To Rechrome or not

[Peter B.]

Hi Team

Well, I found someone that will work on the body damage on my 71 vette. Thanks or the help. Well now I am going to sufer from the "As-Long-As" factor......As long as I am repairing the damage on the body, I might as well paint the whole car, etc, etc, etc.

I wanted to re-crhome many parts on the car like the bumpers, etc. Any recommendations on re-chroming? Is it cheaper to get new parts? What do you all think?

Thanks

[Richard M.]

Re: To Rechrome or not

Peter,

In my experiences nothing is better than rechroming original parts. If you took them off the car, when you go to put them back on they will fit. Chrome today is much better than original, however if judged it could show up as "over-restored".

I would recommend coating the inside of bumpers with something to protect them after chrome. 15 years ago I rechromed my 59 front & rear bumpers & grille pieces and used brushed-on Rustoleum silver inside each steel piece. Today they are perfect. Got judged 2 years ago with no issues. If applied carefully it is not noticeable.

The plating quality of most reproduction steel items is terrible these days. A year ago I bought new replacement front license plate frame and lower bar for my 59. They are now rusting. I recently bought nos pieces and won't get the repros ever again.

Repro items like emblems etc may be acceptable, especially most made by Trim Parts, but be wary of other pieces. I've found Trim Parts quality to be very good. Most suppliers use their products.

Rich
p.s. I had a recent post about chrome the other day which talks about some of this. Here. I'm sure there's much info in the archives too

[Peter B.]

Re: To Rechrome or not

Rich

GREAT info. Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!

[Alan S.]

Re: To Re-chrome or not

Hi Peter,
I agree with Rich that's it's a good idea to have your original bumpers re-plated. That way your sure of how they fit since I read reports of people not always being able to get the fit tolerances the way they'd like with the reproductions.
I see you're in Florida; I'm sure there are some good platers in the south but I'll still recommend Librandi in Middletown Pa. which is near Harrisburg.
They do beautiful work at reasonable prices.
Regards,
Alan

[Chris E.]

Re: To Rechrome or not

When I took my very original 67 apart for a complete restoration a few years ago, I saved and rechromed the original bumpers. I was told that it would be about the same price to rechrome the originals compared to buying new. The rechroming turned out to be a bit more than buying whole new bumpers, but as others have mentioned, they just bolted right up. No fitment issues.

If you're going down the judging route, I'd recommend rechroming your originals.