Chrome plating

jerdan

jerdan

Member
I have had several quotes for chroming my bumpers on a 1953 ford ranging from $320 up to $800 each. What is a reasonable price? Also does anyone know anything about the bumper shop in Los Angeles? Any info would be appreciated.
 
The shop in L.A. is Bumper Boyz. www.bumperboyz.com They are very good. They carry a large stock of Ford bumpers and parts. They sell out right or you can trade yours in on a finished one. Also, you can find out what swap meets they are going to and they will bring the bumper there and save one way of freight etc.
 
jerdan. NO, NO, NO! Stay away from Bumper Boyzs. (Sometimes spelled Bumper Boys). They have a very bad reputation and their chrome plating is not high quality. Plus, you don't get back the same pieces you gave them. The plating is done in Mexico so you have zero recourse. Go to www.jaopyjournal.com and do a search on chrome platers and you will read about how terrible they are. Don't even consider them, even if they say they'll do it for free. Here's why:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c1-...660-beware-of-bumper-boys-chrome-plating.html and
http://www.imperialclub.com/Part/Vendors/Bumper.htm

Read all the threads you find related to chrome plating.
http://fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5437&highlight=chrome+platers

http://fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=91951&highlight=chrome+platers

Joe is the first person I've ever heard say good words about them. Maybe he was lucky.
 
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X2 With 19fordy on Bumper Boyz

Advanced Plating in Nashville does excellent quality work. Be prepared to pay $500 - $800 for a good chrome job.
 
WOE 19Fordy. I had no idea!! Myself and a few hot rod guys I know did OK. I did a trade on mine and they are OK. This is why these forums are so great! Read and weep. Thanks and this will be my last endorsement on this.
 
I agree with 19Fordy. Bumper Boyz used to be good about 15-20 years ago. I seen them at a car show and the bumpers that were on display even looked bad. There quality has gone out the window. Too bad!
 
How timely...

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=716272

Back in '01 this guy was at a swap meet in Albuquerque, had unbeatable prices. I gave him a Maverick bumper to straighten and chrome. Got a Chevy bumper of some sort back, took many, many phone calls and faxes to get the right bumper back. I finally did, and it was well done. But I'd NEVER consider dealing with them again!
 
Or you can do what I did. I'm building my '36 flat-back Fordor to be a good-looking driver; to me 100 percent historical perfection is not paramount. Anyway, the bumpers were badly pitted and I looked into re-chroming them locally here in Michigan. The suggested shop was highly recommended by other Early V8 members but I was not about to pay $500 or more to get each bumper re-chromed.

To save money I got my bumpers and guards powdercoated with that high-temp exhaust stuff. It looks pretty close to chrome and it only cost $120 for BOTH bumpers. Even if this stuff flakes, peels or falls off in two years I think it's a good deal. Just an idea.
 
I would check the shops offering the cheapest plating to make sure you are getting triple plating, ie copper, nickel, chrome. That as opposed to just a chrome plate over bare metal.
 
We have an excellent shop in town they will do anything you want from a quick acid strip ,buff and single plate job to a complete buffed and beautifully triple plated finish .
 
Walker's Custom Chrome
2145 Grand Coulee Blvd.
Shasta Lake, CA. 96019

Give them a call, good work, fair price and you'll get your piece back.
 
I personally had Advanced Plating in Nashville chrome plate the necessary items for a 36 convertible sedan. Turned out beautiful , had 2 minor flaws on small pieces. Sent them back and they corrected them , no questions. They are a bit expensive but to have their quality is worth it.
 
36 CS... did you mail them your pieces? no problem in getting your originals back? or did you hand deliver your parts to them? I have a 50 Merc back up lens brazel that needs to be straighten and want to send to them but, fear that it will get lost some where or that I wont get my original back.. Thanks, Randy
 
I have also used Walkers Plating in Northern California. Good guy on the phone and I was pleased with the work. We did everything by mail. I will use them again.
 
X3 for Walker's. I've done a lot of business with them over the years, even when they were still in Vacaville, Ca. Quality work. The only thing they do not do to my knowledge is straighten bumpers. If you have bumpers that have small dings they will fix those, but they don't do major, straightening. They also do good work on diecast stuff.
 
I am not an expert on chrome plating but I do know enough to be dangerous.

Preparation is the key to good chrome plating and buffing a piece prior to plating is expensive(labor/overhead wise). The more time that's required to get the piece "perfect" the more expensive the labor/overhead is. The there is the plating itself-----bumper chrome is the cheapest(single plate only) but the best is called triple plate and it is copper,chrome and finally nickel. The best will last 50-60 years properly maintained---the bumper chrome doesn't last as long before turning.

Advance Plating and S&H Plating in Nashville both do good work.
 
As a point of information: The old school chrome plating that was traditionally done for many, many years is called "Hexavalent" chrome plating and is now highly regulated by the EPA as it involves hazardous chemicals. A newer type of chrome plating known as "Trivalent" chrome plating has been adopted by many shops since it is less polluting re: chemicals. Be sure and ask your plater which method he uses and it's advantages. Both give excellent results. Some believe that the trivalent chrome plating lacks the traditional "tint" of hexavalent plating.

Here's some info. Read the last article first.
http://www.finishing.com/332/53.shtml

http://www.plating.com/platingtechnical/trivalentchrome.htm
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http://www.newmoa.org/prevention/p2tech/TriChromeFinal.pdf
 
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