re chrome parts from ebay / lucas repro headlamps

[WaltCasten]

Hello,

I am in process of restoring a BN2 and have some questions, here are a couple of them;

Has anyone bought re-chromed parts from britboy55 on ebay? He appears to have several auctions of re-chrome parts on an exchange basis on ebay at any given time and a very high feedback rating. I guess I'm looking for some off ebay real world feedback.

I would really like to use a set of the reproduction lucas lemans 24 headlamps in the car but am seriously concerned about the operational qualities of them if they are the typical Chinese or Indian / Pakistan junk. It's one thing to buy a piece of chrome with waves or that peels after a couple years, it's another if I can't see where the heck I'm going at night. I see there are several sources for them.

Any input would be appreciated,
Walt

for the search engines: Le-Mans Le Mans le mans Lemans headlight chrome rechrome chromed re-chromed

 

[rjc157]

bought stuff from him in the past his name is Brad,honest guy he usually does stuff on an exchange basis unless he has it in stock

 

[tahoe healey]

How is the price verses having your part re-chromed?

 

[WaltCasten]

He's higher from what I have seen. I'm not sure by how much yet as I am waiting on a quote from him on a shifter handle which he does not have listed on ebay right now. I will let you know how much it is. I'm fine with it being more if the work is good given the parts are shipped right away (in stock re-chromed for exchange). Local chrome shops seem to be hit or miss on delivery, might be a few weeks...might be six months+. In this case I have a guy working on the trans right now and would like the shifter right away so it's worth the premium to just have it ready to go.

 

[Superwrench]

Bought chrome parts from him in the past and will again. Excellent quality and fair price compaired to platers in my area.

 

[Keoke]

How is the price verses having your part re-chromed?

his name is Brad,honest guy

---OH Sure !!!! wonder why he does not advertise in the Healey Magazines????--Keoke

 

[Patrick67BJ8]

How is the price verses having your part re-chromed?

his name is Brad,honest guy

---OH Sure !!!! wonder why he does not advertise in the Healey Magazines????--Keoke

Probably to pass the savings on to us!
Patrick

 

[Keoke]

OH SURE---Keoke-- :lol:

 

[HealeyRick]

I've known Brad DelSorbo for about 30 yrs. He's a Healey guy and knows his stuff. I wouldn't hesitate about purchasing from him.

 

[bighealeysource]

Hey Walt,
I've bought from Brad also and as everyone here has said, very honest and his pricing is usually very competitive. If you're looking to buy some new shiny parts for your BN2, consider going to AH Spares in the UK. A lot of the chrome pieces that Moss sells come from AH Spares and on many pieces you can get their higher quality chrome in addition to the standard quality chrome. I have bought both and been happy with quality on both but the better quality is very nice and probably worth the extra pounds ! Maybe compare with domestic parts and then add in about 20% to ship it over plus right now about 1.62 dollars/pound. Of course, I haven't checked that rate since our debt issue so might be a good idea to double check that exchange rate.
Good luck,
Mike

 

[WaltCasten]

Has anyone used his restored 100-4 grille assemblies?

 

[AUSMHLY]

How is the price verses having your part re-chromed?

his name is Brad,honest guy---OH Sure !!!! wonder why he does not advertise in the Healey Magazines????--Keoke

I've purchased products from him in the past, two times. Both times I had problems with him.

First time the door chrome top finsher for my BJ8 came bent because he did not pack it good enough and he wanted me to pay the shipping both ways to send it back to him. His excuse, I don't know why you say it's bent, I packed it well. Well Brad, not well enough, hence my call. He refused to take responsibilty. Plus it was not as good as he described and he is good at making his products sound like the best stuff on earth. Not true. It was of the same quaility the reproductions we are not getting from china.

The last time I had to get VISA involved to refund my money, for he would not return my calls, my emails, my phone messages. He would not return my part nor my money. This went on for 9 months! Excuse after excuse from him. I got to the point where I had to use someone elses phone, for he would not pick up my number or blocked numbers from me. I've been really really sick, I've been busy, I'm a one man show, blah blah blah.

Brad has two sides. His slick sales of I have the best parts and some of them he may have. His other side is not my fault and I'm going to be passive agressive in not fixing the problem. Buyer beware I say.

 

[WaltCasten]

Wow!

Well from what I hear this sort of treatment is pretty common amongst chrome platers, which is the main reason I asked the question in the first place. The small operations tend to completely stink on turn around and customer service and the big shops have a tendency to lose things.

Thanks for all the input guys.

 

[why]

Thank you AUSMHLY for being honest. It has been a bone of this and other forums about telling problems with suppliers. Some folks are very critical of such forthrightness; however I always thought the idea of such web based forums was to share just these kinds of experiences, especially for enthusiasts. Sadly there are some folk who see our enthusiasm simply as a way to make a buck and participate in these forums for that reason, so Congrats to you AUSMHLY
Jay, '65 3000
P.S. On a LotusCaterhman7 forum I was castigated for describing a supplier who knowingly sold me bad fender and would not refund, received several private messages to my email address recounting same types of experiences and dicey stuff involving litigation

 

[drambuie]

I have bought items from britboy in the past, He is very very good to work with and very fast shipping with great response to any questions i had. However i never bought rechrome items yet.

 

[WaltCasten]

Following up on some of my old posts for people's information:

Regarding britboy55 chrome plating:

britboy55 is not capable of properly plating a 100-4 grille slat assembly, which is supposed to be a matte finish chrome. His solution is to bright plate it and then scuff the top face of the slats with a scotch-brite pad leaving the sides of the slats bright. Many areas have been scuffed through to the nickel and obviously looks terrible with the wrinkly slat sides bright chrome plated. I cannot speak to the quality of his regular bright chrome plating. I found his service and timing to be good.

Regarding the reproduction Lucas LeMans 24 headlamps:

These low end reproductions should be called Lucas LE MARS headlamps. The Le Mans script was obviously freehanded, is completely different and the "N" looks like an "R". The "LUCAS" logo also uses a different font. The flute profile and count appear to be correct. I returned them immediately so I cannot speak to how they actually function. If anyone is considering these, feel free to PM me and I can send digital pictures of a known good original and the repro next to it to see what I'm talking about.

<span style="font-weight: bold">added note:</span> There may be more than one source for these low end repos (although I doubt it) and I can only speak to the one. Again, if someone is considering these, PM me and I will tell you which source and what to look for should you try elsewhere.

Thanks!
Wally