What happened to chrome platers???

Holy Christ!! I just got off the phone with a plaqce called The Finishing Touch, a chrome plater specializing in cars. They quoted me $2500 to rechrome my '49 grill!!!!! and it has NO dents, dings or even deep pitting, just surface stuff!! Is this the going rate???

 

Seems a little steep to me! Although we don't have many decent platers around here either.

 

Sounds like you found a show plater... You should be able to find someone who will do a decent "driver" job on it...

 

How bad is your grille? Chroming is not cheap, you're better off to find nice used stuff for your car. PM Cliffy, he's got a whole '49 Chev two door with a pretty decent grille in it he'd sell the whole car for like $700

Otherwise keep an eye on eBay for a nice used one. The grille in my '46 Chevy is real shitty, I found a decent used one on the 'bay for $100 which will be plenty good enough for me, considering a rechrome on my old one would be 1K+. I'm trying to get enough nice used pieces for that car so I don't have to rechrome anything.

I worked at a plating shop and I can tell you that plating is a ton of work and the cheap guys will do it for less but it'll look like shit. And if you do one piece on that car, you'll have to do everything because all the rest of your trim will look like shit. Food for thought.

 

That's the "We make pleanty of profit doing production plating that doesn't get nitpiced to death so we really don't wwant to stop the line to do custom work that might come back to haunt us, price..." Unless your willing to pay quadruple what it's worth...

It's like guys will et an $8 haircut and figure what the hell, itlll grow out ok in a coulpe weeks but a dame will go back ancd go back till it's perfect, every haircut, sothey charge them for four or five haircuts in he first place.

 

What happened ? EPA.

Between the labor and overhead,it adds up.

 

If you're looking for a second opinion, give Terry a call at Custom Plating Specialists (920)756-3284 All he does is shit for old cars, no production stuff, and his quality is top-notch. I worked there for a while and I know how much effort goes into the plating. They're Squablow-approved.

 

There is a place on Wall St. in Syracuse NY that is supposed to be pretty good. Shitty neighborhood, though, just about taking your life in your hands down there. A few weeks ago the cops chased some bastard with an UZI running down the street a block from there. Probably why the place has 12-foot tall chainlink with razor wire on top, looks like a small prison in the middle of a residential area. Don't know their name but you could pull it up quick on switchboard.com -

 

Just remember, you get what you pay for. If you call around to a number of other shops you will find they are all within a couple hundred dollars of that price. I know, I've been there with the grill on my '47 Olds.

The difference in alot of the shops is the guy that actually gets the piece ready for plating, the guy that fills in those tiny, tiny little pits. I paid alittle extra and went with Advance Plating in Nashville where the pieces are guaranteed for life. Trust me when I tell you they are perfect. Not one flaw to the human eye.

Five years ago I had my rear bumper on my '47 Chevy replated by a local shop on the eastside of Detroit. I had the bumper bolts welded on and filled in etc, the shop did the finish work with a shop employee doing all the work. I was pleased at the time because I didn't know any better. Shortly after getting that bumper back from the plater it went under my bed till this past winter. It now is on the rear of my Olds. Very presentable but not perfect.

This past winter I took my customized front bumper for Big Olds to a guy who is very well known for his attention to detail as far as getting pieces ready for plating. He deals with the same shop as I did 5 years ago only this time he is picking up my bumper between each plating step and filling the pits and perfecting the bumper along the way. I believe he picked it up and took it back about 4 or 5 times between the plating process. The shop did the plating but not the actual filing of pits, ect. The difference is very noticable between the front bumper quality and rear BUT there is no difference between the quality of my grill and front bumper. Both are what I consider perfect.

With all that being said I have a number of smaller pieces, tail light bezels, fender spears, wiper towers, dash pieces, etc that will be going to Advance this winter. Why them, I trust them to do the job right, the first time. Yep, I'll pay alittle extra but it will be worth it in the long run. I'm willing to pay the piper ONCE so to speak and if I use Advance I know I won't be paying again for plating these same pieces down the road.

Also, expect around a 12-14 week turn around time on your grill. Advance will rush the job but you will pay extra for the service.

Not sure where in Michigan you are but if your close to the Metro Detroit area and you want to look at my bumpers or grill your more then welcome to stop by.

 

I'm sure plenty of guys will want to stop by and see your bumpers Denise!

 

yes epa

and they love salvage yards too!

 

Exposure levels to hex chrome have been reduced to 2% of what they were before July 1st.
All the big production runs are being moved to China.
Small shops doing the custom work are facing higher costs than ever before.
It's a dying trade.

 

Is that The Finishing Touch place in Carol Stream Il , if so it's High end show chrome.. There was a place down the street that did chrome but they shut donw their doors a few months ago.. I was told their biggest customer ships their goodies to be plated to china and then back, and still he couldn't match the price .
thanks John

 

There is a place in Chicago called Calco Plating.I have had some work done by thme and was very impressed,both with the quality and the price.Turn around was around 3 weeks.Here is a link to their site:http://www.autobpa.com/members/calco/index.htm

 

I starting using these guys earlier this month- so far no complaints- very knowledgeable-make sure you ask for show chrome- www.exotic-chrome.com - they are in orlando

 

Calco is owned by a good buddy of mine, Mike Hilstrand. Give him a call, tell him you got his info from Casey, and he'll set you up for sure. He does all my chrome and has been unbelievable! Same goes for anybody else, tell him I sent you.

I know what you're thinking! No, I don't get any profit for advertising for him!

 

Polisher on the HAMB will take care of you. www.englishcustompolishing.com His name is Steve. Tell him you're a HAMB guy. He'll take good care of you.

 

All the old guys don't care anymore they've already made their fortune.

Here in town the guy that has always done everyones bike and car parts won't do hardly anything custom anymore. He shoots you an outragious price, but you can get him to do quality work cheap if you have really cool trad stuff to trade him for it.
Hell he won't even talk to ya if he don't know ya.

I have a friend that built the worlds sweetest '34 highboy a couple of years back. he found a perfect set of valve covers for the 331 he has in it, and it cost him 3 other sets of rocker covers, a smooth '34 bumper and 25 bucks to get 'em chromed. Or it was going to run him about 800.00.
His attitude is I've got enough money already.
I guess smooth costs as much as fast any more.

 

The EPA has declared everything that chromers use as a hazzardous material. To despose of the waste is EXPENSIVE and requires a detailed paper trail to protect your butt from goverment hand-wringers and lawsuits. Used to work in a machine shop. Just the water used in the parts washer cost $600+ a 55 gallon drum to despose of, and that was 10 years ago. I'm sure its MUCH higher now. The costs of complying with all the regulations makes it so expensive that many shops have just thrown in the towel. Theres a reason so much chrome work is done outside the country, and its not just cheaper labor.

 

When I worked at the plating shop in Brillion, we had 55 gallon drums that would cost something like $1200 to have disposed, and I'm sure it didn't get any cheaper.

The EPA regulations suck, but you gotta wonder where those Chinese production platers dump all their waste. Can't be good.

 

China is a massive environmental nightmare that they will not be able to wake up from for many decades.

 

You can thank your local DEMOCRATIC politicians, supporters and tree huggers.................. they're also trying to make it ILLEGAL to own old cars as we speak!

 

I used a company called Midway plating in London Ontario, 284 Adelaide Street South,
London, ON N5Z 3L1
Tel. : 519-686-7216
They did a really nice job and a couple years ago the exchange rate made it much cheaper than anywhere I could find around Detroit. Some family friends of mine own an industrial plating company and it's hard to make a living now with all the EPA guidelines and foreign competition. Funny thing is now they do a lot of plating for the Federal reserve but the Federal Reserve has even talked about having our money plated outside the US, real nice!

 

Speaking of $1200.00 barrel disposal.....a guy I know built some storage buildings/units....the kind that have about 40 units and rent for 45-60.00mo.....anyway he talked to a guy that had been doing it a long time about the "in's & out's".....this guy said that one time a guy came in and wanted to rent 5 of them.....and wanted to pay 4 months in advance cash on all......so he jumped at the deal being prepaid, being as they normally have to chase their money.....so he was so flustered he forgot to ask for an ID and just let the guy fill out the rental.......5mo later they went and opened the units and they were full of 55gal barrels of who knows what....

A chromer said that a certain, (sometimes large) portion of the cost is padded on all parts for the posibilty of having to replace a ruined part, depending on rarity of the part and what it might cost to replace it, I tried to get a Pierce Arrow mascot done and some of them wouldn't even touch it, this guy said he figgured he could replace it for $1000.00 so it was going to be $1500.00. That was almost 15 years ago.

 

I'll 4th that one.

 

I have seen denises grille and bumper and it is perfect..

I have been quoted everything from 700 - 2400 to chrome each one of the grilles I have (at present I have SEVERAL complete 46 - 48 olds grills)

I think 2400 for your grille isnt that "out of line" based on the quotes I have recieved..

the fact of the matter is that it isnt going to get any cheaper.. so if your gonna do it.. do it now..

sawzall

 

Somebody already mentioned advanced out of Nashville, they do good work from what I've seen
Pauls plating in Evansville Pa is THE potmetal shop and from what I've heard and seen, awesome good,lately their prices are becoming more competetive too.
I won't even go near pot metal.
Too much hassle work wise and DEP wise.
You need cyanide tanks to do a good job on that stuff.
I stay with straight forwards aluminum, steel, brass and stuff like that.
It's the only way to avoid DEP.
But then their threatening to start on Nickel next.
That'll screw us all up.

 

Wake up Mark.

Both parties are 2 heads on the same monster.

And either one would rip the hot rodding rug out from under all of us in a heartbeat if the automakers, insurance companies, MADD, or anyone else with more juice than us threw enough money under the table at them. Believe that.


Anyway, back to the topic at hand. Tri-City Platers in Elizabethton, TN did my Riv bumpers (front upper & lower, as well as the rear) a few years ago. They did a top notch job, and I paid less than a grand. Maybe things have gone up DRASTICALLY since then, but I'd give them a shout & get a price from them.-

http://www.tricityplating.com/

 

uote: [The old guys don't care anymore they've already made their fortune.]


Actually, all the old guys I've met have folded because they were going broke from all the government regulations.
Between the EPA, the OSHA, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Waters Proclamation, the No Bumper Left Behind Act, and all of the other regulations passed in the last forty years, all of the good guys I've known in the business have had to just pack it in and retire.
Not a Democrats vs. Republicans thing, not a Liberal vs. Conservative thing, just a reflection of the bureaucrats who live on forever in these agencies trying to protect whomever they think "the public" is, and not considering who the actual people they represent are.

Sorry if I sound bitter, but some mighty fine platers have gone belly up.

 

Oh damn, someone pissed in your cornflakes....

As for one being better than the other, their not... though I must say I do like trees.... The Republicans are just as bad as the Democrats, worse in some cases, and none of them are looking out for us...

But chrome is getting more expensive. The regulations have been tightening up over the last few years, of course every time we turn around there seems to be an industrial cleanup needed, so maybe there is something to it. Now that it's moving to China they'll just dump the waste out back and not worry about the water, or kids, or anything but profit...