating.com

 

I read about this in our national paper this week. If the pics in the photo gallery are a true representation, this stuff looks good!
http://www.liquidstainlesssteel.com/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx

 

A local guy here could'nt afford the cost of the disposal of the used chemicals due to big brothers regulations,So he got out to become a school teacher.I second the polished aluminum and stainless as a solution,if you can call it that.

 

there are usually ads in Lowrider mag for do it yourself gold and chrome plating machines anyone look into one of those?

http://www.appearance-plus.com/gold_plating.htm

 

Save your pennies. Literally, since 1981 and older are made of more copper than their face value.

I think the rat-rod guys that build cars for the same price as that rechrome job may be where it's going. Not that you have to have a shitty car, but I forsee a lot of shitty chrome polished up and sprayed with clear paint, until we all win the lottery and a $3000 rechrome is a drop in the bucket. Or the tank I suppose in this case.