Chrome

[Fluid drive]

Have any of the other brethren that contribute to this forum found a reliable re chrome shop? The last adventure I had was harrowing; I wound up sending a pair of bumpers back to the shop I used three times- Rock Island Plating . I've been thinking about having the bumper bars on my '36 Plymouth sedan refinihed but I do not want to go through the process of trial and terrible errors again.

Thanks!

Fluid Drive

[Tom Skinner]

Paul's Chrome in PA. They are the best but expensive also.

[windsor8]

I just picked up the bumpers for my 48 D24 yesterday and they are outstanding.

Had the work done by Metal Brite in Dayton, Ohio. They did a great job and they are "car guys".

[Smokeybear]

Advanced plating in Tn. The guys there are pros. They did a great job on the bumpers on my dads 55 Chevy.

[Don Jordan]

I had trouble with chrome. I had my bumpers done for $300 @. I called all over the Los Angeles area and the price was the same. I was told it has something to do with the environment. I was told (and I don't know if this is true or not) that all the shops send the parts to Mexico so they don't have to deal with the environmental impact.

I don't know if this is true or not but the bumpers came back looking good.

[rockable]

In chrome plating, you get what you pay for. Cheap chrome looks cheap and doesn't last. Good chrome is labor intensive plus they have to deal with a lot of environmental regulations. Good chrome is therefore, expensive.

Advanced Chrome in TN is good, Advanced Custom Chrome in PA is good, Jon Wright's Custom Chrome in OH is great, expensive and slow. I've had good experience with all three of these.

You pay your money and you take your chances.

[58prostreet]

Not sure where u are located, but Royal Silver in Norfolk, Va. does very nice work. They are a bit pricey.

Bob

[Scruffy49]

Art Brass Plating in Seattle. Great work but very pricey. There is a plater in Surrey B.C. that does excellent work for 1/2 what you get charged in Seattle, Portland or NorCal. Can't remember the name though.

[silvernickel3]

I used Hanlon Plating in Richmond VA on bumpers. Satisfied with price an quality.

Also used Superior Plating in Texas for tail light bezels. Again satisfied with price and quality.

silvernickel3

Harry Hill

N.C.

[alan32433]

After a lot of research, I had my 48 DeSoto bumpers plated in Atlanta by Southern Bumper. They did a superior job, completely flawless. There were a few dings and small dents in them and they fixed those. The bumpers were $360 each, bumper guards $80 each.

[alan32433]

I forgot to mention the chrome shop I used for all my pot metal and smaller pieces and that was "Pot Metal Restorations" in Tallahassee Florida. He did the grill and quite a number of other pieces, all pot metal. He uses some sort of a special procedure for filling pits with a conductive filler, and then uses a really heavy coat of copper on top of that. I know show quality plating always includes a copper plate before the nickel, what I am talking about is a really HEAVY coat of copper. The finish result is flawless and very stable because of the heavy copper. The down side is for pieces that have to fit together, you sometimes get so much build up that the parts don't fit too well. I had to do some light grinding and sanding (areas that don't show) to get some of my pieces to fit together correctly.

I included a picture of the front of my car showing the freshly chromed grill and bumpers.

[Bingster]

That car is beautiful! I have a '47 Desoto Custom I'm doing. I got a quote for my grille in Des Moines. Would it be impolite of me to ask what you paid to get your grille plated? Did it have heavy pitting?

[49 Dodge Dude]

What a beautiful automobile!

[Frank Blackstone]

I recently go an email from ALSA paint in California about there lates electrostatically applied paint that is then heat set to look pretty close to plating. if you have small parts you may consider trying it. I am if I can find a discarded oven to use for the heat. Hey Coatney can I use yours. Frank

[alan32433]

Someone asked about the cost for chroming the grill. I had it priced separately from all the other stuff and it was a whopping $1300. But, the old one really looked bad and I just couldn't see doing the restoration without it.