I have a new project and I want to do a little unconventional chrome job and need a facility that can do minor metal tweeking and can chrome the body of my 1952 Kaiser Manhattan. I want to do the 4 doors, hood, trunk lid and cabin. Thanks for your suggestions.
Check out Chromeplaterjosh here on the HAMB, he is the man. A whole car might be dicey, particularly if it needs any bodywork at all. You might be better off with one of the chrome spray on places. The process has been covered here if you hit the search ****on. Here is one example. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=580579 Good luck, -Abone.
Your best chance of a chrome finish on an entire car is with a spray chrome. I do quite a bit of out of state work. Message me if I can help.
This chrome finish been getting a lot of press lately:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3kwkki0bMk Chrome color is also available.
How often have you been behind an 18 wheeler with polished rear doors? They may be blinding but they look good. Sorry, wrong quote. I was responding to NoName.
There is a lot of bad publicity out there about spray chrome. Not all chemical manufacturers put out quality products. It also takes time and practice for an applicator to hone his skills. The system really is pretty cool and has a lot of potential applications. As with anything, the process continues to evolve and improve.
I know it can be done theoretically, but not by me. I'd be surprised if any shop was willing to plate all the parts, even with tanks large enough. There may be someone willing to do the doors, hood, and trunklid, but the cabin is a big stretch for real electroplating. It would be more realistic to have the exterior panels of the cabin custom formed from stainless, welded to the cabin, and polish the stainless. Or cut the cabin into sections, then bolt together after plating. Drainage is a huge issue, as body panels are constructed of multple layers of sheetmetal pressed together. Now consider that there are at least 4 different solutions each part must run through, plus rinses for all. They cannot soak long enough between solutions to flush out well enough without losing activation, so they have to be modified to drain really well and hope nothing is overlooked. Cross contamination of the solutions from one part (especially a big one) can literally stop plating operations for hours or even days until all is filtered and brought back to specs. Good luck. I like the ambition, and with enough funds available, this is something I would likely attempt myself, because I'm a little weird. Chroming a 32 roadster body would be a lot morr feasible.
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