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Chrome Shop recommendations?

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mjobrien

mjobrien

Jedi Trainee
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Healey Team,

I need to start sending some parts out for Chrome, any recommendations, please no negative comments so as we maintain our good standing with the Moderator….

Also does it matter if all parts go at once if you use the same Chrome shop?

Michael
55 BN1
Tampa Fl.
 
You may be able to dicker for a better price with all your parts at one time if they are shipping them to another place to be chromed. I go to a chrome shop in person(with the vats on premisis)and save shipping. (and see their work) I then have control of the time it takes to get it done and cut out the middle man. You can then talk to them about reshapping and sanding out the pits.
 
I've got a few tips. In college I worked at a plating company. We did zinc, cad, nickel, chrome, silver, copper, etc. It helped tremendously to be able to tell a good chrome job from a bad one. Now when I get my parts chromed, I can spot the less than optimal results. Luckily, my local plater is honorable, and will quite willingly re-do a part if I point out work legitimately needing re-work. So there are a couple of points: Learn what is good and what is not so good chrome. Find a plater who is local and reputable. Don't take all your parts at once. Take a few to start, and see how the work goes, and how the relatioship develops. Inspect the parts at the shop before paying, preferable in the sunshine, where flaws will show better. Have photos of each part before leaving them. Disassemble all parts completely. I do mean completely. Get price quotes in writing. Have the plater give you a time frame. Don't just drop them off and hope. Be patient.

Chrome plating is an inexact art when dealing with, to the plater, unique parts. Understand that a reputable plater does not want inferior work leaving his shop any more than you want to have inferior plating on your car. Finally, be prepared for high costs. Plating is highly labor intensive, and proper storage, use and disposal of plating materials is very expensive to the plater. There are some parts which make more money sense to buy new, already plated. Some parts are definitely worth re-plating, though.

Good luck. There's not much more satisfying than putting on a well plated part during final assembly.
 
Cutlass has good points. I'd only add something about the photos. Make two copies, one for yourself and one for the plater. Each part must go through many stations and the tags may need to be removed. It's much easier to collect the parts to an order with photos than a description that says "trim piece". I could have saved myself an elevated heart rate if I had done that.
 
This is the picture I included (in a page protector) to the plater when I took these parts in.

ws_001.jpg


I used a local shop; Al's Polishing, here in Toledo and was very pleased with the results.

I was told ahead of time, that it would be difficult to "throw" chrome under the lip, but was pleasantly surprised with the finished job (maybe Cutlass can see the flaws... :wink: ).
 
Can't see the flaws there. In relation to chrome plating, "throw" means the ability of the chrome to reach surfaces that are shielded from direct migration because of the shape of the part being plated. For instance, it would be very difficult to get chrome inside the channel of a windshield frame. Nickel is much better at this.

Nickel will give a distinctly yellow cast, when compared directly with chrome, which has a much more bluish cast. Chrome can also be prevented from plating in an area by an electronic field, such as when the plater attaches a bolt or wire to the part to help in conductivity or mechanical attachment. I just made it through a perfect example. The BJ8 has a chrome plated brass finishing piece at the top of the door. This piece has a hole in its side for a snap stud. First time around, the plater used this hole to attach the piece to the plating rack, and a nice, 3/8 inch diameter nickel ring was the result. That means that in the middle of the piece, there was a circular spot surrounding the hole with nickel but no chrome. This piece eventually was replated twice more, and yesterday delivered in prime condition.

It takes a bit of a practiced eye to spot what I call these nickel shadows. When freshly buffed, nickel is hard to tell from chrome if you're not used to seeing the difference. These nickel to chrome transition areas usually occur around the edges of the piece, or around holes as described above. I would not accept any piece with a visible nickel shadow where it would show. But don't expect the chrome to be perfect everywhere. Give the plater some slack in the hidden areas.
 
All,

Great input... thanks I'll look for a local shop so I can visit which sounds like the best first step....


Michael.
 
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