Chrome shop Qs

Hi guys...

I spend an obscene amount of time at the newsgroup rec.autos.makers.vw.aircooled, but feel that this group might offer a better answer to my question. And let me also say that like and educated 'netter, I *did* go to deja news and searched on 'chrome shop's' in rec.autos.* as opposed to just jumping in here and asking a question that maybe gets asked once a month. I read a few posts from this group.

I am nearing the end of an 8 year restoration on a '57 Beetle. Parts for these cars, by comparison, are pretty plentiful, either used or very nice repros. But I am stuck with a chrome 'vertical' in the door that seems to be impossible to find (between the main window and the vent window in the door) and one of mine has most of the chrome rubbed off. I dropped the bars off at a chrome shop near me (they actuall only do the polishing and metal prep, then send the parts out to Rhode Island for plating) and they quoted me $65 each. These bars are only about 1/2' x 12' and are plated only on two sides.

Based on what I read at deja news just now (whole, big american metal bumpers for $150-$200 and 'uprights' for them at $15 or so) I think that is very high. And I am never comfortable paying a 'middle man' like this guy is.

So my question is (I'm sure you have heard it before): Where do I find a chrome shop, what do I look for? I'm in Eastern MA, about 25 mi west of Boston. I have heard in passing about a lot of shops in RI or CT.

I would also be interested to know what the costs in plating are. How much labor is invovled in dressing the metal/polishing? Is that most of the cost? Is it mostly materials? Equipment? Can I do any thing myself to save $$ ?? These pieces are NOT pitted or rusted at all.

Thanks for any help. If anyone wants to stop by my site and see pics of my resto (now 160 of them), the URL is below.

John, I've had a bumper re-chromed by this outfit in Tenn. I've heard, at a car show in Raliegh, that they are now doing small pieces. They re-chromed my rear bumper for my 68 F-100, it had slight bend, nicks , bents, etc, nothing real serious. They did an excellent job, all their work is triple plate, too and it was well packed coming back by US mail. So, you might want to give them a call. All this and it cost me 220.00! but that was two years ago. The plating process( as I have been told) 1 De-chrome the part, reverse electrolisis is used to remove the 'old chrome' down to the bare metal. This 'slag' is not re-used in the plating process, but has to be disposed of, ( Now this is where the EPA steps in with all their b.s.) 2 Dents and dings are removed, piece straightened, smoothed, etc. This is triple plate process 3 plate part with copper, buff out, check for small imperfections, replate with copper agin if necessary until flaws are gone.So, in other words, the copper is a filler. 4 Plate with nickel, buff smooth, clean, etc. wash and prep for final plate 5 Plate with chrome, (back side gets plated too but just isn't ever buffed out).There's slag left over in the plating tank that has to disposed of, again EPA . Every time you see EPA add $$$. 6 Buff it out ,check for flaws.

Hope this helps,

Wayne's Tri-City Plating 705 Lynn Ave. PO bx 68 Elizabeth, TN 37643 tel. 1-800-251-7536(this makes it easy!)

(remove obvious from address to respond)

Regards, John R.

[...]

Are you sure? I think the EPA (and equivalent state agencies, usually) care equally about use-contamination at the site and disposal. That is, they care as much about leaks from the plating tanks as they would about where the de-plating sludge goes.

Besides, the heavy metals reclamation biz has come a long way in the past ten years. I had a full tour of a furniture stripping shop that does a lot of lead paint stripping and the owner claimed that he made a bit of change selling the tank sludge to reclamation jobbers. Not enough to cover his hazmat handling/disposal costs, but it covered a good chunk of it.

Chromium, nickel, copper, etc. isn't cheap. I'd be surprised if metals reclamation wasn't a significant cost savings in the plating biz. Kind of dumb to dump what is essentially pure, if mixed, valuable metals into a hazmat dump.