Kaiser Frazer Owners Club Forum
General Category => Parts For Sale & Wanted => Topic started by: Carolina Fan on January 02, 2013, 11:36:16 AM
-
Need advice on finding a good, reasonably priced shop to re chrome a pair of pitted, potmetal side view mirrors. Anyone have experience with one? Prefer a shop on the East Coast.
Thanks
-
Before committing to a chrome shop for replating pitted items be sure you know how the plater's process works. Longest lasting, best way starts with stripping followed by grinding/polishing the metal base to remove the pitting. When replating, you should be starting with a copper "strike" base which is then buffed. The friction created in buffing softens the copper and lets it move a bit to fill in any remaining holes. When everything is smooth and filled in, then you use hexvalent chrome for the plating. Hex chrome is the outdoor chrome (bumpers, mirrors, trim, outside door handles) as it holds up best over time. It is also highly toxic (even to the touch with bare hands and skin).
Pitting is normally caused by gas bubbles or air pockets trapped in the pot metal when the part was originally cast. Exposure to heat and cold over time gets the stuff moving towards the surface and the actual "pit" occurs when the trapped gas breaks free. I spent 6 years as quality manager for a chrome plater who's stuff was used by Honda of America (for motorcycles), Harley Davidson and Buell along with GM, Sterling truck and various divisions of Whirlpool Corporation.
-
I had Gateway Plating of St Louis (started 1926) do my grille bumpers etc. They told me the last time I was there to get my "51 Kaiser hood emblem replated that their pot metal man had retired after many years. They have been unable to find someone to replace him. This looks like another problem we have to deal with. Maybe someone on this forum knows a replater that does quality work in the
Midwest?
-
Any shop anyone would recommend?
-
I had nearly all the exterior chrome for my '53 Manhattan (28 pieces) done this summer at Badger metal finishing in St Francis WI (Milwaukee.) This included pot metal as well as steel. It came out quite well-there were a few pieces with very deep pits that did not get entirely removed, but they aren't that noticeable. Guess there's a limit as to how far down they want to grind. I chose them mainly because they were within driving range of Northern WI and nothing else was. They do a lot of mail order business too. They have an on line quote where you send them pix and they send you back a preliminary estimate. When I actually delivered it, they upped it a small amount, due to the headlight rims I believe which they claimed were boogers. The estimate was 6 weeks, and it came in a little under that. Half down on delivery, and the other half on pickup. Cost me $3200 for the lot. Relatively small, family owned business that has been there a long time. I have only had the chrome for half a year, so I can't attest to durability, but it certainly looks nice. Seem to have followed the protocol. I did notice a lot of work coming in from significant distances, and a lot of testimonials with pix of finished cars on the walls. In the absence of anything closer to you, it might be worth a try to check out their website. Just Google Badger metal finishing St Francis.
-
Thanks for the info and the lead!
Tom
-
I have had very good luck using Lakeside Chrome Plating in Ohio. Phone number is 440 599- 2035.
They do pot metal and anything else. His name is Tracy.
-
Thanks. I'll give them a call also
Tom
-
I also had a good experience with Lakeside. They did 4 parts for my 54. 2 of the parts I had problems with but they redid them immediately, quickly, and with friendly customer service. 1 was a turn signal lever which was wavy and the other was a tail light housing tip which came to me with a small scratch. Yes, his quality guy should have caught both but their response to the problem was just the way you want it if you have a problem. I would use them again. Had front and rear bumpers done by 2 seperate outfits in Tucson, AZ. Had problems with both and aweful customer service...wouldn't use their of them again under any circumstamnces.
-
Sounds interesting. Has anyone ever delt with a company called "Collector car specialists" in Houston, Tx?
-
I've used these folks and have been satisfied with their work.
http://www.customchromeplating.com/
They're in Grafton OH which is about an hour west of Cleveland.
-
Thank you