Hello friends, I was hoping to get some advise from people that have experience in this area. I have to rechrome my hood chrome and rear bumper Buick nameplate on my 70 Skylark and I'm not sure what to do. They're both in similar shape, mostly pitted but all there. Who is the best shop to use, what do you think it will cost and what's the turn around time? I also need to replace the left side vinyl top trip corner piece. I've only seen kits with all the trim but I only need the one piece as mine is junk. Should I put a thread in the parts wanted or does someone sell the one piece?
I did some business last summer with Paul's Chrome. Did a pretty good job and they're usually not backed up 2 months like most shops. Here's a link to their website. http://www.paulschrome.com/ :TU:
I got a local show chrome place to do a 66 Riv. hood center chrome and they charged $160 for it. No pits on it and it turned out very nice. Pits do cost more because of the prep needed to make them look good. Some shops don't do a good job smoothing out the pits and just lay chrome on it. The local one here tends to get in a rush at times, so some people elect to get their parts back after being stripped to do their own smoothing. After finishing, they take the item back for chrome. Here are some more prices they charged: 66 Riv. tail light bezels: $350 pr. 66 Riv. elect. switch bezels: $150 pr. 64 Riv. tail light bezels: $160 pr. 70 GS bumpers: $350 each Dual 4 barrell breather from 65 Riv.: $500 4 barrell breather lid: $140 I do know I have had cheaper prices quoted on bumpers, but we elected to go with the local company because it was easy. Most items turn out great. Some on the board will chrome parts and Hemmings magazine is full of them. Do your homework first to make sure the quality is good.
If you have decent parts mark them on the back with a engraver so you know they are yours. I sent a decent grill surround out to get chromed . I had removed all the studs. What a got back was a junk piece they had melted the cross bar and the surround now had all orig. studs and nuts on it. Oh yea they were real nice :rant: about it no charge.
That sucks Dave! They melted one of the rear view mirror stands for dad's 58' Special a few months back, and those mirrors were hard to find. :rant: Last week, they dropped his 36 Chevy hood emblem and broke both ends off it, but it's a Cheby, so he can replace it for $2.00. :laugh:
OK guys, I really don't want to deal with those people. ou: I was hoping for some positive stories and names. I don't want a pretty good job, I want it to look like it did when it was new :TU:
I don't think they were referring to Paul's Chrome. Call them tomorrow and check it out. I've been through some of the same stuff with a local shop here. You call them to find out the progress and they can't locate your parts. I fabricated a custom battery tray for my '94 Chevy truck last summer that I show. I went throught he process of how Paul's does it. You send them your part, they get you a quote after they examine the parts. They take pictures of what you send them and then you get a fax with all the information. The local shop here at the time was backed up 2 months. I sent the parts I needed Paul's to chrome in the middle of July. I had it back 3 weeks exactly to the day they quoted me. Best quality of chrome plating I've had done too. Good luck. :TU:
Paul's I live very near to Paul's and have been using them (have gone through some ownership changes over the years) for 25 plus years now. The chrome on my 67 they did 25 years ago is still show - they have done various other peices for multilple cars over the years and I have always been pleased with the results (I tend to be overly picky) I would recommend them highly. Prices are not cheap, but you get good work. Turnaround time has always been respectable. :TU:
