I'm betting that we'll see paint come out in the next 10 years that looks as good as real chrome. Some of this new stuff is starting to get pretty close, not like the old "bumper chrome" paints that looked like silver.
Greg does a LOT of Chip's chrome. Bummer is, you hardly ever see him get the credit for it on Overhaulin'.
I can vouch for this place.. they did a bunch of small stuff for my triumph I think it was like 9 or 10 pieces (motor mounts, trans mounts, etc) and it was under $300 and he had it in a week. Good work too. SUPREME PLATING CO 330 E BEACH AVE INGLEWOOD, CA 90302-3102 310-671-3640
BRICO METAL FINISHING 12416 BENEDICT AVE DOWNEY, CA 90242-3190 562-803-3134 I used thes guys. So far So good......Prices were right. What are the rings you are looking to have plated? FONZI
LOL At least someone else felt the chrome sting that I felt. The Portholes for the Buick were quoted at $150... EACH!!!! (By two different places even!!!) I didn't bother askin about the bumpers and dagmars. ...sigh...
'53 caddy, a perfect fit for my chevy. I don't want to shave or french my headlights, not this car. I am keeping it a simple, very mild custom. 53 caddy headlight rings look great on 53-54 chevys, its an old "Low Rider" trick.
While we all cringe at the cost of plating and start looking for some one to do it cheaper. Theres a couple of points that havent been touched on that have significant influence on the cost of plating . The condition of the part. Was it plated before? Plating a part that has been plated before can be a whole different expierience depending on how the previous plating job was done. If the die cast was pitted and needs to be copper plated to fill the pits and buffed down . Thats a lot of necessary extra labor to prepare the part in comparison to plating a extra nice original part that may have just lost its shine. I was so dissappointed with the finished quality of some local shops that I started experimenting with how I could get a quality plating finish many years ago. It wasnt the chrome but the actual preparation of the part that was the issue. It takes time to properly prepare the part. A correctly prepped part should look perfect. no scratches ,pits or unsightly edges.Polished to almost perfection before plating. No detail lines buffed off ect. Some of the good platers spend a lot of time doing this prep others just say well its the best I could do with what you brought me. Its the prep thats costly. I've seen good platers actually masking off sections of parts to add copper material to an edge to keep the detail of the part. The plating process isnt just throw the part in the tank rinse it off and drop it in the chrome tank. Curved ,rounded edges, low areas of the parts may need deflectors made to get the plating metals to throw into the corners of the part. Since plating is an electronically controlled process the current tends to be attraced to the shortest point to complete the circuit. The small parts are even tougher. Many need to have a small wires soldered to them before plating to suspend them in the tank because there is no way to hold onto the part . Ive spent many hours getting parts prepped for plating and its not an easy job. I wont even touch the E.P.A. issues that the platers have to deal with ,thats a whole other nightmare. I'm not trying to defend or justify plating costs but just bringing to light some of the real cost influencers in this magical process. Ultimately your buying the platers time . How much time do you want him to spend on your part? How fussy are you about the finished piece?
Local shop in St. Albans, WV (Leonards Plating) are doing a set of '57 Bumpers for my Ranchero. They cost $525 for the pair. $45 each for a set of bumper guards. They have been in business longer then I have been alive. They do mail-order. Shipping + chrome would still save you a ton. PM me if you want contact details.
i just sent a set of bumpers to advance plating for a 57 chevy .....5k BUT the chrome will be 2nd to none .
I know chrome is expensive, but I'd almost offer to subsidize some of you if it would keep anyone from painting all their trim "monochromatic" like was a big fad 10-20 years ago. As long as we don't get back to that (rolleyes). Shouldn't be a problem with traditionalists, tho. I said "almost" (smile).
This stuff SEEMS like it gets pretty close, but I've never seen it personally. I was watching a show on TLC the other night where Gene Winfield used it on the top of a Caddy he was painting for Billy Gibbons. It involves first painting it black, then rubbing it out and polishing it before misting on this microscopic particle silver. I just wondered if anyone has ever seen this stuff up close and how close to chrome is it? http://www.alsacorp.com/products/mirrachrome/mirra_prodinfo.htm
My local eastwood guy sells a powder coat setup (sans the oven) for $79 CANADIAN, and it comes with a 1/2 lb of "reflective chrome" and a 1/2lb of black. Can you powder coat pot metal? I don't know. Not that far on my 53 yet but at those prices I'll be considering it. 80 bucks for the gun and a $2 garage sale toaster oven = good enough for me. Yeah, still not chrome but I'd be pretty happy with these results: http://www.eastwoodco.com/text/content/HiTechColors.htm
Ok, let me stop the madness. If anyone here needs chrome we have a killer hookup in good 'ole Tijuana. They still do it the right way down there, not the gay-ass "EPA approved" way and prices are waaaaaaayyy cheaper than the con artists on this side of the fence. One of our club members Stephan has a belt buckle business and travels down there a couple times a week. If you need chrome and are close enough to San Diego, PM me and I'll hook you up with Stephan. You won't get the price until they see the piece but it's guaranteed to be a smokin' deal. I should post some of his buckles in the classifieds, we all wear 'em
No offense, but you're kidding me, You'd pay 5,000.00 dollars to have a pair of 57 Chevy bumpers chromed?
Well it could also be the cost of materials (sounds like a painting thread doesn't it?) My buddy told me yesterday that the price of nickel has gone from $2.45 to $36.00 (don't remember the per what or over what time span.) When I asked him why he thought it was increasing so much he said that the Chinese were buying it all and that the "local" American chrome shops had little purchasing leverage. Can anyone confirm this? Any commodity dealers on the HAMB?
Ive been a plater and polisher for 26 yrs and I agree with Larry .The chemicles and metals are all toxic,expensive and hard to dump cheaply.The work is very dirty and dangerous.A fair price for me to process diecast headlight rings and make a fair buck would be a hundred dollers each side of 300 each.strip,polish,copper plate2hrs,copperfinish,rewire and clean,nickle plate40 mins and chrome,chrome finish.
GOOD WORK AINT CHEAP AND CHEAP WORK AINT GOOD!!!! Vernes aint cheap thats forsure but...... their quality is the best period ! One of the last shops to do triple plating (Copper,nickel,chrome) right in front of you.All the shops say they do triple plating but they send it out and you have no proof. If you get a chance look at some of thier chrome next to another shops work.
Faith Plating in Hollywood is very good but a little expensive. I've been using El Monte Plating for a long time now. Good work too. Bumper Boyz on 54 th and Alameda is not bad. Astro is still good if you're in the valley. But good chrome is not cheap. The copper plating is the step the AQMD has it in for - so many places just chrome the steel without the copper or nickel steps. Just like China chrome so expect rust if you go the cheap route.
my chromer does triple plating and can chrome aluminum and is pretty cheap he quoted another friend $600 to do the front and rear bumpers and grille and lower grile pan and headlight rings for a 65 impala these "bumpers are huge" guess he is getting a good deal.
Federal, State regs, OSHA, EPA, Unions, prevailing wages = ridiculous prices. Makes Mexican & Chinese chrome look more attractive. I'll send my stuff international before I'll get ripped off.
I've posted this before, but here goes again. They do beautiful work, reasonably priced with a fast turn around time. They are not in a "Big bucks" part of the country, so they can't gouge the shit out of ya' and stay in buisiness! Check out their web site! http://www.dipitnow.com
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