Reproduced parts or rechrome

pfreen

pfreen

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I have stripped the chrome parts off of my car and I wanted to get input on the quality of the reproduced parts available. I did buy some front turn signal housings and they were excellent. That is my only experience. I am trying to make a concours car. Obviously, budget matters.

I am going to take the parts to a chrome shop to get an estimate. At what price difference should I go with the reproduced parts?

I will be redoing all the chrome since it is rough.

I'd appreciate any input you all have.

Thanks
 
Chrome

pfreen said:
I have stripped the chrome parts off of my car and I wanted to get input on the quality of the reproduced parts available. I did buy some front turn signal housings and they were excellent. That is my only experience. I am trying to make a concours car. Obviously, budget matters.

I am going to take the parts to a chrome shop to get an estimate. At what price difference should I go with the reproduced parts?

I will be redoing all the chrome since it is rough.

I'd appreciate any input you all have.

Thanks
Click to expand...

First: Good chrome is all about prep & patience ($$$) Interrogate the shop for process procedure. It matters. Flash chrome will look good until the check clears. Our high end guys DO NOT quote as the product dictates what is needed. The also-ran guys have a 50 % return and try again rating. Just sayin'
 
I will get show quality, triple plated chrome.
My question is about the quality and accuracy of the reproduced chrome parts and how they compare to quality rechromed parts.
 
chrome

Keep in mind that the reproduction bumpers and over riders being sold do not have the same profile as originals. Being stainless they do have a good finish. The reproduction upper eyebrow of the grill area is also stainless and does not possess the flexability of the original so it may show gaps between it and the body. I haven't seen any reproduction tail light units, windshield frame trim, or hard top trim. These units were not plated and require polishing instead of plating The reproduction trunk hinges are good. Some of the items coming out of Holland have not been the highest quality or have the best finish. I use a plater in Middletown, Pa and as Randy said, preparation is the key to good plating. LiBrandi's do a great job as far as preparation and plating but they're not cheap. LiBrandi's did all of the plating and polishing for this car including plating the gear shift with the exception of the windshield frame which on this car is brass and had been replated by the previous owner
 

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Opinion 2 centavos

pfreen said:
I will get show quality, triple plated chrome.
My question is about the quality and accuracy of the reproduced chrome parts and how they compare to quality rechromed parts.
Click to expand...

As a whole, for a high end restoration, I would give the repop chrome a B-minus at best. Case in point would be the eyebrow which came to us in chrome over brass. In good hands it restores to beauty. The repop has bend wrinkles that defy straightening. Door handles and hinges are the more expensive to re-chrome. The repops are OK at 90%. Just sayin'
 
I owned a high end plating company in silicon valley for more that 10 years. The problem with replating old car parts is stripping the old finish off and then repairing the base metal before attempting to replate the part. Plating stripers are very aggressive and must be watched otherwise they attack the base metal before the plating is removed. I have seen thousand dollar parts come out of a stripping bath with so much base metal removed they are just junk. After stripping the part usually gets a generous layer of copper to fill in all of the pits created during the stripping process and then the part is sanded to smooth out the pits and irregularities and then more copper is added and the the whole part is polished. This often is done several times before the part is good enough to plate the finish coating. Plating old parts is just a crap shoot. When I did the chrome parts on my car( best in class in the last 3 tigers united) I figured on a 50% fallout during plating and parts with pot metal as a base material are even worse ( we are talking concourse quality parts here) Your best bet is to buy only NOS good quality parts and expect a significant fallout during plating. No one has ever done a concourse car on the cheap...ask me how I know !!!

Moondoggie
 
chrome

The biggest problem with taking door handles apart for plating is getting the small coil spring installed when trying to reassemble. Rick @ SS told me that's why he now sells the repros with the lock cover assembled. I have a couple NOS push buttons and I have to say the repro's finish looks better. The car in my photo has Rick's repro handles.
 
Moondoggie said:
I owned a high end plating company in silicon valley for more that 10 years. The problem with replating old car parts is stripping the old finish off and then repairing the base metal before attempting to replate the part. Plating stripers are very aggressive and must be watched otherwise they attack the base metal before the plating is removed. I have seen thousand dollar parts come out of a stripping bath with so much base metal removed they are just junk. After stripping the part usually gets a generous layer of copper to fill in all of the pits created during the stripping process and then the part is sanded to smooth out the pits and irregularities and then more copper is added and the the whole part is polished. This often is done several times before the part is good enough to plate the finish coating. Plating old parts is just a crap shoot. When I did the chrome parts on my car( best in class in the last 3 tigers united) I figured on a 50% fallout during plating and parts with pot metal as a base material are even worse ( we are talking concourse quality parts here) Your best bet is to buy only NOS good quality parts and expect a significant fallout during plating. No one has ever done a concourse car on the cheap...ask me how I know !!!

Moondoggie
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I once took a trunk handle to a plating shop here in Ohio. It was a typical 50 year old piece with pits. I received a call one day telling me they couldn't plate it. The young guy working on it kept grinding it down to remove the pits. He had no clue what he was doing. When the shop owner saw what he was doing he stopped him even though it was too late. It didn't resemble a trunk handle at that point. LiBrandi's have plated a couple for me and they came out great. Great work doesn't come cheap.
 
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Too more

Our high end choice has never disappointed me. Even pot metal repairs are flawless. As previously stated, working the copper is an art form. But, the man-hours add up fast. $$$
 
chrome

0neoffive said:
Our high end choice has never disappointed me. Even pot metal repairs are flawless. As previously stated, working the copper is an art form. But, the man-hours add up fast. $$$
Click to expand...

Randy,
I have to agree. My reason for trying the local plater on an item I have quite a few of told me a lot. I'll make the 450 mile drive to LiBrandi's to drop off bumpers before ever taking them to the local guy. LiBrandi's stand behind their work if a problem pops up. As far as cost the latest charge for plating a bumper and over riders was $750.00. They also finish the back side.
 
$750 for one bumper is steep- ABC plating in Sparks Nevada is a lot more down to earth and the backside of the bumper is as good as the topside-
 
Depends

Seen plenty of bumpers that have been straightened that got little tick marks on the back from the straightening process. As with anything else there's good cores and bad cores.
I remember bringing in an air cleaner housing brand new bare steel to a local plater that I've used for years. Bicycle parts motorcycle parts car parts
When I took him a housing I said how much to do 10 of them. He says "well let me see" I come back in a couple weeks when he calls me and he says how great they are how straight they are how easy it was and that'll be $200 and then I say how much to do 10 and he says 10 times 200 I gave him $200 and have never returned. This guy's well known across the Long Beach flea market car swap meet motorcycle swap meet and bicycle swap meet.
Next time I'll try those guys called the bumper boys... I've had clients tell me they have gotten air cleaner housings done for $60 to 150 over the past six or so years. Oh and I did this air cleaner about 5 years ago....
 
chrome

Hi, as everyone is mentioning there are 2 groups of chrome parts- those that are re popped and those that have to be re chromed because no one is making new versions.

If you have to rechrome the challenge is to get the results you want at the most reasonable price.

Rechroming some parts make no sense. I've bought a couple of Rick's gas cap lid and button sets and I thought there were great. Were they show chrome? I have no idea.

The new horn ring to me looks odd but the original ones broke after a while and they are hard to chrome.

The soft top parts like the arm, pivot and adjusting nut also seem to be good quality and all of the original ones I've removed have been thrashed.

I guess my point is that each individual chrome piece has it's own set of challenges.

Someone mentioned the trunk pull. Years ago I ordered the pull, top latches and door handles from the rootes guy in Holland.

I ended up sending it all back due to quality issues so the only place that made money on that deal was the post office.
 
chrome

Bryan said:
$750 for one bumper is steep- ABC plating in Sparks Nevada is a lot more down to earth and the backside of the bumper is as good as the topside-
Click to expand...

It's all a matter of what you term steep and what you care to spend.
 
So here is my interpretation of the comments.

Rechroming is expensive and somewhat risky which I already knew. I got burned on another car's bumpers which had to have chromed twice at different vendors. Obviously ss bumpers are not the same as oem ones. I will be rechroming the oem bumpers at a reputable rechromer.

The remanufactured parts are also expensive and the quality is somewhat unknown, which is why I asked. However, the tough parts to rechrome (the pot metal parts, top clamps and exterior door handles which also require disassembly) I guess are of ok quality according to the comments. True?

Thanks for your input.
 
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