Chroming costs - ouch!

[andrewh]

I just got a quote for my remaining chrome and a few zinc plating items. I am still in shock. Can anyone give me a ball park for a FHC please or failing that some guidance on specific parts such as numbers over riders headlight chromes etc. it will give me something to compare to. Thanks

[Dave K]

I just got a quote for my remaining chrome and a few zinc plating items. I am still in shock. Can anyone give me a ball park for a FHC please or failing that some guidance on specific parts such as numbers over riders headlight chromes etc. it will give me something to compare to. Thanks

Andrew,

I have an OTS and around 7 years ago I chrome plated every original peice of my car excluding the wheels and the cost was ?3500.
Zinc plating is fairly cheap most of the places I have used will do a few bits here and there for cash.

Dave

[Heuer]

Just took my new mild steel resonators into Nottingham Platers (who used to do work for Jaguar in the 60's & 70's) and they quoted ?90 each + VAT. Looking at the bills for the FHC I see ACF Howells charged ?230 for two door frames and ?130 for two rear quarter curves back in 2010.

[abowie]

All the big items and a few little ones about AU$3k.

[andrewh]

Ok. Thanks guys. I have been quoted about ?7000 for pretty much all the chrome plus maybe another 1k for the zinc. Seems steep to me ?165 each front bumper plus 45 per over rider. I will get the full breakdown tomorrow. Ummh

[abowie]

Ok. Thanks guys. I have been quoted about ?7000. Ummh

That does seem to be quite a lot.
Chrome work does involve a lot of hand work both in knocking out dents and also in repeated copper plating and rubbing back to remove smaller imperfections. This is time consuming and time is money. To some extent the final cost will depend on what standard of finish you want too, and some platers will offer different "grades", however I would expect that you should be able to get a very good, if not perfect, finish for less than half of your quote.
If the trim you have is severely rusted, the cost will be more, and it is important to consider the value of restoring a bad bit of trim against the cost and desirability of a reproduction piece. Many of the smaller pieces are hard to rechrome and are offered as good quality reproductions. The bonnet bulge grille on my 3.8 is a good example.
It is important to make sure that your panel-beater checks the fit of your exterior trim, and adjusts it as necessary, before you get the chroming done. There can be significant variability in fit and this is very hard to fix after the event. This particularly applies to the headlight chromes and lights, but every piece should be checked.
As to zinc plating, when adding it all up I have probably spent over $AU1000 however I have plated everything, even things that I subsequently paint.

[Heuer]

More expensive but consider nickel plate for the suspension parts. It looks closer to cadmium and it will last a great deal longer. I notice one of the front arms on my FHC has started to discolour after 1,000 dry miles!

[christopher storey]

My bumpers, overriders , and window frames for a FHC , were in the region of ? 900 about 5 years ago from Vernon Bros Electroplating in Heckmondwike. To some extent , it depends on how much prep/polishing they will have to do i.e. the worse the current state, the more it costs, but they made a very good job and so far it has all lasted well . There are one or two very expensive firms e.g. Derby Plating who do an unimpeachable job and charge accordingly , but 7k sounds very expensive even if it was them .

[Dave K]

As well as chrome plating being very labour intensive they are under huge pressure from the Environment agency (EA) they can't pump any effluent out of site so everything has to be bunded cleaned and reused.
Of course we end up paying for all of this.

Dave

[andrewh]

ok, so just had the breakdown. Hold on to your seats. ?145 each side for rechroming my gutter channel trims! the rest was much like that, frightening. therefore can anyone confirm repro rain channel chromes fit, as also interior door strips? I cannot pay that its bonkers money for a small part which costs ?30 from SNG. What about repro front screen chromes, not A posts I know they are bad as a repro

[Heuer]

If you can use the originals do so, the repro's will drive you mad trying to get them to fit. Alternative is to get a quote from a different plater. I know a very good one in the Midlands (cash and a bottle of single malt required).

[Malk]

Is there an arguement for using some imported Stainless Steel overriders/bumper sections instead or is that a daft move?

I need to do exactly the same excercise and would love to have a sensible resolve. Stainless should last longer or I guess depends on quality?

[Heuer]

Daft! Stainless steel has a different hue to chrome so unless you intend to go the whole hog and use s/s wheels, door trim, window surrounds etc etc the car will never look right. I have never understood the desire for stainless steel given a properly chromed set of bumpers on a classic car will probably outlast the owner. Same with s/s exhausts - the mild steel system on my ?lan has been there for 18 years and is showing no signs of rusting through. Given the way most classics are used there simply is no need for spending extra on such longevity.

[Malk]

Understand but seem to be several comments on the chroming not lasting. Agree if prepd properly considering the car isn't exposured to cold, salt and rain where poss chrome should be first choice. On basis I will need new brackets, window rubbers and trim resetting this is a job to tie in with paiting car too guess an ?8-10k job in total plus interior after.

[abowie]

When I last looked, I could get a set of 4 stainless bumpers for around US$800. I never saw them in the flesh though and decided to rechrome my old ones, which cost almost exactly the same.
By comparison I had to buy a new front left bumper for my 3.8. It cost UK125 plus freight from Barratts about a month ago.
On the issue of stainless colour; I have MWS wire wheels with chrome rims and hubs and stainless spokes. To my eye there isn't any appreciable "colour" difference between the 2 metals.

[Heuer]

IT is the yellow tint that gives it away

Chromed:



Stainless:



As regards the s/s bumpers I seem to recall they were shipped from the Far East and only available for the S2.

[Malk]

Yes - I keep looking at those on eBay too!! Guess the real answer is just re-chrome but use a reputable company.

[warren]

don.t worry mate chromers are the same world wide like lawers and brainsurgeons but we need them ...WAZZA

[PeterM]

Castle chrome in Dudley the quality of there work is superb and there costs are nothing like that, @100 per bumper, I travel from Scotland just to use them, speak to Rob

[Francis]

Well,

Re-chroming can be done and then it can be really done!

One of the best chrome shop in the world is in Canada. These guys are not cheap. But they do it all. Send them your warped bumpers, your twisted chrome railings, they straiten everything and the chrome they do is buffed until perfection.

The R.E.O. Car club of America, The Harley Club of Canada, restorers all over the world do business with these guys.

I restore cars as a hobby, I do it with the intention of making cars as original as possible but also as safe as possible. Usually, money is no object for my projects. Chrome is the tell-tail of a job well done.

It took me years of trial and errors to get things right with my suppliers.
This one I got right and I keep them for all my chrome jobs.

A series 2 OTS from 69, all chrome, seats tracks fixes, zinc plated, all my hardware either cadnium coated or zinc coated, all that the car needed in plating for $8 000.- and those chrome bumpers and door finishers! WOW!

Polissage & Placage GG Plating & Polishing

They did my RR Corniche, my Lagonda V8, my Morgan +4 and my Jaguar E-Type OTS.

Contact Carole, she's a doll and a car buff and the owner's daughter!

info@placagegg.com
Tel.:011-450-651-5190

Tell them I send you!

Francis