Questions for you guys who have had your bumpers and what-not re-chormed. How much prep work did you have to do before dropping them off? Any at all? Did you knock any dents out yourself? If you had parts that weren't chrome originally, did you strip the old paint or what have you off first, or did they do it at the chromers for you? What kind of price range were you looking at?

I've got some parts for our newest project that will need to be re-chomed or chromed for the first time and I want to get an idea if it's worth it, or if it would be more economical time and money wise to go with chrome repo parts.

 

It is best to discuss what you have to chrome with the shop doing your work. Point out your concerns and what you expect. This way you will have established your expectations before the work is done. Take plenty of pictures before the work is done; this will help if there is a problem later or if pieces are lost.

Dents you can repair before plating should be taken care of. The chromer may repair, but that needs to be agreed upon before the work is done. I have straightened small/slight bends/dents in bumpers and filled bad spots with brass smoothed and they came out OK. If you don't do the repair, or have the plater agree to do it; you will likely have that piece returned with fresh chrome over a blemish. Be sure you are getting tripple plating, sometimes referred to as 'show chrome.'

Chrome shops develop a reputation just as auto repair shops do. Avoid shops with a bad reputation. They are lost due to milky chrome, lost parts, poor polish prior to plating, insufficient chrome, brassy look among many other things that can go wrong. These things will sometimes happen to a good shop, the difference is a good shop will redo your piece without question.

If you are confident the painted piece you are chroming has no imperfections, there is no reason to strip it. The shop will put the part in a cleaning solution that will make fast work of the paint. If you have s/s pieces you only want polished, they can do that. Be sure each part is discussed. Make a detailed list, so you pick up what you left and paid for. Did I mention take pictures? It is definately a better choice to rechrome the parts that came off your car. Aftermarket parts have a bad reputation with fitment issues. Be sure everything fits properly before having them chromed.

 

Phillip.
Most quality re-chromers do all the prep as a part of the process. If they are worth anything the will straighten and remove all dents/imperfections themselves. I prefer going with the quality re-chrome over chrome re-pro myself, because I then know what I am getting.
Price varies alot. I was up at Funfest and asked a chroming vendor up there what he would charge for a c3 front bumper. His response was $245. Sounded high to me based on my experiences not all that long ago. I got rear bumpers chromed here in StL for ~$150 a pair awhile back.

Bullshark

 

Who was the vendor? Front bumper for $245 seems reasonable to me.

 

Another rechroming problem is that the grinding/polishing work can cause surface irregularities. When I hold my re-chromed bumpers up and sight down the top edge (like aiming a rifle), I can see that the surface of the bumper is wavy. If you've got some rust spots, the grinding action to smooth out the rust pits can make a depression in the surface of the metal.

Also, I had my original air cleaner cover of my 327/350 68 rechromed. The cover was ruined. I came back noticeably wavy/dimpled. I was told that heat from the grinding/polishing process made the metal distort. It sort of looks Jamacan musical drum heads when I hold it up sideways and look into the sun. I bought a repro air cleaner cover for about $110.

 

Here you go.

ADI Chrome Co.
www.adi-chromeco.com
Addison, Ill.
630-543-5252

 

Hal, Time to get a new chrome guy.

Bullshark