chrome plating

[Greg]

Good plating is expensive. Bad plating is even more expensive. I used Graves Plating in Florence, AL (256)764-9487. They were great to work with, quick and top quality. As a point of reference the top and bottom of my windshield frame were $300.

 

[John Loftus]

You can still find people who do triple plating in California. Triple plating refers to striping to bare metal and then plating in three stages ... copper, nickel, chrome. If you want to keep it local, I suggest you go to a Harley Davidson shop and ask them where they or their customers get their chrome work done.

There are some shops that specialize in chroming bumpers and their prices are low but be careful. I've heard that they machine grind the bumpers down to smooth them out and this can result in a very thin bumper.

It will cost more to have the bumpers chromed than to buy a new aftermarket set but the original bumpers are thicker and stronger than aftermarket.

If you have more than bumpers to rechrome then try to do it all in one batch. You can usually get a better price for a bulk order than individual pieces. I had my bumpers, overriders,
door trim, vent windows, U-shaped cockpit surround, and license lamp cover done for $750.

Cheers,
John

 

[ThomP]

As another point of reference, I had my windshield surround redone here in Fl for $400.00. A shop up the road wanted over $800.00 for the same job!!! The lower priced shop is a little messier around the edges, but they are about 3 times busier than the expensive place.

It pays to shop around.

 

[tahoe healey]

Has anyone had success with chrome plating fo a bumper? There are a few scratches and pits but generally sound. I under stand there are not the choices there once were due to EPA. What should it cost?

 

[Paul Sj]

I am about to send my bumpers to Keystone Automotive, North Star Bumper Division in Kansas City, MO (800)835-5027. They were referred to me by several restoration fanatics who have been happy with the bumpers. You can ask for "Show Chrome" to get the best finish. I have not got a price yet. Although they used to only do bumpers, I guess they now also will do other parts as well.

If anyone has had bad luck with North Star, please let me know.

Paul

 

[willy_1959]

Hi
I am just starting on my big healey, so my only experiance is with my bugeye. I had Paulschrome do my plating https://www.paulschrome.com/ and it was nothing less that outstanding. Its been on the car now for almost 2 years, and looks as good as the day I recieved it. They are quality people to deal with, and as I have never used any one else, I cant see how any one could have done a better job. I am a very fussy person, I am a tradesman, so when things arent right they drive me crazy, this was perfect.
Hohnest, I could not find fault.

they have a neat way of bidding your project also, you ship it to them, they give a quote, if for any reason you dont want them to do the work, they ship it back to at their expense, pretty hard to be more fair than that..

 

[Brian N.]

Hello--

Right after I received the BT7 from the midwest, I pulled the bumpers off and delivered them to Delta Plating in Stockton, CA.

As the bumpers were original think type, not the thin gauge repros, I paid the money to get them done.

Two bars and four overriders came to $700. They needed only a bit of straightening. Rust was very minor. The main problem was the many scratches they picked up over time.

Delta did a good job. Although some pot metal parts I had them do for my 49 Plymouth Woodie were not done to "show quality". In fact, they were barely acceptable. But I also didn't pay three times the price, either.

Delta can be reached at 800-648-9606

I believe I dealt with Mike.

It is the typical plating shop: weird chemicals, smells, and pools of strage colored liquid all over the place. You certianly would not want to go into the shop area. It is probably on the EPA nightmare list.

But they go the job done quickly. And did not lose any parts.

BTW, they are right off the cross town freeway, just south of where Dr. Nock's operating room is.

 

[Johnny]

I highly recommend having your original bumpers and overiders plated. I had them done locally, United Plating in St louis. They charged me $150 for each bumper plus $50 each overider. They came out great.

They however, only do bumpers or large pieces. I had to go to St. Louis plating for all the small pieces. They also buffed the stainless steel eyebrow piece over the grille. It too looked super! BTW I painted the inside of the bumpers semi gloss black. Really shows off the chrome. Much better than the silver that was original.
Good Luck with your restoration.

 

[ThomP]

Brian

Many platers won't even touch "pot metal" without the owner signing a disclaimer for the quality! I'm not surprised they were only "acceptable" and not show quality. What's worse is historicaly (I'm not saying yours will) pot metal doesn't seem to last after the plating either.

It's good that most of the bits on a Healey have a platable base metal.

 

[Editor_Reid]

Speaking of replating pot metal, does anyone know of a shop that does a good job with it? Or are the results with pot metal universally so-so, at best?

I have an original 100 grill badge that needs a re-do, but I'm reluctant to hand it over to someone without at least some good recommendations. I had an original one replated recently by a local shop here in Oregon and the results did not meet my high hopes.

Thanks.

 

[Dave Russell]

Reid,
Give this a try, they are in Orlando;
https://www.chromeplus.com/service.htm
No experience with them but you could ask for references.
D