PLATING OF PLASTIC PARTS

[Terry Wiegand]

Does anyone out there know of a company that does chrome plating on plastic material?  This is not an uncommon procedure.  The automotive industry has been doing this for years.

 

Terry Wiegand

South Hutchinson, Kansas

AACA Life Member #947918

[jp1gt]

you can chorme anything with hydrochrome. I have been learning for a year and finally got it right

[JACK M]

I looked into this a few years ago and yes it can be done.

I suspect a google search would bring the place up.

But was way above my budget. A rattle can job worked well, and no one really notices.

It was the arm rest bases, This is the before pic.

I sanded and painted them a light gray.

I have since heard about the hydrochrome process. Might be worth looking into.

 

[bryankazmer]

The traditional "plating" on plastic is a deposition on ABS.  I believe there are companies serving the scale modeling hobby that do this.  Billy K might be able to pipe in here.

[31 LaSalle]

Any material can be chrome plated if you can get a conductive surface on the part first ( normally copper)

[Frank DuVal]

Yes, a person in the Corvair world gets the AC dash vents plated. Go to corvaircenter.com/phorum and put " 67 airvair " in the search box called Search Authors. At the bottom of any of Mark's posts will be a clickable " PM " to send him a private message about this. I do not have his email address.

[Harold]

Chrome plating of plastic is done by a process known as 'vacuum metallizing'.   It might be an additional search term to use.

[Barney Eaton]

There was a company in Dallas that did chrome on plastic.....think they advertised in Hemmings. 

[Harold]

59 minutes ago, Barney Eaton said:

There was a company in Dallas that did chrome on plastic.....think they advertised in Hemmings. 

I believe the company is Mr. G's.  Here's a link:  Mr. G's Enterprises - Home Page (mrgusa.com)

 

Mr. G himself passed away last year and it looks like the family is selling off whatever re-chromed plastic parts they have left.

[Jolly_John]

5 hours ago, bryankazmer said:

The traditional "plating" on plastic is a deposition on ABS.  I believe there are companies serving the scale modeling hobby that do this.  Billy K might be able to pipe in here.

Good point, Brian. There is a guy in the Madison, Wisconsin area who makes a lot of reproduction model car parts, and also refurbishes used ones to sell. He does the new chrome work (vacuum metallizing). Sorry, but I no longer have his contact info, but he's out there in the model car world. John

[Rusty_OToole]

I used to help my father electroplate baby shoes. We would spray them with a powdered copper spray to make them conductive before going in the plating bath. You could do the same trick today and use a home plating kit from Caswell.

[jp1gt]

find someone that does hydrochrome

[Gary_Ash]

The older "chromed" knobs from the 1940s through at least 1980s were really vacuum evaporation deposited aluminum covered with a clear lacquer.  It was fairly low tech but there are tricks to getting the coating to stick to the plastic and protecting it with lacquer so it doesn't oxidize or rub off.  These days, the deposition can be done by vacuum sputtering aluminum or chrome, though the aluminum will always be brighter.  Sputtered materials adhere well and tend to be harder, more durable coatings.  The tough thing is to find someone who will do just a few parts for you at low cost.  

[Model56s]

Check out the plating products from Caswell. You can do this yourself, practice on a couple samples like Legos, etc. 

[Pfeil]

On 5/5/2023 at 9:57 AM, bryankazmer said:

The traditional "plating" on plastic is a deposition on ABS.  I believe there are companies serving the scale modeling hobby that do this.  Billy K might be able to pipe in here.

The problem with the chrome you see on scale models is the chrome goes sort of transparent. So, if the plated plastic piece before chroming is black or white plastic after a while the chrome becomes translucent. If your models are not in a case the metamorphoses happens quicker. If such plating were on a car exposed to the elements, the change would be even quicker.

[Harold]

What process do the auto manufacturers use to produce chrome-like plastic emblems?  They hold up very well against the weather and sunlight.

[Terry Wiegand]

The part that I am concerned with is the chrome plated plastic grille in my 1995 Chevrolet Silverado truck.  GM produced these trucks by the 100's of thousands and they sourced this particular part from an outside vendor.  What I want to know is this - who made these grilles for Chevrolet?  The grille in my truck is in perfect condition, however, some of the plating is flaking off in certain areas.  If it is at all possible I would like to contact this company and see if they could strip and replate the grille for me.  This seems like a reasonable request to me.

 

Terry Wiegand

South Hutchinson, Kansas

AACA Life Member #947918

[Gary_Ash]

29 minutes ago, Terry Wiegand said:

t all possible I would like to contact this company and see if they could strip and replate the grille for me.  This seems like a reasonable request to me.

Sorry, Terry, but it is not a reasonable request.  When vendors set up to do hundreds of thousands of parts, they invest a million or two in a machine to do it, build all the tooling to handle the special parts, train a team of people, and hope to make a few bucks on coating a lot of identical parts.  By now, the tooling doesn't exist, the team is long dispersed, and the company has moved on to other products.  I spent most of my career in the vacuum coating industry and watched as technology came and went.  It will be a growing problem for car collectors that it is nearly impossible to reproduce processes used decades ago, especially for plastic parts and older digital systems.  

[3macboys]

55 minutes ago, Terry Wiegand said:

The part that I am concerned with is the chrome plated plastic grille in my 1995 Chevrolet Silverado truck. 

My son got into a minor collision with a 99 - I picked up all the parts from the local parts store including the grille.  All aftermarket but I want to say that the grille was less than $200 and that was Canadian.  Fit perfect.  Check with your local parts store and you might be surprised at the price.  Adding to @Gary_Ash manufactures aren't set up for that kind of work, they manufacture, not redo.  It is simply too disruptive to their process for a brand new part, let alone one that his 28 yrs old.  

[Oregon Desert model 45]

When I worked for a vacuum metalization shop back in 2001, the big machines that did production lots looked like this photo, with vacuum chamber around 4' diameter.  I was designing tooling for new products and figuring how many parts could fit on a tool so the company salesman could provide quotes for potential new customers.  My boss told me that our machines had been used by automotive suppliers back in the 1960s & 1970s to plate plastic parts.  There was a small machine around 2' diameter that he used for 1 off or very small lots that some customers needed for test purposes.  I have no idea what the charge was for a small lot.   We never had to deal with a customer order that required stripping old plating, but if we had to, the same tank of acid that was used to strip off all the excess build up of plating from the tooling could also be used to strip plating from a part.  But if there were any metal inserts or clips attached those would disappear in the acid bath.  This shop had operated for many years as a small operation that also included painting and e-dag coating, and probably could have survived the downturn in electronics industry that occurred in late 2001, but they had been bought out by a corporate group with no experience in manufacturing that made too many mistakes and it all closed down.  

[Terry Wiegand]

I need to explain what my questions are all about.  I have a 1995 Chevrolet Silverado Extended Cab truck that I ordered new.  This truck was a tad under $17,500.00 at the time.  It has absolutely no rust, no dents or dings, and has never been driven in snow.  There are a little over 113,000 miles on the clock and it still has the plastic covering on the back seat from the factory.  The base coat/clear coat paint is horrible on this vehicle.  We are going to have it restored and use single stage paint on it.  I have been gathering Genuine GM parts and pieces for several years and have everything to set it back to brand new.  The very last part I needed was the grille.  The one in the truck is very nice with the exception being some plating flaking.  The Parts Manager at our local Chevrolet Dealer has been helping me out.  Two weeks ago he gave me a list of 11 dealers that had this grille still in stock.  I was able to buy a brand new (still in the box grille) from a dealership in North Dakota for what I think is a very reasonable price.  I ended up getting the very last one of these things in captivity.  Talk about the luck of the Irish and I'm not Irish.  Several friends have given me a hard time about doing what I'm going to do with this truck.  "You need to upgrade to at least a 2018 or newer and you will be so much happier with it"  I don't think so.  I have a friend who has a 2023, 1 Ton, Crew Cab, DuraMax Diesel, Allison Transmission, 4-Wheel Drive with a price tag of over $82,000.00 and he is having all kinds of issues with it.  I absolutely love this truck and it does, and will do everything that I will ever need it to do for me.  I am going to hang on to the original grille in case someone out there would desperately need one.  I will post some photos on here when the truck is finished.  There is one more thing that we think is pretty cool.  Our 1916 Buick was built in the calendar year of 1915.  Our truck was built in the calendar year of 1995.  Having two General Motors vehicles built 80 years apart is a really neat thing for us.

 

Terry Wiegand

South Hutchinson, Kansas

AACA Life Member #947918

[bryankazmer]

The issue with your paint is not that it is base plus clear.  It's what base/clear was used, and how it was applied.

[46 woodie]

Terry, I may be over simplifying this, but I just Googled "chrome plating on plastic" and several plating shop's came up. Why not "restore" it, you have had it since 1995 and know the history of it and how it was maintained and cared for. With 113K on the clock you should have many more enjoyable miles ahead of you. Good luck with your search and restoration and don't listen to your friends!

[Terry Wiegand]

Bryan, I cannot argue with you about the paint or how it was put on.  I am not a body and paint person.  I am just a lowly Tool and Die Maker.  All that I can and will say is that the paint on this truck looks like Hell and it started turning crappy after about 2 years of ownership.  I will be sure and post some photos of the truck after Reggie gets done with it.  I am not a Ford guy per se, but the fellow who is going to restore my truck has a 1969 Mustang Mach 1 that is the reddest Red that I have ever seen with the Gold striping.  The finish looks just like wet glass.  That Horse Car is to die for.  He tells me that my Silverado will look just like that - only Black.

 

Terry Wiegand

South Hutchinson, Kansas

AACA Life Member #947918

[bryankazmer]

I'm not arguing with you, just saying you're mis-assigning cause.  GM was converting to waterborne paint around that time.  Lots of problems.  A modern clear/base formulation works a lot better.  Your two car comparison is not a valid comparison of the general approaches.

[classic_cruiser]

Here is a brand new aftermarket version of that grille:

https://www.carparts.com/details/Chevrolet/C1500/Replacement/Grille_Assembly/1995/Silverado/KIT-053100-12.html?TID=gglpla&origin=&utm_source=google&utm_medium=pla&utm_campaign=11726351894&&&gclid=Cj0KCQjwu-KiBhCsARIsAPztUF37VAsja0BmUTgD-5VIYL1W8yDRL_1rT_IUeEzlDzud80nr3cet_MIaArjjEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

Another possible option to try, for small repair areas, is one of those liquid chrome markers.  Molotow makes the ones I use, available at craft stores like Hobby Lobby or Michaels.

[Terry Wiegand]

The NOS Genuine GM grille that I got from the Chevrolet Dealer in North Dakota got here late this afternoon.  I will try and get a photo posted tomorrow - weather permitting.  I will readily admit that the aftermarket grille looks pretty darn good.  If I had not been able to get the GM one, then that was what I was going to be faced with.  The price that I paid was not really that much more than what the reproduction one is.  I was just damn lucky to get that one.  The fellow saying that my two car comparison is not a valid comparison - somebody is going to have to explain that one to me.  We are going to stay as far away as possible from any two-stage paint systems on this restoration.  I'm an old school guy when it comes to laying down colors.

 

Terry Wiegand

South Hutchinson, Kansas

AACA Life Member #947918

[bryankazmer]

1 hour ago, Terry Wiegand said:

The fellow saying that my two car comparison is not a valid comparison - somebody is going to have to explain that one to 

By all means, paint your truck any way you like. Do what makes you happy.

 

But if you mean what you said (I doubt it) I'll try.  

Population 1 is Chevy trucks painted in 1990 with two stage paint of that time.

Population 2 is Ford Mustangs painted (in 1969 or during a restoration?) in single stage paint.

Take one sample from each population of perhaps 100,000.

Draw a conclusion about the populations based on it.

 

Peace

 

 

 

[Frank DuVal]

I agree, the two car comparison is not valid. One was built on an assembly line for mass distribution. The other was lovingly painted for a perfectionist! Of course the latter will look better!

 

BC/CC can last a long time when the products are right, just as SS can. In my shop we could get a better gloss on black using BB/CC, but the SS was still great looking. That was back in the 90s. 

 

The paint used on the assembly line is NOT what is sold for use by  collision and body shops. The chemical makeup is different because of the different spraying and baking conditions. Hard to bake a car in a collision shop at over 200°F! The wiring, rubber parts and upholstery do not like it. Bare bodies and parts on the assembly line can be baked at high temperature for quick throughput. Anyone that says their car was repainted with factory paint is lying, even if they are just repeating what they heard.😉

 

 

[Terry Wiegand]

Mr.DuVal,

What you just said in your posting finally made some sense.  Talking about population makes me think about the number of people living in Kansas City or Detroit.  My truck is going to have the single stage paint on it.  The fellow who owns that Horse Car is an absolute genius with a spray gun and my truck will look better than anything GM did in that era.  I have wanted to post a photo of the NOS GM grille that I got for the truck.  Living in a very dangerous part of the country weatherwise often puts a kibosh on anything a person wants to do outdoors.  I will try and get a photo on here tomorrow if possible.

 

Terry Wiegand

South Hutchinson, Kansas

AACA Life Member #947918

[Terry Wiegand]

Here are a couple of photos of the NOS Genuine GM Grille for my 1995 Chevrolet Silverado.  The three tabs on the bottom that hold the grille spacer and the air dam are all in perfect condition.

I got the last one of these that was out there in captivity.  We are going to hang on to the original grille because someone out there someday will desperately need it to complete a restoration.

 

Terry Wiegand

South Hutchinson, Kansas

AACA Life Member #947918