FE Power Forums
FE Power Forums => Non-FE Discussion Forum => Topic started by: blykins on May 07, 2020, 06:26:11 PM
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I need a set of valve covers chromed and I'd like to support some FE members if I could. If no one does it, anyone have a recommendation for a shop?
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I haven’t gone down that wormhole yet.
I would suggest Atlantic Coast Plating just south of you.
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I experienced great results with Advanced Plating, Nashville,TN.
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Sandy's Bumper Mart in Syracuse, NY does nice work. They've done a few things for me that I couldn't plate at our shop. If the valve covers were polished I could plate them for you. I'm sure you can find a plating shop in your neck of the woods that can help you out.
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I highly recommend J&P Custom Plating in Portland IN. They chrome plated a number of aluminum trim parts for my Starliner which were originally bright anodize, just beautiful!!
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I received my first quote...…..
$650 !!!???!!!
What's normal for chroming a set of valve covers? I was thinking maybe $250-300? For $650, they will receive a very nice coat of paint LOL
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Wow
I just had an entire bumper straightened and rechromed for $500.
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I paid $165 to have my door handles re-chromed back around 2014 by a shop here in town. I had one valve cover chromed in 2018 by another shop and he charged $250 or $275. I took a pair to him and he picked the one he liked. He also did my bumpers too. Bought the other chrome VC from Bruce S.
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There is a difference in chroming jobs though. Some guys go through many steps to get show quality/deep chrome. Others just flash chrome and are cheap. Maybe talking with different chromers about the type of job they do would help you. I imagine quality conscious houses would not do anything to cast bad juju on their reputation.
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I received my first quote...…..
$650 !!!???!!!
What's normal for chroming a set of valve covers? I was thinking maybe $250-300? For $650, they will receive a very nice coat of paint LOL
Yeah I ran into that when deciding what to do with my valve covers. There is a facility 3 miles up the road from us that I used for years to do black oxide, zinc, nickel-teflon, electroless nickel, trivalent chromate, you name it. They stopped doing decorative chrome 2 years ago because it became so expensive due to EPA regulations and nobody was willing to pay for it (their words).
Other places quoted me between $300 and $600 to chrome the valve covers. It's ridiculous, because I used to get complicated tooling coated with TiN and TDC2 for like $30-$40 a detail though it was far less surface prep.
Screw that. I was very, very tempted to use Alsa Easy Chrome, which is a high solids metallic paint that is good to 800f. The videos look too good to be true, but reviews are fantastic. Instead I'm just having them powder coated to match everything else under the hood. I'd prefer chrome but I can't justify a $2500 budget to chrome everything I want done. I will try the easy chrome at some point just to see how it works out...
https://alsacorp.com/product/easy-chrome/
Another cool one to check out is Steel-IT:
https://www.steel-it.com/
I've had some medical device customers require this over the years. It is neat stuff but has a very specific painting procedure. You can polish it. It's not chrome, but it has a neat industrial stainless look to it, and is high-temp rated (1200f, not header-worthy obviously...)
There is a difference in chroming jobs though. Some guys go through many steps to get show quality/deep chrome. Others just flash chrome and are cheap. Maybe talking with different chromers about the type of job they do would help you. I imagine quality conscious houses would not do anything to cast bad juju on their reputation.
That is very true. The high-end chrome shops have to bring the surface to a consistent finish, everywhere, before building the chrome layers. A single flash chrome or TDC is cheap because there is very little surface prep done prior.
Most of the money is in prep labor. But, it is still very expensive to do chemical and electrochemical coatings these days. I *may or may not* know of a few backyard pig trough / car battery operations that are clearly not up to EPA regs, but I'm afraid to do business with them.
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Not answering your question but rather, which type VC are you looking to chrome?
I've collected a pretty good variety of chromed VC's may be able to save the chroming cost.
Richard
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Ajax plating in Denver is who I used for a set of Chris Craft valve covers. He is an FE guy and when you bring FE parts in there he lights up. Hard to get a hold of, works there like 1-2 days a week I think, or at least he only mans the phone and storefront 1-2 days a week. If I remember correctly, price was around $300, maybe $325.
Clean them up as good as you can before you send them off. Bead blast, then steel wool, and try to get the finish as nice as you can. The more time you put in up front the better they will turn out, the chrome shops only put so much time into them.
(https://i.postimg.cc/MH6bbHDm/IMG-0351.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/2btZCzg1)
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I received my first quote...…..
$650 !!!???!!!
What's normal for chroming a set of valve covers? I was thinking maybe $250-300? For $650, they will receive a very nice coat of paint LOL
$650 is definitely on the higher end but I'm not surprised. There is a lot of prep work before a part even sees chemistry. Think of all the nooks and crannies on a valve cover that have to be polished. Especially if a VC is blasted prior to.
After polishing, parts will get a high build of Acid copper. Polish again if needed. Then a high build of a Bright Ni followed by a "Flash Chrome".
Your probably looking at 2 hours of tank time and 4 hours of polishing depending on the condition of the VC's to start.
VHT in Ford blue is $9.99 and you can touch it up when you scratch it. ;)
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Lol at the VHT comment.
Chrome plating costs are a fine advertisement for polished aluminum.
Kinda why I wanted that Brown feller to cast baldies instead of another set of pentroofs.
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I kind of agree with Drew. Polished aluminum is very close to chrome in appearance but in my opinion never gets the true shiny/polished mirror like finish.
I've got a quite complete polishing process here and normally sand to 3000 grit then go thru 3 or 4 steps of compound. It is time consuming but once you are setup
the only cost is time. It is a sense of satisfaction once you see the finished product. I've even restored deteriorated chrome.
Richard
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I kind of agree with Drew. Polished aluminum is very close to chrome in appearance but in my opinion never gets the true shiny/polished mirror like finish.
I've got a quite complete polishing process here and normally sand to 3000 grit then go thru 3 or 4 steps of compound. It is time consuming but once you are setup
the only cost is time. It is a sense of satisfaction once you see the finished product. I've even restored deteriorated chrome.
Richard
Whatcha puttin' on after polishing?
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Felony: right now I clean with lacquer thinner then use either liquid ebony or the 3000S in the picture. Clean again then use the race glaze polish/sealant. So far pretty good life on the finish. I'm also going to try the Aluminum brightener and the Kit paste wax.
Richard
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I like to use Simichrome polish with a wool or foam polishing pad on my pneumatic mini buffer.. I hit my centerlines once a year on my Galaxie and they shine like Chrome.
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I was thinking maybe clear powder coat to seal in that hard work. I was also thinking white high-heat powder coat on the inside to cut down the heat transfer.
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I have found that clear powder coat over polished aluminum comes out looking yellow.
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I have found that clear powder coat over polished aluminum comes out looking yellow.
Bummer. Do you remember the brand? Some sellers are touting crystal clear over any surface.
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Yes, it was Eastwood. This was a few years ago so there may be better powder out by now. You could try a test piece to know for sure.