Rechrome vs Purchase New

[Bob B.]

Hi all,

I've been pretty fortunate in having good chrome on cars I'm restoring, but there are inevitably some items that are too pitted to use. As an example, I have pair of fairly pitted 56-62 doorposts and I have a two pairs of fairly to very pitted 56-57 taillight assemblies.

I know rechroming costs also depend on the amount of prep necessary, but can anyone give me a rough idea of the costs of rechroming vs just purchasing new items. I've heard that rechroming can be very expensive.

Thanks,

Bob

[Joe R.]

Re: Rechrome vs Purchase New

Bob,

Look at it from this point of view. Would you rather have a POS Chinese part on your Corvette or restore an original that came from GM.
Does NCRS stand for National Corvette Repo Society???????

JR

PS. Only if you can't find an original is a point of view also!!!!!!!

[Gene M.]

Re: Rechrome vs Purchase New

Bob,

Look at it from this point of view. Would you rather have a POS Chinese part on your Corvette or restore an original that came from GM.
Does NCRS stand for National Corvette Repo Society???????

JR

BEAUTIFUL just @#%$#^* BEAUTIFUL, could not have said it better........!

[Bob B.]

Re: Rechrome vs Purchase New

Joe & Gene,

Great philosophy that I agree with. But where is any response to my question about "rough idea of the costs of rechroming"?? Reality is where budget and philosophy meet!

Thanks,

Bob

[Bill M.]

Re: Rechrome vs Purchase New

I had my original 67 bumpers rechromed with the center bar for 1200 $ cash. that included repairing a bent bracket. the cheapest bumpers that I saw were bumper boys at I think 300$ a corner and they weighed much less than the originals. hope this helps.

[Joseph S.]

Re: Rechrome vs Purchase New

Bob, I send all my chrome to Custom Metal finishing in Hagerstown IN. Great people and excellent quality. Door posts will cost you about $200 each and tail lights will be about the same. You will be very happy with the results if you use these guys. Good luck, Joe

[Gary C.]

Re: Rechrome vs Purchase New

Bob,

IMHO I rechrome everything original piece I can.

Paul's Chrome has the equipment specifically designed to do the concave tail lights and they guarantee all the work.

JMTCW, rechroming is worth the expense.

Gary
....

[Alan S.]

Re: Rechrome vs Purchase New

Hi Bob,
I had many original parts from my 71 re-chrome plated by Librandi's near Harrisburg Pa.
I think the quality of the work they do is superior to the reproduction parts.
I found the cost to be reasonable.
Regards,
Alan

Here are 6 'odd' parts that they were able to do a nice job on in addition to being able to do larger parts too.

[Joe R.]

Re: Rechrome vs Purchase New

Bob,

Not trying to be a smart &&^%! BUT restoring to some of us means restoring the original parts to the luster that they once had. Even better in the case of the bumpers.
Repo bumpers (when they can deliver) are either made in Canada or China and cost $500.00 and up.
As demonstrated above there are several wonderful chrome shops throughout the US that will triple chrome (copper,nickel, chrome) for much less.
Good luck with your project! We are all here to help so don't take an occasional shot too serious!

JR

[Roger W.]

Re: Rechrome vs Purchase New

Some repro metal parts just don't fit as well as the originals. That includes some NOS parts. I have a pair NOS Hockey Sticks for my 59 that just don't fit as well as the originals.

[Donald H.]

Re: Rechrome vs Purchase New

Bob,

For reference, I had my 1960 door post and windshield post done by Paul's and the cost was $1435. From my limited experience, Paul's is more expensive than most others. But when it comes to pot metal pieces like the tail light housings and door/windshield post for the C1, I've learned that you get what you pay for if your aren't careful.

Don

[Robert D.]

Re: Rechrome vs Purchase New

Bob
From another angle over the many years that these parts sit on these cars they "settle" plus any repair from any accidents on these parts makes them fit perfect on your car. if that makes any sense. nos parts dont fit properly in alot of situations nevermind repro stuff. so if you use your original parts they come on and off usually with ease. to sit there and struggle trying to get these thigs to fit can be a nightmare in some cases i find that bumpers and coupe windshield parts are especially difficult to deal with. IMHO no matter how much it costs to rechrome things it is easier and worth the cost
Bob