Anyone used A&A Bumper Plating in Independence MO? Got a quote from them today wasn't too bad. End up with about $750 in both front bumpers and the rear on the Merc. Donno about the quality. Anybody had good luck with anyone local here?
Thats a good price nowadays......I had em plate a grille bar [I made,it] needed some more work -they said,was a little high, but looked great.
Kenny, Nearly all the rechoming done on my old '49 that you have was done by them. Quality seems to be good, although they went through a time that their prices were really high... r
For what it's worth, they've been around for a long time. I had them do some stuff back in the mid 60's and the quality was excellent. Figure if they've been around that long, they must be doing something right. Stu
Last time I called A&A... I hung up on the guy. Asked him what it would cost to get a part chromed. Small part, bracket, something like that, I can't remember. He says "$300 dollars". I asked him if he was serious and was told "I get $300 all day long to plate a bumper, the bumpers hang on hooks, They get dipped, $300 dollars. You want your part on one of those hooks? You pay what they pay, $300 dollars." ... Whatever... *click*
Did you end up using somebody local. I didn't ask A&A about any small parts only inquired about my bumpers. I have heard a lot of bad stuff about Bumper Boys and some of the large re-chroming companies.
No, I think I just painted the parts. Fit of anger type thing, after calling them I was so pissed that I didn't even bother calling anyone else. I can tell you what I did with the part after that that I wanted chromed. This should go over well... Was an inverted Y steering system for a ford truck, I wrapped the entire steering system in... get this... aluminum tape. Stuff is 100% aluminum so once I got it stuck down I burnished the seam down to the point that you couldn't even see it. Took some Mothers polish to it and you couldn't tell it from chrome once it was on the truck. Had a lot of guys askin me where I got it chromed at. Funny story... had the truck in the '98 KC world of Wheels, the guys at the check in started counting modifications... "suspension... wheels.... steering...." Huh?? Steering? What Steering? guys says "You chromed the steering, that's a modification" It was all I could do to keep from laughing in his face. But I wouldn't recommend it for bumpers
Thats funny as hell. I will post something if A&A and I are able to get together on a price. You think about it....how many times a day do outfits like this get calls for quotes. I know I work in the service biz myself, unless your getting hold of the manager or the owner, lot of times you get some asshole on the phone that really could not care less weather or not they get your biz. I am going to take my stuff over there...see how they are in person. Thanks for the idea.....we used to call spray on chrome...Mexican Chrome. Not sure what to call aluminum tape??
Oh yeah, completely understand what your talking about, could have been any number of the random employees from the owner to the janitor, in a bad mood, having a bad day, or just suffering from bad people skills. Like you say, what do they care about one random person. I just took the guy at face value and figured they didn't want to do small parts. Valve covers!.... that's what it was that I needed chromed, a pair of valve covers for a 302 I was building! (Just did don on me) Was a really nice pair of factory cast aluminum pieces and I called A&A to see if they'd chrome them, each had to be hung seperately, $300 a hook... break out the calculator...yeah, a little pricy.... 10 years floods your brain in 10 seconds... ouch... Don't get me wrong though, I'm not saying don't go to 'em, just tellin a story of what happened to me when I did. Your taking bumpers and that's what they do so you'll probably get alot further than I did. But do let us know what kind of price their askin these days... would be nice to know in case I run across any more valve covers Mexican Chrome... nice! We always called the aluminum tape... ghetto chrome.
Hey guys, I know it's an old post but I was researching and wondered what ever came up for plating? Any other shops in the KC area? Ever go back to A&A and are they even still around?
I have had good luck with A and A years ago top notch work and good service of course that was 12 years ago today may be a different story . I have used performance plating in the last year. super good work and a fair price but it was a long wait I will use performance plating again
The Jalopy Journal
