Thread: did we totally get boned on the chrome??

Tweet

51' F1 Truck front bumper, the tailgait hinges, grill support, 480 bucks!!!!! is that high, what the hell!?

Red

Depends on the quality of finish and how much work it took to get there.

"it can always be done wrong for less."

I just watched a show where they went to Advanced Chrome plating and watched some parts being chromed. Advanced has a rep for doing top notch stuff, but they are not cheap. After seeing all that goes into doing a proper chrome job I now understand why it is so costly.........lots of steps involved and very labor intensive.

The parts go through various dips with lots of preparation in between and before. They even DA the parts between copper coats and fill in imperfections before going on to the next step. If it need straightening they take the time to make it perfect also.

There is a very wide difference between good plating and cheap plating. The cheap stuff scratches easily and doesn't have the depth and color of the premium stuff. Just yesterday I was wiping off Don's T because we got slightly rained on the other night, and the front perch cover from Total Performance is scratching up already because it is not good quality chrome. By contrast, I have a steering arm on my '27 that was done by Advanced 20 years ago and it still looks like new.

If you got a good job you got a great price at $ 480. (the steering arm alone cost me $ 100 and that was 20 year ago dollars!)

Don

$480 sounds pretty good for good chrome quality on the parts you had done. A friend recently paid over $1500 for the front bumper pieces on his 57 Olds. Only you can say whether or not what you got is good stuff.

thanks guys.I have not seen it yet, but am told they are the best in town and the local hotrod shop uses them. I'll check it out, take some pics, get some opinions. good thing though I didn't convince m7y uncle to add the other couple of dagmars (teeth) to the bumper!

Red

No bones about it IMO. That seems like a reasonable price if the quality is OK.

Kitz

Originally Posted by Dago Red

thanks guys.I have not seen it yet, but am told they are the best in town and the local hotrod shop uses them. I'll check it out, take some pics, get some opinions. good thing though I didn't convince m7y uncle to add the other couple of dagmars (teeth) to the bumper!

Red

For the younger readers who might not know the term "Dagmar", they are actually artillery shell shaped appurtanences mounted to the front of the car grille or bumper. Here is a photo of a Dagmar...
http://www.pbase.com/impalass/image/96824331

And here is a Life magazine photo of Dagmar herself showing why these bumper additions were called Dagmars...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagmar

Thanks Richard, I love history and torpeders.

Kitz

Cool. Nice Dagmars!

In addition to being labor-intensive, the materials and chemicals used in chroming are very expensive. Also, the EPA has a hand in it because of the hazardous chemicals and you know what happens when a government agency gets involved in something... $$$$$$!