Chrome re-plating service

[Andy Fl]

Hi....does anyone know of a reasonably priced chrome re-finishing (electro-plating) anywhere. I am based in West Surrey. but I want to get my two rear over-riders re-plated and was quoted £120 for both by a company in Camberley. Why would I pay that much when I can buy two new (refurbished) ones for £115 from Canley Classics ?? Any help or suggestions are gratefully received as always (as is any advice on the quality of the over riders from Canley Classics),

Thanks in advance
Andy

[VW1956]

Hello. The main reason for spending more on getting your parts re-chromed is that they may well be original parts. I would much rather have the parts the car left the factory with even if it costs a bit more. I once asked for a quote to get the front and rear bumpers (American style) rechromed. Was quoted £820 yes that was eight hundred and twenty pounds. I had to decline that and buy NOS.  Ken.

[Andy Fl]

Hi Ken...up to a point I agree with you. I am for originality and as a general principle I was brought up to believe that you should repair and re-use wherever possible, instead of simply replacing. However, common sense has to take over when the price to repair is far more than to replace

[piman]

Hello Andy,

if the new overiders are like the ones I bought, they were rubbish and started rusting very quickly. With chromium plating you get wht you pay for and i now will be very vary of buying new.
Take it to a decent platers, pay the money and have a long lasting job. Do it right, do it once.

Alec

[Andy Fl]

OK that's an interesting point of view. That might well help to sway my decision. Thanks for that Alec

[mikeyb]

hmmn sounds a lot to me. google chrome platers and ring a few other companies for comparison, but ask them (and the one who has already quoted you) what is the step by step process they intend to carry out.

If I recall, the better re-chromers apply coat of copper or nickel or similar before the fianl coat of chrome.  the cheaper ones may not and as chrome is porous in that instance you will get rust.

suggest google the process to learn more  :-)

[heraldcoupe]

A decent plater will first apply copper, to take up imperfections. Thee comes nickel, which is the basis of the colour. Then comes the chrome, the thinnest of the coatings to provide the final shine. There are of course polishing stages all along the way.
If a plater proposes omitting any of these stages, walk away.

Some new parts have decent chrome, but it can be highly variable. With multiple suppliers for some parts, it also means no hard and fast rule on which parts should be avoided.

Plating is expensive, but there are economies in commercial batch production. That means you can get good chrome on new parts for less than the cost of re-chroming your originals. It doesn't mean you necessarily will though....

Cheers,
Bill.

[Paudman]

piman wrote:

Hello Andy,

if the new overiders are like the ones I bought, they were rubbish and started rusting very quickly.

I was supplied with two by an owner whose car I was rebuilding; no idea of the supplier but they rusted BEFORE leaving the garage, and whilst it's unheated I wouldn't call it damp in any way. I got original fronts and rears rechromed for my estate.

[Deleted User]

Triple plate chrome is what the bits left Canley with back in the day, most plating now is just a quick chrome flash over and will rust if you breath on it.

Why is proper plating so expensive?
Behold the process of refurbishing chrome parts.

http://www.tripleplatechrome.com/process.htm

[Dyna]

Hi

I got a decent plater, he is very good on normal steel stuff but  not so good on diecast/potmetal/mazak. Please PM me and I will dig up his name and contact info.

Cheers Dyna

[GarthT]

Andy,

I have recently had two front over-riders rechromed. It was a bloke on eBay who sells bits and pieces of rechromed stuff.

I bought two reasonable ones from another eBayer for £20, then I emailed him, sent him them and he charged me £50 to replate the two overiders and this included return postage.

They were chemically stripped, polished and triple plated and I'm well happy with the results. It took about three weeks.

pm me if you want his contact details.

[Andy Fl]

Thanks for all of the responses (and sorry for the slow reply from me). GarthT and Dyna, I wonder if it is TK Platers in Shropshire that you are referring to? That is who I ended up using (found them in the back pages of Practical Classic magazine) and the price was identical for the same triple plating finish. They should be due back next week and I intend to put up some before/after shots when I get them back. thanks once again for all the advice...Andy

[GarthT]

Andy, mine went to a bloke in Grays, Essex. But as long as they come back looking good and the chrome lasts a good few years then that's great. I read somewhere, possibly on here, that putting a thin smear of vaseline on your chrome during bad weather does wonders and keeps the weather/salt from attacking them.

Looking forward to some shiny shots when you get them back.