rechroming potmetal question

[MrEarl]

What constitutes a good candidate for a rechrome core. I understand it has to do with the fact that pitting has to be dealt with by drilling and brazing? the pits, but how big/deep/ ugly does a pit have to be to require this treatment. And how does a chromer charge for this prep work? 

 

[Bhigdog]

28 minutes ago, MrEarl said:

And how does a chromer charge for this prep work? 

 

In dollars, by the wheelbarrow ..............Bob

[SpecialEducation]

The rechromers I deal with quote each job on a case by case basis.  They estimated about $50 extra to fix a crack in our hood scoop, so anything less than $50 for a replacement was money in our pocket. 

[JZRIV]

Depending on the part geometry some shops may try to grind out very small pits by taking the overall all surface down. This can lead to uneven appearing surfaces and rounded sharp corners/edges. So much depends on the depth of pitting and the skill of the plater.  For certain any pitting that has blistered should be filled first. You always want to start with the best condition part you can find and that process is VERY dependent on the specific part and how difficult/expensive it is to find a pit free or mostly pit free core.

 

For example lets say a pit free re-plate is $225. If the part is moderately pitted it could cost as much as $375-$400 if a shop has to spend a couple extra hours filling pits. If you could find a pit free core for say $75 plus shipping, money would be saved by doing so. There are too many variables specific to each part to provide a generic answer that would be applicable to all pieces.

 

Its a good idea to get a quote from your trusted plater, then you can make a better decision on whether its worth going after a pit free core.

 

Shops I have dealt with charge by the hour so time is money. If you find a shop who specializes in repairing pitted parts they probably have a guy who does it everyday all day and they might be less expensive because of their expertise due to the speed at which the work can be done vs someone who doesn't specialize.

 

I will add some shops can repair the most severely pitted, cracked or with holes part so even if no good replacement core is available, that's the best option by default regardless of cost. 

 

 

Edited November 7, 2016 by JZRIV (see edit history)

[Matt Harwood]

The cost of dipping a part is the same, regardless of its condition. It is all the hand labor to repair pits and cracks that makes most plating so outrageously expensive. I got a quote to chrome the 3-piece grille of my 1941 Buick--the one that was on it originally. The figure came back somewhere around $6000, and that was in 2001 or so, and I'm guessing that prices have gone up from there. In the meantime, I kept buying grilles to find a better core (I bet I have 9 or 10 grille assemblies now) . Ultimately, I acquired a brand new NOS 3-piece raw casting that has never been chromed--no pits, no cracks, nothing to repair. Dip and go, like-new results. Price? $1600 today. Still a lot of cash, but you can see the difference in price for all the tedious labor that goes into repairing a pot metal casting.

 

The best shops will retain most of the detail, but I don't think there are any who can retain 100% of it if there's pitting. Maybe at the very outer edges of the high-end, but I don't think it would be even remotely affordable at that point. But you do get what you pay for in the chrome business. I've seen some miserable chrome jobs where all they did was grind the part until all the pits were gone, and all the detail of the original piece was wiped out--ruined. I've seen shops simply chrome over the pits which, to my eye, is even worse than leaving it original and pitted because it suggests you just didn't care about anything but being cheap.

 

The advice above is good: find the very best core you can, and go from there. You'll get better results at a lower price. Just don't expect miracles on a budget. Good chrome costs more for a reason.

[60FlatTop]

If the part is just deeply pitted, without cracks or deformities I would look into a non-ferrous foundry casting a couple plugs out of bronze. No pits and you could machine in the details. Cast more than one so you have at least one spare to screw up.

I think it was 1986 or so when a friend of mine borrowed my NOS horn bar and had around 6 cast.

 

The sail panel trim on my '64 Riviera has a few pits. I am pretty sure a pin or two will break off when I remove them. I might go for making new bronze ones. For me it is a matter of noticing the fuzzy detail every time I get in the car or paying a little extra and not noticing it.

Bernie

[DonMicheletti]

I got quotes from 2 places of between $1200 and $2500 per half of my '38 Buick grille (depending on plating quality) per half!! And they arent in terrible condition.

I understand that plating copper over pot metal is a cyanide process and that probably makes an already difficult job even more expensive. I'm kind of choking on this one. The fact that I bought the car in good condition 40 years ago for $135 doesnt help.

I'm not living in todays car world.

[lancemb]

All good advice.  I personally use a few different chrome shops depending on what I am having done.  One I use exclusively for small parts that are excellent cores, because they are cheap and these pieces are easy and come out looking grear.  Another I use for any bumpers, as they do a fantastic job no matter how crappy the core for a good price, and another primarily for pot metal pieces that require expertise.  This third option is not cheap, but for example when I wanted the "Roadmaster 75" script done for my trunk, I knew taking it any place else would be a disaster so I paid up.  Most shops are amateurs at pot metal and can only grind and polish it as preparation.

[NC-car-guy]

I have found it cheaper to buy good chrome on eBay and have it shipped then shipping, labor, and plating....  and my closest shop is less than 200 miles away.

[lancemb]

2 minutes ago, wndsofchng06 said:

I have found it cheaper to buy good chrome on eBay and have it shipped then shipping, labor, and plating....  and my closest shop is less than 200 miles away.

This is usually true if you want really nice original stuff, but if you want rechrome beware of Ebay as you don't know what you're getting, especially if it comes from a certain place in California.

[old-tank]

I have heard many times that there are shops out there where you can take pitted pot metal.  There they will strip it and return it to you to carefully drill out the pits; then you take it back to be copper plated; returned to you to fill the pits with solder; copper plate again and return to you to sand and buff the profile you want and back the them for nickel and chrome.

I have not found that shop...

[lancemb]

8 hours ago, old-tank said:

I have heard many times that there are shops out there where you can take pitted pot metal.  There they will strip it and return it to you to carefully drill out the pits; then you take it back to be copper plated; returned to you to fill the pits with solder; copper plate again and return to you to sand and buff the profile you want and back the them for nickel and chrome.

I have not found that shop...

I haven't heard of that, but the places with expertise in pot metal will drill and fill all but the smallest surface imperfections.  

I currently have a set of 57 tail lights out for expert rechroming.  The price will be astronomical, but any place else for much less would have destroyed all of the detail and left parts paper thin from grinding out pits.

[Barney Eaton]

How long do you think it will be before some of these trim parts will be reproduced with parts made on a 3D printer?

Quite a few could function made from plastic....many of the hood ornaments, name plates, interior trim casting...parts that are not stressed, should turn out very nice and would be cheaper than trying to cast new parts.....  

[JZRIV]

I think it will be a few years yet. While the price is coming down on 3D printers, the cost of the equipment or outsourcing 3D scanning a part to obtain the needed data to feed the printer is not coming down. There is so much talk about 3D printers these days but typically they fail to mention the complexity of the task to either have the part reverse engineered and drawn on CAD, or have it 3D scanned with equipment capable of capturing all the detail needed.

[NC-car-guy]

8 minutes ago, JZRIV said:

I think it will be a few years yet. While the price is coming down on 3D printers, the cost of the equipment or outsourcing 3D scanning a part to obtain the needed data to feed the printer is not coming down. There is so much talk about 3D printers these days but typically they fail to mention the complexity of the task to either have the part reverse engineered and drawn on CAD, or have it 3D scanned with equipment capable of capturing all the detail needed.

Unless you're Jay Leno, maybe he can loan us his scanner.

[Bhigdog]

On ‎11‎/‎8‎/‎2016 at 10:24 AM, old-tank said:

I have heard many times that there are shops out there where you can take pitted pot metal.  There they will strip it and return it to you to carefully drill out the pits; then you take it back to be copper plated; returned to you to fill the pits with solder; copper plate again and return to you to sand and buff the profile you want and back the them for nickel and chrome.

I have not found that shop...

 

I'm thinking no reputable shop would do that any more than any good paint shop would let someone else do all the prep/priming then paint the car and let it out the door with them being identified as the "painter".

The sometimes 12 month wait at a top rechrome shops means they aren't scrounging for jobs.............Bob

Edited November 12, 2016 by Bhigdog (see edit history)

[RivNut]

Open Google an look for an episode of Jay Leno's Garage that shows a water chrome process.  Could be the solution you're looking for. No pun intended.

[Beemon]

Is it aqueous or liquid? 

[RivNut]

Watch the video.  

 

It's self explanatory.  In the video, the process is used to restore a really pitted hood ornament.  The hood ornament is stripped, sanded, then resurfaced with body filler, primered, and prepped as if it were going to be painted. Then the process is applied.  You'll need to watch it in person to actually see what can be done.  As the Nike commercials say "just do it."

 

Then find out who is doing it in your area.

[Tomaapilot]

     I carried a grocery sack of parts to a local plater just yesterday.  It included part the front and rear bumper "guards" for my '47 Roadmaster, plus the potmetal hood crest.  The crest was "freckled" and had a small crack under where the Buick Coat of Arms attaches which would have to be welded.  For the 3 horizontal bumper parts plus the 2 vertical parts plus the hood crest, the bill was going to be just short of $2000.  (GULP!)  The crest alone was going to be about $450.  Bear in mind that this was to be very high quality work, and the guy even gave me names of others in the area who would do it less expensively.  He said they do it the "right" way, because if it were done cheaply the first question out of people's mouths would be, "who did this chrome work?"  I have to admire that kind of thinking.

     While I was there the old fellow I was talking with gave me a quick tour of the shop and showed me some of the (AMAZING!) work they were doing.  I could see that they really take pride in their workmanship, and do things the "old fashioned" way.  Interestingly enough, when the old gentleman told me his name, I KNEW HIM from about 40 years ago.  He campaigned an absolutely beautiful Top Fuel Dragster.  I remember the gold plated Hemi valve covers!  Small world!

 

Tom

 

[Mudbone]

On ‎11‎/‎8‎/‎2016 at 9:24 AM, old-tank said:

I have heard many times that there are shops out there where you can take pitted pot metal.  There they will strip it and return it to you to carefully drill out the pits; then you take it back to be copper plated; returned to you to fill the pits with solder; copper plate again and return to you to sand and buff the profile you want and back the them for nickel and chrome.

I have not found that shop...

 

There is a guy near Chicago that has his own shop. He does all the labor and then takes it to the plating shop. I have an industrial plating co. in DeKalb. I stopped by Friday and talked to them about having my tail light housings stripped. He said it can be risky as they use a chemical stripping process. Depending on the alloy of the pot metal it could destroy it. I am going to take him a junk one off of the parts car I had. I will let you know Tuesday what he says about it.

[John_S_in_Penna]

On 11/20/2016 at 0:28 PM, RivNut said:

Watch the video.  

 

It's self explanatory.  In the video, the process is used to restore a really pitted hood ornament.  The hood ornament is stripped, sanded, then resurfaced with body filler, primered, and prepped as if it were going to be painted. Then the process is applied.  You'll need to watch it in person to actually see what can be done.  As the Nike commercials say "just do it."

 

Then find out who is doing it in your area.

 

I coordinated with Jay Leno when preparing an article

for our AACA newsletter on this subject:  Spray-on Chrome.

The company in California which did the work in

that video is no longer in business, he said;  but

Coat of Chrome in Wind Gap, Pa.  (phone 570-656-5001)

does that process.  The owner there is Don Pirre. 

 

The process is quite new for automotive applications,

but is actually very old.  It comes from the process

used to silver glass for mirrors.  The silvering attaches

itself chemically, and is then protected with an

acrylic urethane clear coat.  

It's the same protection that a good paint finish gives.

 

I probably wouldn't put spray-on chrome on a bumper, and

I would be cautious of putting it on the front of a car in places

where stone chips could mar it.  But it has many possibilities!

 

Jay himself mentioned Coat of Chrome in preparing 

our article.  Few firms do this process, I believe, because

of its newness.  I think it's worth a try.

Edited December 6, 2016 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[Mudbone]

On ‎12‎/‎3‎/‎2016 at 7:23 PM, Mudbone said:

 

There is a guy near Chicago that has his own shop. He does all the labor and then takes it to the plating shop. I have an industrial plating co. in DeKalb. I stopped by Friday and talked to them about having my tail light housings stripped. He said it can be risky as they use a chemical stripping process. Depending on the alloy of the pot metal it could destroy it. I am going to take him a junk one off of the parts car I had. I will let you know Tuesday what he says about it.

 

I dropped it off this morning. I should know in a week.

[Mudbone]

Ok, so I forgot about dropping the taillight housing off. I called over there last week and they forgot about it too. I stopped by tonight and picked it up. He forgot how much it cost to have it stripped. He said he would call me. Anyway they brought it down to the copper. Some day when I have time I might try my hand at filling a few holes with silver solder. This one is junk so it won’t matter if I melt it down.