Let me tell you all a little story. My 1952 ******* had "Korean" chrome. Due to a shortage in nickel the plating was very thin and all the chrome was shot in clear laquer. You can only imagine what it looked like after 40 years. This was the 1980s and I could buy everything NOS. So I did. I figured the better I started with the better it would replate. The NOS parts were of course also "Korean" chrome. All parts were dull and had yellowed laquer and shelf wear etc. I war restoring a car to be one of the best examples of its kind in the country so of course dull yellow chrome would not do. I sent all my NOS potmetal to a very well known and reputable plater that I found through Hemmings. About 40 parts in all. I paid for their top service which was a premium price. Turns out that meant longer in the chrome tank, not more attention to detail. What resulted was
that half the parts melted down. The other half were so heavily plated that tail light lenses would not fit in the bezels, guages would not fit in the dash frame, and threaded connector rods would not hold as the holes were rotted out. I get upset just thinking about it and I was ready to take a full page ad out in Hemming's warning others. The shop is still in business but under new ownership I understand.
As you might guess, no matter how good I think my plater is, I am not even going to risk losing more than a few parts at a time. As you can understand I was traumatized by the experience. I do mean traumatized! Southern Bumper is local, they have to deal with me directly, and if they want my business they have to maintain their work for me to bring them any more. Arran, your point makes sense as far as the bulk thing but then again I don't have to risk buying parts twice. They do so much pot metal I think they are "set up" about all the time anyway. I still have the melted down remains of a NOS grill covered in peeling copper and boiled pot metal. That all happened about 1986 and I should feel better soon....
As always, appreciate the input.
Richard Burgess '60 Crown Sedan
lecrown60@xxxxxxxxx
"A. Foster" <monkeypuzzle1@xxxxxxx> wrote:
Richard;
If you want to save some money on your replating, I would recommend taking all of your pot metal in at once and having it done in bulk. Setting up costs them as much money with six pieces as it does with six dozen so it usually gets cheaper in volume, though you need more money up front to do this. I should mention that some chrome platers are better at dealing with pot metal then others. The good ones strip them down, plate them with copper, and fill in the pits with solder. The bad shops grind the pits out and end up distorting the size and shape of the piece.
Best Regards
Arran Foster
1954 Imperial Newport
Needing A Left Side Tailight Bezel and other trim parts.
Subject: Re: IML: Confirmed, I have flashchromed stainless on my '60!
Dear IML members,
Chris Hawkins and I went to Southern bumper here in Atlanta today and the answer was yes! The stainless steel on my car was flash-chromed. From my experience with sanding and buffing out repairs on multiple parts I know that this applied to all of the exterior stainless on this car. I have found no exceptions so far. I was so elated to know that I was not crazy, well not as much crazy anyway! I will just use a hand applied creme metal polish and use as many original parts as possible. Fortuntely most of my trim is in excellent condition and I will just have to live with some of the finer scratches.
I had a few parts that were extremely nice but had been hit by an orbital sander as they were adjacent to poorly executed bodywork. When I took 600 grit wet and dry I immediately noticed a difference in the color of the metal. White/blue to yellow/grey. The parts polished beautifully but didn't look the same. The guy I spoke with at Southern Bumper said to strip all the chrome off with muratic acid and buff the parts. However, the flash-plating is so thin that it doesn't take any more work to just buff it off. This though leaves chrome in the recesses and if you only repair a small spot you end up with a piece of trim that is two colors. Brilliant but of different depth and color. So, now I have a few parts that need to be rechromed.
Southern Bumper will not plate stainless. They say that nickel will not adhere to stainless so the chrome was applied directly to the stainless. Apparently this is a specialty process. Anyone know a good specialist? Of course I didn't already have enough stuff to search for and enough chrome to replate. I called a few local plating shops and some asked why while others just told me it was not something they did. Great huh? Got any ideas on this new conundrum? I left my six pot metal headlight brow pieces which were estimated at $285 for restoration. Gosh, only 40 more pieces of pot metal to go....
The technician at Southern Bumper told me that even Ford was known to flashchrome stainless. It aparently is uncommon but not unheard of. He should know as they were working on everything from Edsel grills to Buick ornaments. Let me know if anyone hears of a plating shop that will do stainless. I have 6 pieces so far that I have restored and would like to have done.
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